RE: merits of Code400 was RE: Coloring the RPG code -- RPG400-L

Rick said,

>"when coding strait rpg"?
>
>I'm not up on my CODE lingo.  could you elaborate?

Hi Rick!

Regular Expressions allow you to search for things like "MASxxxKEY" where
"xxx" can be anything or nothing.  When using SEU you could search for "MAS"
or "KEY" but not for the specific combination.  Let's say you're naming
convention is xxxyyyOff for buffer offsets in a list API.  If you want to
quickly jump through the offset calculations for the "mod" offsets to make
sure you haven't got any "off by one" errors, you could "find mark match
mod([a-z|A-Z|0-9])*Off"  Contrived?  Maybe, but it's a small example of what
regular expressions can do for you.
find - look for a string
mark - block select the found string
mod - the string must begin with these three letters in this order
([a-z|A-Z|0-9]) - expression meaning any lower case letter OR any upper case
letter OR any number
* - match zero or more of the above expression
Off - the string must end with these three letters in this order

Macro Language.  You can write editor "scripts" that allow you to perform
repetitive tasks like "create a procedure" or "insert subfile page load" -
stuff that you do every day, time after time.  While I can certainly use SEU
to copy a template into my current code, I still need to change the file and
field names to match.  With a macro I can run off to the file and grab the
information I need, or pop up a screen and ask for it.  Then the macro can
insert uniform code with the right field names.

Oh, I am rodent-phobic.  I don't hardly ever use the mouse.  Because Code is
so configurable I can assign any keys I want to any shortcuts I want.  Stuff
them in my profile and I'm good to go.

I've used and liked Flex Edit as well as Code Edit.  My biggest hangup was
that I do work for many customers, some over SNA lines.  I can't use Code
directly in those environments, so I have to use SEU there.  And I still use
SEU for small stuff, but when I have a big set of changes, I SNADS the
source to my home box and edit there.  If I had the skills/nerve/brains to
be a contractor, I'd have Code on my laptop.  I agree that PDM rocks and
that CPO isn't there yet, although grep is pretty nice.

I made a good living with LIBMAN and it's descendents, and having had to
keypunch code has made me very aware of the columns - oddly enough this has
proved a sore point with RPG IV.  In RPG III, I can go to the subroutine by
"f MYSUBR 18 f" (find MYSUBR in column 18, the first occurrence.  It could
be above the line I'm viewing...)  In RPG IV, the columns are re-arranged,
and I have a hard time remembering that factor 1 starts in column 12.  I
include this only to show that I am not a person who adopts new stuff "just
because."  If I can transition from SEU to Code, anybody can.
  --buck