Programming

[02-Apr-2008]
Artistic Style 1.22 released:   Artistic Style 1.22 has been released. Artistic Style is a source code indenter, formatter, and beautifier for the C, C++, C# and Java programming languages. This version corrects a number of bugs, adds recursive directory handling, and internalizes wildcard processing. Additionally, a Java Native Interface version and a sharable image version have been provided, allowing Artistic Style to be easily incorporated into other programs such as IDEs. More information and the links to download the package can be found at the Artistic Style home page. (99 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

[24-Mar-2008]
It's (nearly) always your fault:   Having worked both as an application programmer and a systems manager, Jeff's article on accepting that bugs are most likely in your code rings all too true. (40 words, 2 comments, 0 pings)

[05-Dec-2007]
Common file qualifier routines:   Did you know there is a standard mechanism for implementing the common file selection qualifiers such as /EXCLUDE, /BEFORE, /SINCE, and so on? These are the UTIL$CQUAL_* routines, documented in the Utility Routines Manual. (71 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

[16-Oct-2007]
Debugging tricks, part 2:   In Part 1, we saw that the OpenVMS debugger could be invoked dynamically via a call to lib$signal. This is rather cool, but even better is that you can pass commands directly to the debugger. If you have ever had an end user call you up to report an error, and after you've asked them to read you the message and traceback they say Oh, I don't have it on the screen any more, then this trick is for you. (260 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

[15-Oct-2007]
Debugging tricks, part 1:   Back in the days of VMS on VAX, a standard trick for software developers was to use the PATCH command to turn off the debug bit in an image file that had been compiled and linked with the /DEBUG qualifier. In this way, the image could be deployed into production with full debugging symbol tables available, allowing the developers to flip one bit to obtain full debug support if required for troubleshooting. A more elegant way to achieve the same functionality today is to directly invoke the debugger from your image. (305 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

[16-Sep-2007]
PCRE for VMS:   I'm sure someone has done it before, but as I couldn't find a definitive reference to it on the web, I've ported PCRE to VMS. I'm in the middle of testing it at the moment, but I don't foresee any errors... (41 words, 2 comments, 0 pings)

[25-Jun-2007]
Artistic Style 1.21:   Artistic Style 1.21 has been released. This version officially supports OpenVMS. Yay! You can read all about it and download the kit at the Artistic Style Sourceforge page. The OpenVMS kit contains an 8.2 Alpha executable image and all the object code (including the C++ repository objects) required to link the image in case you don't have the C++ compiler. Issues with the OpenVMS port can be directed to me via this website. (74 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

[30-May-2007]
Compression/Expansion Routines:   Hoff is talking about compression/expansion techniques available on OpenVMS over on this blog entry. Reading about DCX$ routines took me... (79 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

[25-May-2007]
Analyzing RMS indexed files:   There have been some recent discussions on C.O.V concerning RMS indexed file metadata. A number of years ago, there was... (84 words, 2 comments, 0 pings)

[08-Mar-2007]
gen.com:   I developed a DCL procedure the other day to stamp build version information in image headers. Perhaps others may find this useful as a starting point in writing their own. (732 words, 0 comments, 0 pings)

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