Steve, I seem to recall an article many years ago in Paradox Informant which
described a way of keeping focus on a "coedited" record as it jumped to its
proper location within a table. I'm a bit vague on the details, but I *have*
seen it happen when stepping through a script as it processed records, and
whatever fix was described in the magazine is NOT in place here. If I'm
stepping through a new script and it's important to keep records sorted "as
is" while I'm watching the action, is there another way? Keep in mind, too,
that I said I usually test scripts on BACKUPS of data tables, not the
originals, and then change EDITKEY to COEDITKEY after I'm positive that
things work the way I want.

How would you handle this process?


"Steven Green" <greens (AT) diamondsg (DOT) com> wrote

"flyaway" only happens when you change the key field of records, or
add/delete records.. if that is what you're doing, there *is* a massive
difference between Edit and CoEdit.. the snippet you're looking for is

POSTRECORD LEAVELOCKED

no matter what platform you use, if you don't test and deploy in the same
environment, sooner or later you're gonna get burned..

--
Steven Green - Waldorf Maryland USA

Diamond Software Group
http://www.diamondsg.com/main.htm
Paradox Support & Sales - Corel CTech Paradox

Diamond Sports Gems
http://www.diamondsg.com/gemsmain.htm
Sports Memorabilia and Trading Cards

"JoeSpareBedroom" <dishborealis (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

But that's the basic issue, Joe, that we're driving at... It may not be as
simple as just changing that line of code without running ALL the tests all
over again... The behaviour may be significantly different - or may not -
you should assume the former, especially if you're changing "keys",
locking/unlocking specific records for updates, etc, etc!!

Ie, if the L-I-V-E app M-U-S-T have EDIT mode somewhere, then use it;
otherwise NEVER use it. I've written some PDoxDOS apps since the DOS version
3.5 was "brand new", and I've never, ever, had a reason to use EDIT. I've
extensively used some of the major "libraries" and utils over the years -
especially WPP - and I expect that EDIT is NEVER used in any of them.

Just my 2p...
- Mike

"Michael Kennedy" <Info (AT) KennedySoftware (DOT) ie> wrote

Without belaboring the point, are you more likely to run into disasters when
using EDIT with connected tables, as opposed to a table which is not, and
never was related to another?

the more tables you're working with, the worse it can get..

Edit mode marks all indexes as obsolete, then holds *ALL* changes in memory
until you hit F2.. then tries to sequentially apply your changes to the
"old" version of the table.. if your changes are applied to key fields,
there are scenarios where multiple changes can be applied to the updated
versions of records, and your records get absorbed and deleted.. there is a
famous example that starts with 10 records and results in one record.. if
power "blips" occur while the changes are pending, the data itself can
become hosed.. I could go on in detail, but that *would* be belaboring the
point.. there are a gazillion things that can be something other than
WYSIWYG when you do this..

also, and perhaps more important, is that scans, posts, locks, and
concurrent actions by other users work differently when Edit mode and CoEdit
mode are used.. even w/o the disasters, you can't test in Edit and deploy in
CoEdit.. it is *NOT* the same thing..

--
Steven Green - Waldorf Maryland USA

Diamond Software Group
http://www.diamondsg.com/main.htm
Paradox Support & Sales - Corel CTech Paradox

Diamond Sports Gems
http://www.diamondsg.com/gemsmain.htm
Sports Memorabilia and Trading Cards

Steve has covered many issues already...

"Connected" in PDoxDOS means very little at the raw Paradox level. Mainly
used for "lookups", in complex forms/reports...... Therefore, IMO, disasters
should not be significantly "more likely" with connected tables. Personally,
I don't know how smart/stupid Edit is, if, for example, "lookup" fields are
being changed within Edit.

However, the entire Paradox engine - from at least version 3.5 - is designed
for SHARING data, and Edit has no concept of Sharing... I think Edit was
left in 3.5 / 4.0 / 4.5 for backward compatibility. And if you use Edit,
then your apps will have no Sharing ability - which may suit your specific
situation. As I mentioned already, switching between Edit concepts and
CoEdit concepts usually involves MAJOR surgery in an app.

....sorry for going on...

- Mike

"Michael Kennedy" <Info (AT) KennedySoftware (DOT) ie> wrote

That's OK! And, I'm not arguing that EDIT is fine in all instances. It was
interesting to read what Steve presented, in terms of the risks with even a
freestanding table, which is what 100% of my work involves. Although I had
to poke him a bit, he explained why EDIT can be risky even for those tables.
In addition to my other 318 responsibilities here, I receive customers' data
files whose quality ranges from "I love you for this", to "How much heroin
did you mainline before making this file?" The data ends up in Pdox tables
which are never edited by the users. Only I modify them, and only when new
data arrives monthly or quarterly, or a user asks for a different
appearance.

Anyway....I digress. As of late yesterday afternoon, this thread seemed
obsolete because the source of the data I'm working on sent an Excel file
which was perfect. It eliminated the need to run the data through Paradox.
When I asked the source if I'd be blessed with this nice file from now on,
he said "If I can remember how I did it".

OK. But, you now "know" the risks you're taking (I hope <g>).

Ah, ahaa - that explains it. Just starting out, eh???

<g>

I assume the FORM of the file (Excel, Paradox, CSV, whatever) has NO impact
on the quality, but that "The Source" found some better way to compose it
for you.

- Mike

"Michael Kennedy" <Info (AT) KennedySoftware (DOT) ie> wrote

Actually, it's been this way for 14 years at this company. Family biz, big
numbers, small staff.


Well, all files were in Excel format. One set came with UPCs and no in-house
codes. The next came with the opposite. Some came without list prices, some
did. We finally convinced him to pick just one, since he'll be sending it
often. He was initially resistant to the idea, but since it means lots of
business for him......he changed his mind.