| Re: disable keyword "short forms" [message #89759 is a reply to message #89758] |
Tue, 02 December 2014 03:55  |
markb77
Messages: 217
Registered: July 2006
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Senior Member |
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On Monday, December 1, 2014 8:49:31 PM UTC+1, Chris Torrence wrote:
> On Monday, December 1, 2014 5:27:22 AM UTC-7, superchromix wrote:
>> hi,
>>
>> Is there a compiler option that I can use to turn off the "feature" that allows you to specify a keyword using only the first few characters of the keyword name?
>>
>> This is an AWFUL feature of IDL.. especially when it comes to object programming.
>>
>> I have an object, MYOBJ, that inherits IDLgrModel, for example. Now, one of the properties of MYOBJ is "Hidetext". This compiles and runs with no errors.. however, this is a serious bug. When you try to set the HIDE property of MYOBJ, it doesn't work, because IDL thinks you are trying to set "Hidetext" instead.
>>
>> This "short form keywords" feature is, therefore, a surefire way to generate bugs. Fix please?
>>
>> thanks
>> Mark
>
> Hi Mark,
>
> Well, unfortunately, that decision was made about 30 years ago, at the dawn of IDL. It's probably a holdover from the days when "real programmers" just used variables that were a single character. I can't tell you how many places in IDL's C code where I've discovered a variable "i" that actually points to some huge important C structure.
>
> There's no way to disable this behavior, and it isn't going to change - it's too deeply embedded in the interpreter. Annoying, I know.
>
> There are some "tricks" you can do with _REF_EXTRA to get keywords to work that start with the same characters, but I wouldn't recommend it because it will just confuse people who are actually expecting the goofy behavior.
>
> Sorry,
>
> Chris
> ExelisVIS
hi Chris,
Thanks for the response. Perhaps, rather than changing the way the interpreter works, something could be added which could give a warning at compilation? For example, Eclipse itself should be able to see the Get/Set-able properties of the object and its superclasses. Could Eclipse give us a warning when there are two properties starting with the same characters?
thanks
Mark
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