Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

[SNusa]

Just wondering why I can't find this function in the X-basic Explorer: FORMAT_DATA() ~ ie: format_data(12,"$(B")

There are others too.... Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places, but I've checked everywhere. (At least I think I have.)

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Because someone didn't create the entry for it. Yes, there are plenty of others.

[G Gabriel]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Here.

[SNusa]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Because someone didn't create the entry for it. Yes, there are plenty of others.

Wow....
With a complete set, and a wildcard search feature ~ you'd have a great "off line" coding reference. (To take the place of the old .chm file!)

It a'so seems strange that you can't always get bubble help coding assistance unless you drag and drop from the system.a5 branch.
(identical entries without the a5 prefix don't always return bubble help, yet sometimes you can get it from the system branch.) ~ and then remove the a5 prefix.

It's a shame the entire set (of everything) is not "at your fingertips!"
Seems to me that getting all the objects and references into the XbE should be a priority for Alpha....

[G Gabriel]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

You should have waited one millisecond before posting. See above (post #3).

[SNusa]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

You should have waited one millisecond before posting. See above (post #3).

Thanks G, I had actually found the reference. I was just surprised all these are missing from the XbE....
I had figured the XbE would have been / should be a "comprehensive listing" of all things available to the coder......

Does anyone have any idea of how much is actually missing from there? (Is the XbE missing ~5%, or more like ~25%?)
I had been using the XbE to "visually scan" for new functions / methods, assuming it was a complete listing.....

The fact that it is not, is a bit dis-heartening as the XbE layout is particularly beneficial, as it categorizes "everything" (so I thought) under the appropriate node/object.....

Thus, I was thinking a wildcard search feature (within the XbE) would be great for finding new functions/methods & ways to do things. (but not if too much is missing.) ~Looks like I have to live in the wiki to do this, which adds steps to the complexity of coding X-basic....

~A comprehensive listing in the XbE aong with built in wildcard search (by tree branch/node [including all subs]) would benefit users in so many ways! Imagine: If Alpha also provided a "added to version X filter"..... Then when you upgrade to no versions, you could instantly review & explore all the new coding features available with each version released!....

XbE: Wildcard search & filter it.... Find it..., Drag it (use it).... (and let the bubble help do the rest)..... That's what I was thinking the XbE is/was/should&could be....

[csda1]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Hi Robert,

It's a shame the entire set (of everything) is not "at your fingertips!"
Seems to me that getting all the objects and references into the XbE should be a priority for Alpha....

Actually, I do have most of them at my fingertips. Practically the entire set of functions and methods (scripts too), which I've extracted with proprietary tools I developed.

The problem is not putting the functions etc into an XBasic Explorer, its leaving out the "junk". There are 10,000+ functions and methods in Alpha Five, and many of them are 1 or more of the following;

• Old obsolete code,
• Badly written code,
• highly specialized functions used by another piece of code,
• functions that do the same thing, but use variants of the parameters, (mostly because one Alpha Software coder did not know the other existed IMHO, so they "rolled" their own)
• Test code left in
• code from other versions
• etc.

Trust me that you don't want your head cluttered with much of this "junk". Even so, there are still too many "better" functions that few ever use or understand, much less get documented.

To give you an idea of the more useful fast and efficient XBasic functions and methods, see my Good A5 Functions to use tips.

[SNusa]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

..... Actually, I do have most of them at my fingertips. Practically the entire set of functions and methods (scripts too), which I've extracted with proprietary tools I developed..... The problem is not putting the functions etc into an XBasic Explorer, its leaving out the "junk". There are 10,000+ functions and methods in Alpha Five, and many of them are 1 or more of the following;.....

10,000+ WOW!!!!..... Thanks for the enlightenment Ira. (as usual)

This probably makes me come across as "ignorant" (definitely not "simple minded") ~ But (given the logic present in much of Alpha5) I was under the notion that: Somehow all the objects, x-basic itself, all functions & methods etc... were already internally "contained" (and organized) in some built-in /indexed database which could easily be "mapped to the XbE...... I'm almost a little bit surprised they are not. (But then again, I am merely "looking from the outside in."

[G Gabriel]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

As far as I know just about any function is listed including the system ones, some however are not documented.
The ones that are not listed you might find in "What's new in v...(latest version)".
As usual, documentation always falls behind development.

[SNusa]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

To give you an idea of the more useful fast and efficient XBasic functions and methods, see my Good A5 Functions to use tips.

Ira: Under your Tips section ~ "Using Dates in Databases", I saw this:

"The reason for this it automatically orders the data by year, then month then day. If used in a filename, particularly at the beginning, it allows easy sorting by date by sorting by the filename."

Why do you suppose that Alpha doesn't follow conventions like this?
For example when exporting a script.... The backup appends the date in the name in a non sort-able fashion.... ie: "editcustomerxdialog - 02-17-2012 -1.txt" ~ Using naming conventions like this are "illogical" and have always irritated me. (And poor default naming conventions like this are so prevalent in the computing world!)

[csda1]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Hi Robert,

Why do you suppose that Alpha doesn't follow conventions like this?

I don't make the rules for Alpha Software. Consequences of changing the filename in most cases would be minimal or non-existent.

For example when exporting a script.... The backup appends the date in the name in a non sort-able fashion.... ie: "editcustomerxdialog - 02-17-2012 -1.txt".........(And poor default naming conventions like this are so prevalent in the computing world!)

But it requires dedication to create and stick to a naming scheme, and this applies everywhere. E.g. Function naming, parameter naming, etc. Much of this is discovered by writing an application for real life, and targeting multiple users. Read Cal's Naming Convention document and you will see other ideas, not all of them identical to what I do, but gives you a good basis for nomenclature methods that work well with Alpha Five (or for that matter, anything)

An example of my own. I have used many naming schemes for digital media, but the one that has worked universally for me and others is the format yyyymmdd_ab##_description.ext where ab is a two letter media source (e.g. ip for my name), and ## is a 0 filled sequence number for the day (extended to as many digits as needed). Ext was simply the original extension. In my case, ab is normally null except for other sources, and description normally has event, location or photo subject(s) in it, with no spaces and underscores used in lieu of spaces. I once gave 15000 photos to someone, and they said they could always find precisely the image they needed in very short order because of the naming the convention for a yearbook they were making.

[aschone]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Robert -

You are free to change the naming when you run the script/udf export. You can also roll your own script/udf export that names the file in a fashion you prefer. For me having the date scheme go month, day, year is logical and how I would expect to see a date value in text format. If you want to sort on the date value you have the option to sort on date modified or date created instead of the file name.

[csda1]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Hi Andrew,

You are free to change the naming when you run the script/udf export.

You can, but it's still a pain. Alpha could even create a template for you as a setting for the format. My CSDA Screen Capture for Alpha Five does that so you can have a format of your choosing for each screen save.

You can also roll your own script/udf export that names the file in a fashion you prefer.

I have. It's not that easy if you want compatibility with Alpha Five's script/udf import. But that very feature is built into my CSDA Code Utility for Alpha Five, but there are many other places as well that the issue comes up.

For me having the date scheme go month, day, year is logical and how I would expect to see a date value in text format.

Boy, that's very "American centric" (and I was born and bred American). I wonder what the people in the UK and Europe would say? Wouldn't it be better to have one format for all?

If you want to sort on the date value you have the option to sort on date modified or date created instead of the file name.

Create dates can get modified with some copy and archiving procedures. And modify dates can be changed every time you open it up in some editors. Wouldn't it be better to have a consistent format that isn't normally changed you can sort easily?

And whether you know it or not, a date or long time field in DBFs store the date portion in the yyyymmdd format, despite the format you enter and view it in.

[aschone]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Sorry I posted my opinions on the matter. Ignore my previous post.

[csda1]

Re: Functions Missing From Xbasic Explorer?

Hi Andrew,

Sorry I posted my opinions on the matter. Ignore my previous post.

Don't be sorry. Meaningful discussions, good or bad, often lead to better ideas and solutions. Many of my best ideas in coding often come from a supposedly inconsequential comment some one else made. Hopefully, my comments let you think about other ways, and I realize not every one sees things the same way, and not everyone has had the same experiences. We all learn from each other.

But one thing that may be relevant is how does a right-to-left language (such as Hebrew), adjust to a left-to-write number embedded in text? I'm not sure, and maybe the need is there for a ddmmyyyy format as well when creating filenames for that language?