CompuServe Thread

#More Strings Stuff

5 messages in this thread
#8595From: Joel HalbertMay 20, 1989 2:06 AM
I will check the new Strings. I _do_ think that there are other problems in the previous version, besides the range checking issue. The only reason I started looking at the code was that it didn't work (not a range-check error) in all cases. The idea of having modules that purposely violate range and/or overflow limits strikes me as dangerous, but perhaps it is considered standard practice. Can you give me a little education on this point? I'd like to develop a better feeling about it, and I'll keep an open mind. Does anyone else have comments about this? Thanks for your quick responses, Martin. Joel
#8604From: M2S/Phil CampMay 20, 1989 8:07 AM
They do not "purposely" violate. If I can avoid it without hurting performance, then I'll do it. I see Range-Checking to be useful as a safeguard when developing software, once the software is done, the checking is no longer needed. Since I know how the compiler does stuff and how the M2Sprint environment behaves, I know I can afford to do slight range checking errors to improve performance. If the compiler' behavior changes, I can change the modules. This works well cause I provide both the compiler and the modules. It might not be so easy for a normal user to do though.
#8618From: Joel HalbertMay 21, 1989 1:16 AM
Thanks for the reply. I can accept your explanation, but as you say, as a user of the compiler I would be very wary of writing that way. I also see the range/overflow checking as a useful safeguard, to be turned off before the last "release" compile or for evaluating the real speed of the code. For that reason alone, I wouldn't write code that creates range errors, even if performance suffers slightly – it makes it too difficult to separate _real_ bugs (unexpected range errors) from the known ones. Anyway, so far the new Strings module works fine. Thanks for all your efforts. On another subject – I'd like to ask if you could add a couple of features to the editor: 1. I really miss a built-in command for "delete current line". I know you can do it by selecting text and then deleting it, but I find it much easier to have a single key to do it. Currently I assign the macro to that function, but I'd rather save that for other things. 2. Would it be possible to have the editor automatically disable the Correct Case and Wordcomplete functions when typing comments and quoted strings? Probably it's too difficult to make this work for multiple-line comments. I'd be satisfied if the feature only worked when comment and quote characters exist on the current line. Joel
#8629From: M2S/Phil CampMay 21, 1989 7:42 AM
To Delete the current line, hit CTRL-CEL. To delkete the previous line, hit CTRL-BACKSPACE. I've wanted some way of disabling Case Correct myself. To do it within quoted strings is easy, but for multiple line comments, nope, that's not possible. There must be some way of making it smarter.
#8639From: Joel HalbertMay 22, 1989 2:24 AM
Sorry, I didn't remember reading about CTRL-DEL in the manual. I'm glad to know that's in there. On the Correct Case disabling – as I said, the multiple line comments is a frill I could do without. If you can disable inside quoted strings and single-line comments, that's great. Joel