{"id":70,"date":"2010-11-16T21:30:52","date_gmt":"2010-11-16T21:30:52","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-11-16T21:30:52","modified_gmt":"2010-11-16T21:30:52","slug":"disappearing-application","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.icetips.com\/blog_wp\/2010\/11\/16\/disappearing-application\/","title":{"rendered":"Disappearing application…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I'm sure we have all seen this from time to time! We run our newly compiled program only to have it disappear all of a sudden for no apparent reason. We search and search and search... Finally we find, using whatever debugging methods we choose, that the program goes down when it assigns a value to a variable. Doesn't make any sense at all until we, hours later, realize that the darn variable is a REFERENCE variable! Yep, we accidentally hit the \"Reference\" checkbox on the column property window.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

This looks all so simple and happy, doesn't it? <\/p>\n

But there is a deadly problem lurking on that window that is so easy<\/u> to overlook! <\/p>\n

Do you see what it is? <\/p>\n

No? <\/p>\n

Look again!<\/p>\n

The \"Reference\" checkbox! <\/b><\/p>\n

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In the past years I have probably lost more time to this than anything else and it is nobody's fault but my own! <\/p>\n

It happens once in a while and that is the problem. If it happened every day I'd expect it, but it happens perhaps every 3 months or so. <\/p>\n

I'm still not sure what I do to accidentally check it! The hot key for it is Alt-F and I'm very used to very quickly hit Alt-F-S to save. Years ago I found that key combination to be easier and more universal than Ctrl-S for Save so I stuck with Alt-F-S and I'm wondering if that's what I'm accidentally doing. Or maybe I accidentally click on it. Don't know. <\/p>\n

Whatever the reason is, every so often I check the \"Reference\" checkbox and it's always when I'm implementing something new. So I, rather logically, assume that it is whatever new I'm adding, not that new variable I just added. After all, what in the world could go wrong when creating a simple variable? As it turns out, quite a lot can go wrong;) <\/p>\n

So what happens when you try to assign the \"July 31, 2009\" date value to a reference variable? Chances are very good that the program is going to fall over in a dramatic way - no GPF, no nothing. It just disappears! It is unlikely that the value 76186 is pointing to anything useful! <\/p>\n

It would be nice if a warning message was implemented in Clarion 7 as an option so that it would warn when the Reference checkbox was checked when creating or modifying a variable with something like: \"Are you sure you want to create a Reference variable?\" or \"Are you sure you want to change \"Loc:FromDate\" into a Reference variable (&Loc:FromDate)?\" It would save me some time and definitely some frustration when I accidentally check the \"Reference checkbox\"!<\/p>\n

Happy bug hunting:)<\/p>\n

Arnor Baldvinsson<\/p>\n

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I'm sure we have all seen this from time to time! We run our newly compiled program only to have it disappear all of a sudden for no apparent reason. We search and search and search... Finally we find, using whatever debugging methods we choose, that the program goes down when it assigns a value ...continue reading Disappearing application…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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