Re: Rapid development system?

Paul@ecles.demon.co.uk (Paul Eccleston) writes: >Hello everybody. >I use Informix 4gl version 4.00 (The compile to C version) >on an IBM RS6000 model 320, I'm thing of purchasing the Rapid Development >System so that I can use the Interactive Debugger. >I'm worried because I've heard that there are incompatability issues >with the two versions. Has anybody any advice? Differences are minor. RDS initializes variables (to NULL for CHARs, 0 for numeric, and 12/31/1899 for DATEs), while in c compiled (and as good coding practice) variable initialization is done by the programmer. There are some bugs in RDS not manifested in c- ompiled and vice versa, but nothing too severe (the most frustrating one I can think of off the top of my head is that WORDWRAP in a report doesn't work as well in RDS as it does in compiled, meaning that you might pound at a problem in RDS that isn't any kind of problem in compiled). To err on the side of caution, I'd suggest a final test in c-compiled before rolling code into production, but I wouldn't spend a major amount of time on it. >How useful is the Interactive Debugger? My stock answer is that RDS cut my development time in half over what it took me in c compiled (although I get a lot less magazine reading done waiting for compiles), and the Debugger cut it in half again. I find it useful to the point of frustration when it's *not* available at a client site (back to good old DISPLAY "TEST: ..." statements). I learned to use the Debugger enough for it to me useful to me in about 90 minutes one Saturday afternoon, and have learned more by using it ever since. ======================================================================= Dennis J. Pimple dennisp@informix.com Opinions expressed Senior Consultant -------------------- are mine, and do not Informix Software Inc Voice: 303-850-0210 necessarily reflect Denver Colorado USA Fax: 303-779-4025 those of my employer.