System iNetwork

December 2004

December 24, 2004 5:32 AM

Quick Marks

I always enjoy stumbling upon little features that make a big difference. I often have to jump from my current coding position to elsewhere in the code usually because I forgot if I put some code in or declared a variable :(

WDSc quick mark to the rescue! At my current coding position I press CTRL+Q to set the quick mark. Then I move around in my code. When it is time to go back ALT+Q takes me right back.

There is only one quick mark. Everytime you press CTRL+Q it sets the mark. Wonderful feature!

Posted by on December 24, 2004 at 5:32 AM | Comments (1)

December 22, 2004 5:44 PM

Merry Christmas

It's the season for gifts, and they were delivered a little while ago. We have been using WDSC now for a couple of weeks on 19 inch flat panels, and it makes an amazing difference! I have had to lash up a custom mounting for it, to lower the display closer to the desk, so that my bifocals don't make me crane my neck to view the screen, but once adjusted it is great. The new screens are much brighter, and the text is larger, making it quicker and easier to use. (You young guys laugh all you want, but by the end of the day it is noticable!)
I have also customized the colors in the RPG editor; and combined with the brighter screen I now can fine tune how the different specifications show up. By changing comments to a lighter color than standard code, it is now VERY obvious if any code has been "commented" out, instead of deleted. (Please, no comments on commenting out code - it's there and we live with it, but we try not to spread it any further.)

The other reason this will be a "merry" Xmas is the people we have been working with. We have been corresponding with the WDSC developers for a while now, reporting bugs and requesting enhancements; and their attitude is great. I wish all the vendors I deal with had the same empathy and customer service orientation. As grumpy as I have been about the product, they always come back with helpful suggestions, fixes, or enhancements. Great job guys - keep up the good work.

I hope everyone out there reading this has an enjoyable holiday season, and makes a New Year's resolution to give these tools a try.

Posted by on December 22, 2004 at 5:44 PM | Comments (1)

December 13, 2004 5:26 AM

Removing all those error lines

Just a quick tip this morning. After a compile in WDSc you can click on the error messages and go to the source code. WDSc inserts lines in your source showing you all the errors it found during the compile. Sometimes a quick add, such as the variable you forgot to declare can clear up most of those. To remove all those temporary lines in your source that show the errors, press CTRL+F5.

Posted by on December 13, 2004 at 5:26 AM | Comments (1)

December 1, 2004 7:14 AM

The road trip

Just went through my first road trip after having moved primarily to WDSc. And, as usual, I needed to fix a couple of small things while on the road, from my hotel room. I knew where the code was that had a problem. I went into our application first so I could see the problem that had been reported. Sure enough, I had a small bug. I instinctively went to PDM/SEU as I was on the road and already signed on to the development machine, which is also where I made sure I could duplicate the issue that had been reported. In a matter of seconds, I was in SEU editing the source member. I then stopped, made myself get out and I fired up WDSc. It took over 30 seconds to load and then I had to get a filter added so I could edit the member. I find I'm adding filters to an existing filter more often than browsing an entire source file and all members. It was easy to find my problem, edit it and compile in WDSc. It wasn't as fast as PDM/SEU because I had to start the load from scratch. Typically, in the office I start WDSc in the morning and go. I understand the delay in starting WDSc, but what I'd really like to see is a smarter environment where it knows the last source library & file I worked with and would allow a quick open of a source code member instead of browsing a long list or having to add it to a filter.

Posted by on December 1, 2004 at 7:14 AM | Comments (2)