Re: "WordWrap" and temporary string storage

aburt@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu (Andrew Burt) writes: >I ran into lack of string storage recently too, and had to hack around it. >Frankly I'm very disappointed in 4gl, but that'll be the subject of another >message. I have a looooong wish list to type in. >(Preview: For all the hype around 4gl I'm incredulous it doesn't have >most of the features built in (eons ago) that keep recurring in the group >(e.g., highlighting in display array; displaying a list of an unknown number of >elements... I've got pages of ideas). To be quite honest, I find 4gl >pretty pathetic. My desire is also for something that is easy to >maintain when I'm done. Any language where the common solution to a >problem is to replicate code... shudder. >Note that my main reason for flaming is, shall we say, price/features. >I'm beginning to regret having agreed to use Informix for this project. Ah, what the heck, I'll stick my neck out on this one. Yes, I work for Informix, but I am also an Informix customer and I have been for 7 years. I certainly am biased ... but my bias was set long before I set my feet in 4300 Bohannon. I have been developing applications using Informix-4GL for 6 years while working for 3 different companies. I have also used a number of other tools, including BASIC, C, DBase, various other database software, and tools from a certain company in Redwood City that begins with the letter "O". I am a die-hard supporter of Informix-4GL because it is superior to the other tools I have used. One of the things I like about Informix-4GL is that it does NOT have all them "bells and whistles." This is also why I and many other people like C. Why have all those huge libraries filled with crud you'll never use? If you want the bells and whistles, you can always add them yourself. You can have highlighted display arrays rather easily using INPUT ARRAY. Yes, it would be nice if the feature were there with just one command, but it's not that hard to do it with a little more code. You can simulate dynamic arrays with temp tables; yeah, I know it's not exactly the same thing, but it will do in a pinch. And yes, I suppose there's a bug or two in 4GL, but I know of no bug-free software product. I started out on Altos 8086 boxes. I was truly amazed that Informix could have such good performance on such a slow box. A product full of CPU-and-memory-chewing bells-and-whistles would not work on such a box. I tried a certain forms tool from a certain company with the letter "O" on an Altos 68020 box ... and it was too slow to be useful. Even today, 4GL is ported to other small boxes like SCO machines. Its performance is still something to behold. If you don't believe me, compare it to some of those "bell and whistle" products. Their performance in multi-user environments ranges from horrible to unusable, even on big boxes like VAX 6200s. -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Randall Rhea Informix Software, Inc. Project Manager, MIS Sales/Marketing Systems uunet!pyramid!infmx!randall