comp.databases.informix.4gl: Tool Update and New Tools

June 11, 1995 This latest set of tools is a release of all the changed tools since May 18, 1995. This means if you downloaded any of the tools since then, this release has even newer stuff. It's not the complete tool kit, just replacements to the kit. For those of you who have obtained earlier releases, this is probably the best one yet. As I've stated in the past, I work on this stuff part-time, whenever time permitting. As a result, some of the tools released in the past have had some glaring bugs or could've been better incarnations of themselves. Recently I've gotten into the 4GL full-time again after a brief switch to GUI land. Coming back to 4GL, many of my tools are improved as a direct result of full-time 4GL programming. The break has been a good thing, allowing me to get a fresh perspective on some of the problem solving. NEW Makefile Code Generator Of particular interest has been MAKE. This has been bugging me for some time, wanting to improve the makefiles I use and make_mk, which is a highly used tool. I finally stopped and rewrote much of it, to make it the best ever. It still could use some improvements, but does provide a more professional approach to RDS and c4gl compilation. Once you start using it, it comes in quite handy, especially for projects where there's a lot of bug fixing going on. This latest version is a major rewrite, that will probably be more acceptable to the discriminating makefile user. One important note: This is for 4GL up to 4.12, with the 5.03 on-line engine. Coming next week or so is a makefile that is sure to curl Johnathan Leffler's hair, concentrating on I4gl 6+, and the 7.1 engine. As I've stated in the past, rebellion sometimes gives us reason enough to live, and defying c4gl does indeed fit the bill, and helps relieve me of the claustrophia it gives me. I had Johnathan's ghost over my shoulder most of the time on this one, so that I would be sure to present something worthy here. :-) Updated cross-referencing tool: dblook This is a tool I've been working on for some time, and really use alot. If you are new to a project, or have new people who must do a lot of searching through a lot of code, this is a nice one. It is a command- line commando's tool, and can supply information quickly without hitting a data base. NEW Screen Code Generator Another new tool is the mk_scrg program. While seeming to have a relatively low value, this program can help make your screens a little more pleasant to the eye. After all, if looks weren't important, Windows wouldn't be doing as well as it is. Be sure to check out boxper which allows putting box-borders on PERs that currently don't have borders. ( Yes, high priorities I know ). The other important feature of this tool is that not only does it create a screen for you--and you get the source code--but it also puts a REQUIRED attribute on any field that was defined as NOT NULL in your data base. I also dressed up the COMMENTS to tell you what the data type is of each column. For developers and advanced users this one is a nice one. Used in conjunction with mk_isql, you can have cheap-n-easy maintenance screens for your tables. If you manage several data bases this can come in handy. NEW Code Cranks ( Yes Kerry, I do like that word. :-) The code generators were also improved. I had included a bad copy of mk_4gl2--it is now included, but is still in need of improvement. There's also a new "bas_4gl1" which does not include as much as mk_4gl1, so you can better understand how it works. It may be the one you use on your site more readily than mk_4gl1. All now depend on make_mk to generate their makefiles, so the tools are in a little better shape. I look forward to your comments and suggestions on improvements. I appreciate the input I've received ( recieved ? ) so far, and look forward to hearing from you. Enjoy! Tim -- \\\\|// (O|O) ==============================---o00--(_)--00o---============================ Tim Schaefer tschaefe@gate.net http://www.gate.net/~tschaefe The Computer Business Company, Inc. INXUTIL 2.0 is now absolutely FREE =============================================================================