Correct Syntax???!!!

[David Burgun]

On 26 Mar 2006, at 18:41, J. Landman Gay wrote:

> David Burgun wrote:
>
> > I think we are talking about two similar things here and they are
> > getting muddled!
>
> Very possible. :) You know, the best thing would be if you would  
> create a demo stack and post it to RevOnline or somewhere else  
> where people could look at it. That would do a lot to clear up any  
> misunderstandings and would make your technique much easier to  
> follow than a text description on the list.

Yes, I am intending on doing just that! The problem is that I have  
some changes I just have to make to ISM before it is fit for use by  
anyone else! You know stuff that I am aware of but haven't gotton  
around to changing yet. Also I am sure that the way it is coded in no  
where near optimum and so is slower than it need be. I think I could  
make good use of the "@" keyword.

For instance I have a function that is internal to ISM:

function ISMGetMessageArray
   local myArrayName
   local myArray

   put "cpISM_MessaageArray_" into myArrayName
   put customProperties[myArrayName] of me into myArray

   return myArray
end ISMGetMessageArray

Does this copy all the whole array each time it is called? If so, is  
there a way I can just return a reference to the array so that if I  
do this:

put ISMGetMessageArray() into myMessageArray
put <something> into myMessageArray[key] into myMessageArray

Affects the array in the  custom property, not the local copy?

Right now I am doing this:

put ISMGetMessageArray() into myMessageArray
put <something> into myMessageArray[key] into myMessageArray
get  ISMSetMessageArray(myMessageArray)

Which AFAIK means that the whole array is being copied twice!

I was going to change the code so that it references "customProperties 
[myArrayName] of me" directly which I'm sure would be faster but  
makes the code less readable.

Any ideas???
>
> > I wasn't really aiming that remark at you personally or anyone  
> on  this
> > list. I was actually a bit hacked off with the attitude of   
> someone I
> > work with who won't even look at anything unless it's coded  in C+ 
> +! I
> > had just gotton off the phone with him when I wrote it and  I  
> suppose it
> > bubbled over into this discussion. Please accept my  sincere  
> apologies
> > if I caused offense. You have been of great help to  me in on the  
> list
> > in the past and I would like to take this  opportunely to say  
> "THANKS A
> > LOT".
>
> No problem, and you are very welcome. I want to pay forward, as  
> they say. Lots of people helped me when I was learning, and I feel  
> I owe something back.
>
> I have a deep, long-standing love of xtalk and anything we can do  
> to promote it is good. Tell your co-worker they are all wet. ;)  
> Someone else on the list had a similar situation and took up a  
> project that would have taken a C programmer months to complete. He  
> finished it in 2 weeks. The boss was convinced. You could try the  
> same, if there is an opportunity. Watch their jaw drop. Smirking in  
> response is allowed.

I've actually done this 3 times now! I finished a project a little  
while back. When I first started we have a day long meeting with the  
product manager and agreed the initial GUI. I said I would code it  
and let him have an initial offering ASAP.

I sent the 99% finished GUI back to him 3 days later and the product  
manager was totally gob-smacked! He said he was used to dealing with  
a C++ programmer that would take over a month to produce what I had  
done in RunRev in 3 days!

In that project I wrote a couple of External commands in C/C++ to  
handle some intense image processing tasks and added them to the  
RunRev app after the GUI was frozen. They were really happy with the  
results!

All the Best
Dave