Re: Informix news release in my mailbox

In article <355befc2.1079234@news.newmedia.no>, Nils Myklebust <Nils.Myklebust@nmdata.com> writes > >>- OPEN WINDOW window_name in a variable > >Of course, except that open window is in itself a design error. There ??? >should have been a define window that didn't open anything at all. >Then you could have used current window is at will anywhere in your >application. Surely the you don't define the window before the first time you need to make it current do you? defining a window and not immediately making it current would be a waste of resources... OPEN = DEFINE+MAKE CURRENT! > >You do need a way to find out what is the current window Agreed, this is something that is really needed. I used to support a very large app which could have up to 40 windows open at the same time search-> results list -> item view -> connections list -> item view ...up to 20 lists deep! Of course these windows were different sizes and failing to close one on the way back up the 'stack' would mean the because window 17 was still open a display in window 2 would be outside the limits of the current window! The amount of time it took to find the problem was vast! Especially when an error window was displayed only if an error message need to displayed i.e. the open was amongst nested if statements and the close was in the wrong place!! I did ask Informi Tech Support but they do not track which window is current by name. Looking at the generated C code 4GL uses an _EFwindow struct which has hte variable name defined after the window. Only the form name is available... >so you could open a window at the start of a function and go back to >whatever was the current window before that without closing the opened >window. A stack of windows doesn't work. You need to say: > Why do you need to do that? Surely a function should free any resources it creates? (MEmory leak!!) >let p_lastwindow = current_window -- a built in variable >current window is w_somewindow >-- use this window >current window is p_lastwindow -- back to last window > -- without closing anything. > >And then of course: >display ..... > in window w_window >which didn't have to be the current window. > >>You know, stuff that would ease our lives as 4GL programmers, letting us >>do the kind of things C (and ESQL) programmers can do. > >Yes, but someone need to go through that list and update it. It's out >of date. If I had planned on using 4GL a lot more I would have done it >now that Informix is putting more resources into 4GL. However as I am >moving away from it as fast as I can (using Java instead) I am not the >right person. I do however think it would be a good idea for someone >more interested to do that. The IIUG should however clear this with >Informix first, to see how real the interest and ability to do >something about it is. There is even a tools group in the advocacy >program for this purpose. It's lead by Malcolm Weallans >(malcolm@iiug.org), but there is no list to post to. > I contact Malcolm.. >>Any Informed persons out there to offer a knowledgeable opinion? >You judge. > > >Nils Myklebust >NM Data AS >Norway >E-mail: Nils.Myklebust@nmdata.com >FAQ at: http://www.iiug.org/techinfo/faq/faq_top.html >(Now with ODBC info under "Third party products".) -- David Williams Maintainer of the Informix FAQ Primary site (Beta Version) http://www.smooth1.demon.co.uk Official site http://www.iiug.org/techinfo/faq/faq_top.html I see you standin', Standin' on your own, It's such a lonely place for you, For you to be If you need a shoulder, Or if you need a friend, I'll be here standing, Until the bitter end... So don't chastise me Or think I, I mean you harm... All I ever wanted Was for you To know that I care