On 2/28/2013 8:56 AM, Jim Oberholtzer wrote:
Based on the running list of what appear to be features that work at
8.0.3 that have troubles or disappear in later versions should I be
recommending my customers upgrade? My tendency is to hold off at this
point because many of them are relatively new to the product and I don't
want to cause harm that could alter their currently positive view.
I don't see hardly any of the issues I've seen posted here. This isn't
to say that these things don't exist; rather they exist for a certain
subset of the population. Maybe it's a particular Windows version,
maybe it's a certain video driver, I don't know. I can say that I
myself am very happy with RDP 8.5.1. In my mind, I'm comparing the
transition from Code to WDSC (horrible!) vs 7.0.0.8 to 8.5 (nary a problem).
I don't personally push RDP to a point where it breaks so I don't think
any of these issues would matter to me much, but my customers would push
it quite a bit harder.
Thoughts?
What does 'push it harder' mean? Maybe it makes sense to look at what I
do with the IDE on a given day.
I have a separate connexion for each of my projects. If I have an
ad-hoc, I have a generic connexion that has all the source members in
it. I navigate down the RSE tree until I get to the source member I
need. The connexion has set the library list as needed, so compiles
just work.
Having been using the IBM IDE since OS/2 days, I don't use the outline
view. Maybe I should try that. Generally speaking if the program is
complicated enough to need the outline view, it needs more descriptive
comments and refactoring, both of which I do on the fly. I use regular
expression search often (wish it were on the IBM i search!). I have
some standard snippets I use, things like creating a new sub-procedure
where I have RDp prompt me for parameters. Most other similar snippet-y
stuff is in a /COPY.
Being a geezer I have a memory of verify taking longer than compile and
being less reliable with respect to reporting errors. So I don't
verify; I compile. A lot. This means I Ctrl-Z a lot, to undo whatever
goofball idea I just tried that didn't work out. When I'm editing, I
tend to Ctrl-2 split the screen to look at where the function is being
invoked AND the actual function at the same time. If I need to make a
sweeping change (this function needs an extra parameter in a dozen
calls) I'll use a search to find each one and either Record/Playback or
Paste to make the changes sequentially. (Wish I had regexp REPLACE as
well as search.)
I tend to put functions in service programs and I tend to test those
service programs with RPGUnit, so I'll have the RPGUnit test jig open at
the same time as the service program. Some edit/compile/test cycles
will eventually get me to a place where I've confused myself enough that
I need to debug it. I use SEP debug exclusively, and when I do, I
almost never use hover to see the values of variables because the
variables almost never matter - the decision tree is what matters. Did
the IF evaluate true or not? If I'm in a devastatingly complex function
/ subroutine / spaghetti mainline, one which takes a zillion records
before tripping the problem, I'll use a conditional breakpoint. If the
condition is too extensive I'll modify the code to put an IF in it, that
IF being conditionally compiled in typically on /IF DEFINED(DEBUG) so I
can opt it out once I've found my oversight.
I try to keep my white space indented properly, so when I add or remove
a level of IF / SELECT I use block select (Alt-L) and shift (Alt-F7 or
Alt-F8) to indent properly. Often, I'll do the indent first by
positioning the cursor on the IF line, Ctrl-Shift-M to get to the END
and then select the block between them.
I don't care for RDp's choices for formatting SQL, so I turn that off.
I do let RDp insert matching END statements for me (wish it'd do parens
too) but in general I prefer to set my own tabs, etc. Doing the
formatting myself has another advantage: I don't disrupt a colleague's
formatting when I edit her code. There's nothing worse than duelling
indentation styles, yuck.
Being a green screen programmer, I need a terminal session open in order
to test my code, so I always have a tn5250 session going. That doesn't
upset my mental equilibrium in the least. Sometimes I'm working on a
stored procedure, and the i Access Navigator window is opened for that.
I used to have Quantum DB on my 7.0 install but haven't reinstalled it
for 8.5 yet. Since I need to exchange my SQL test harnesses with
colleagues, iNav seems to work out as well as an IDE specific SQL
environment.
I have several user-written PDM commands I really like. Fortunately,
they're easy to use within RDp, so I can copy source from my production
to development environments with a right click > User Actions. Same for
CVTRPGSRC. These don't see a ton of use, but I'd say I use a user
written command at least every day.
I'm not sure what I'd do to push the IDE harder, or easier for that
matter. Maybe we as a group can compare notes and see what it is we're
doing that seems problematic. Once we understand the problems, we can
re-create them at will and get them fixed.
--buck
midrange.com
