Re: Debug in WDSC

[Vernon Hamberg <vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Y'all

I agree with Greg's comments - esp. about compiling SQL - this is no 
different than the problem in SEU of taking F15 then 2 to see the 
spooled file - it will not come up automatically as it does for 
non-SQL, IIRC. There are some parameters one can change to help, such 
as put the intermediate source somewhere other than QTEMP - but it is 
not pretty - and it is NOT the fault of WDSC as such - IBM really 
needs to fix this mess all over the place. Especially since they are 
pushing SQL so hard - don't make it hard to use.

I have had a love-hate relationship with WDSC and its predecessors 
since about 1997 - Early versions of CODE/400 and VARPG were not my 
favorite things, and I eventually just did not use them. Then along 
came WDCS - and it is a bear! But in the long haul it has been much 
more productive for me - most especially in longer and larger 
projects - the ability to have multiple edit windows open is very 
helpful, the ability to see much more of the code, a very nice search 
mechanism that extends FNDSTRPDM in a great way - there is a lot to 
say in favor of WDSC. And we use Turnover, which has a very neat 
perspective in WDSC - they've bet the farm on it, it seems.

Now here's a tip for finding errors in SEU - Greg, you said you have 
to do a text search. Actually, if you have the split window with the 
output in the lower half, just put *err on the command line and press 
F16 - it'll proceed from error to error - and you can put the cursor 
on the message text and press F1 to get details, as for all messages 
on the iSeries. You can't do this in any text search within just the 
spooled file, whether in WRKSPLF or in the SoftLanding plugin.

Regards
Vern

At 07:26 AM 10/25/2006, you wrote:

> |So far I am not impressed with the quality of WDSC.  It seems to have
> |been released as a pre-beta version with many "GOTCHA's" such as the
> |compile errors in SQLRPGLE and the conversion problem with embedded SQL
> |and the fact that you can't create a DSPF only maintain it the same for
> |PRTF.
>
> Bill,
>
> As others have tried to point out, your first complaint about SQLRPGLE
> compiles is not a problem with WDSC.  The reason you only notice it in
> WDSC is that you are trying to use a feature that is not available at
> all in SEU, namely the autmatic display and location of compile errors,
> which does work very well for non-SQL programs.  In SEU, you still have
> to do a text search through your compile listing, whether the source is
> SQL or RPGLE.
>
> It is the nature of how the SQL precompiler works on the Iseries which
> will not allow this feature to work in WDSC for SQL programs.
>
> A tip: get the free WDSC plugin from Softlanding.  It will enable you to
> view your spooled files in RSE, so at least you can do the same text
> search of your SQL compiles and find your errors without having to open
> a green screen session.
>
> As for your second complaint about DSPF,  you can't work with display
> files in SEU any better than you can in RSE.  On the green screen, you
> have to use SDA.  Likewise, from RSE, you can launch CODE, which I find
> a lot easier to work with than SDA.  It is just as easy to launch Code's
> screen designer from RSE as it is to launch SDA from SEU.
>
> I think perhaps you have a predisposition to be skeptical of WDSC, and
> this causes you to perceive each molehill you encounter during the
> learning curve to be a mountain.
>
> I started using WDSC about a year ago, and have found it very useful.
> Along the way, I ran into some little issues like yours as well, but
> each time I assumed it was because there was something I didn't know
> about how to use the tool properly, and this has generally turned out to
> be correct.  The archives of this newsgroup have almost always been
> sufficient to point me in the right direction, and when they haven't,
> asking a question here has always done the trick.
>
> Greg