IDE (?) changes "position" parameters = NN to NN.0 & removes explicit declarations if they are the defaults

[Rod Pope]

I've looked in the bug reports, the programming area and the IDE newsgroup but couldn't find the answer to this question. If I'm debugging code, I'll use the source editor in the IDE. If I'm writing a lot of code or making mass changes, I'll use a third party source editor outside of the IDE. It "appears" that the source editor in dBase Plus 2.6.5.1 (we recently upgraded from Visual dBase 7.1) makes non-requested changes to position parameters (i.e. height, width, top, etc.) and removes explicit declaration lines for class parameters that otherwise would be default (e.g. Metric = 0).

The changes to position parameters are adding a decimal point & a zero (xx.0) when an integer measurement (xx) was specified.

Now, of course, none of these "changes" make any difference in the execution, HOWEVER, it makes a huge difference to the workload for configuration management.

We use WINMERGE to compare ready-to-release code with the currently approved code (previous release, etc.) to make sure ONLY the changes intended will be incorporated. With this apparent change to the source editor, there will be hundreds of "miscompares" for these non-requested changes obfuscating the "real" changes.

Is there a .INI parameter or option to avoid this?

[Ken Mayer [dBVIPS]]

Post by Rod Pope
I've looked in the bug reports, the programming area and the IDE newsgroup but couldn't find the answer to this question. If I'm debugging code, I'll use the source editor in the IDE. If I'm writing a lot of code or making mass changes, I'll use a third party source editor outside of the IDE. It "appears" that the source editor in dBase Plus 2.6.5.1 (we recently upgraded from Visual dBase 7.1) makes non-requested changes to position parameters (i.e. height, width, top, etc.) and removes explicit declaration lines for class parameters that otherwise would be default (e.g. Metric = 0).
The changes to position parameters are adding a decimal point & a zero (xx.0) when an integer measurement (xx) was specified.
Now, of course, none of these "changes" make any difference in the execution, HOWEVER, it makes a huge difference to the workload for configuration management.
We use WINMERGE to compare ready-to-release code with the currently approved code (previous release, etc.) to make sure ONLY the changes intended will be incorporated. With this apparent change to the source editor, there will be hundreds of "miscompares" for these non-requested changes obfuscating the "real" changes.
Is there a .INI parameter or option to avoid this?

When you bring a form into the designer, and make any changes, a save
re-writes the whole thing. The fun thing is, as you note, things like
position options get the .0 -- this is because that is how it is read in
memory. I do not think there is a way to turn that off. Rather, embrace
it, and make sure that the code you're comparing to in WINMERGE sees the
.0, and so on ...

I know it may not be what you wanted to hear, but ...

Ken
--
/(Opinions expressed are purely my own, not those of dataBased
Intelligence, Inc.)/

*Ken Mayer* [dBVIPS]
/Golden Stag Productions/
dBASE at goldenstag dot net
http://www.goldenstag.net/GSP
http://www.goldenstag.net/dbase/dBASEBooks.htm
http://www.goldenstag.net/dbase

[Rod Pope]

Ken,

Thanks for the reply. We've been using the WINMERGE compare technique for a long time. This never happened under Visual dBase 7.1. Does just opening the form in design mode make the "changes"? If so, I could set up a separate folder and put all the approved code files (some of which haven't changed since 1997) in it and then open them all.

Post by Ken Mayer [dBVIPS]

Post by Rod Pope
I've looked in the bug reports, the programming area and the IDE newsgroup but couldn't find the answer to this question. If I'm debugging code, I'll use the source editor in the IDE. If I'm writing a lot of code or making mass changes, I'll use a third party source editor outside of the IDE. It "appears" that the source editor in dBase Plus 2.6.5.1 (we recently upgraded from Visual dBase 7.1) makes non-requested changes to position parameters (i.e. height, width, top, etc.) and removes explicit declaration lines for class parameters that otherwise would be default (e.g. Metric = 0).
The changes to position parameters are adding a decimal point & a zero (xx.0) when an integer measurement (xx) was specified.
Now, of course, none of these "changes" make any difference in the execution, HOWEVER, it makes a huge difference to the workload for configuration management.
We use WINMERGE to compare ready-to-release code with the currently approved code (previous release, etc.) to make sure ONLY the changes intended will be incorporated. With this apparent change to the source editor, there will be hundreds of "miscompares" for these non-requested changes obfuscating the "real" changes.
Is there a .INI parameter or option to avoid this?

When you bring a form into the designer, and make any changes, a save
re-writes the whole thing. The fun thing is, as you note, things like
position options get the .0 -- this is because that is how it is read in
memory. I do not think there is a way to turn that off. Rather, embrace
it, and make sure that the code you're comparing to in WINMERGE sees the
.0, and so on ...
I know it may not be what you wanted to hear, but ...
Ken
--
/(Opinions expressed are purely my own, not those of dataBased
Intelligence, Inc.)/
*Ken Mayer* [dBVIPS]
/Golden Stag Productions/
dBASE at goldenstag dot net
http://www.goldenstag.net/GSP
http://www.goldenstag.net/dbase/dBASEBooks.htm
http://www.goldenstag.net/dbase

[Ken Mayer [dBVIPS]]

Post by Rod Pope
Ken,
Thanks for the reply. We've been using the WINMERGE compare technique for a long time. This never happened under Visual dBase 7.1. Does just opening the form in design mode make the "changes"? If so, I could set up a separate folder and put all the approved code files (some of which haven't changed since 1997) in it and then open them all.

I think you have to change *something*, but it can be as simple as
moving the form on the screen, then saving it ...

Ken
--
/(Opinions expressed are purely my own, not those of dataBased
Intelligence, Inc.)/

*Ken Mayer* [dBVIPS]
/Golden Stag Productions/
dBASE at goldenstag dot net
http://www.goldenstag.net/GSP
http://www.goldenstag.net/dbase/dBASEBooks.htm
http://www.goldenstag.net/dbase

[Geoff Wass [dBVIPS]]

Post by Rod Pope
I've looked in the bug reports, the programming area and the IDE newsgroup but couldn't find the answer to this question. If I'm debugging code, I'll use the source editor in the IDE. If I'm writing a lot of code or making

mass changes, I'll use a third party source editor outside of the IDE. It "appears" that the source editor in dBase Plus 2.6.5.1 (we recently upgraded from Visual dBase 7.1) makes non-requested changes to position parameters
(i.e. height, width, top, etc.) and removes explicit declaration lines for class parameters that otherwise would be default (e.g. Metric = 0).

Post by Rod Pope
The changes to position parameters are adding a decimal point & a zero (xx.0) when an integer measurement (xx) was specified.
Now, of course, none of these "changes" make any difference in the execution, HOWEVER, it makes a huge difference to the workload for configuration management.
We use WINMERGE to compare ready-to-release code with the currently approved code (previous release, etc.) to make sure ONLY the changes intended will be incorporated. With this apparent change to the source editor, there will

be hundreds of "miscompares" for these non-requested changes obfuscating the "real" changes.

Post by Rod Pope
Is there a .INI parameter or option to avoid this?

Rod,

This change in the display of numbers happened some years ago. There
nothing you can do about it.

[Bruce Beacham]

If I'm debugging code, I'll use the source editor in the IDE. ...It
"appears" that the source editor in dBase Plus 2.6.5.1 (we recently
upgraded from Visual dBase 7.1) makes non-requested changes to
position parameters (i.e. height, width, top, etc.) and removes
explicit declaration lines for class parameters that otherwise would
be default (e.g. Metric = 0).

This is only done by the designer. If you merely use the source code
editor from the command prompt ( modi comm
<sourcecodefile>.prg/.wfm/.cc/etc ) you will not trigger such changes
even if you alter the code in the methods.


Bruce Beacham