Re: Function Numbering

Dave Ingledew writes: > > I've been using numbered functions for some time now and after the > initial shock they can be very useful. > > I was introduced to them when working on code written by Mach4 > Software U.K... Interesting comments dropped. When I came here my coworkers were printing out code, sticking it into notebooks and doing this sort of thing. Means that every week they had to print the code again. AND that when they were walking three levels down they had to be flipping pages all over to routines. The notebook itself was just full of tabs. Just the time spent printing and filing code was intense, not to mention the trees killed in the process. Its fine if only three programs changed that week, but when 20 change? So I wrote a little utility called 'lookat' (surprise), There was already a utility to search the source tree for function names which was then stuck in a file and put in the front of the notebook as a TOC. This initial utility essentially created a file of function names and the programs they occured in. To run 'lookat' you pass it a function name or filename (anything its likely to find in the index with a grep). Lookat then displays the file names of where this function is defined (according to the index) and asks you which one you want. You tell it which one to look at and it edits the file using 'view' (read only) positioning you to the first occurence of the function name. If the function name is only defined in one file in the index then it doesn't bother asking you which file, it just goes into it. Aside from saving time and trees, it is now a whole lot easier to keep your train of thought. ("ok, I've found a_100_fix_me_up(), now why was I looking for it?"). I believe that counters your point - not that your method is wrong, I just still don't see a currently valid reason for function numbers. cheers j. _____________________________________________________________________________ Jack Parker - Hewlett Packard, BSMC Boise, Idaho, USA jparker@hpbs3645.boi.hp.com _____________________________________________________________________________ Don't Panic - HHGTTG _____________________________________________________________________________ Any opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of my employers. _____________________________________________________________________________