On-line error parsing tool

[Mark Schonewille]

Hi!

Every now and then, someone on this list asks "what does this error  
mean", posting several lines with mysterious numbers. Now you don't  
need to ask anymore... (but if you really want to, you still can).

I have created a little on-line error parsing tool for Runtime  
Revolution. Read on below, or go straight to the website at <http://runrev.info/error.html 
 >.

Once in a while, you may run into a less-than-obvious problem, while  
programming in Revolution. In these cases, you might see an error  
message of the form (the code may consist of many lines):

91,7,11,Example
568,7,1,Click Me

which means:

Type: Chunk (can't find stack)
Object name: Button
Line:(row 7 col 11)
Hint: Example

Type: start (can't find object)
Object name: Button
Line:(row 7 col 1)
Hint: Click Me

If you have no idea what causes the error, it may be useful to be able  
to parse the error.

Parsing errors may also be useful if you have a try-end try control  
structure in your script. You might use such a control structure if  
the circumstances under which your script will run are unpredictable.  
These circumstances include a script that is distributed as a library  
amongst developers or a software product for end-users that needs to  
be installed manually.

Your script might look like this:

on someScript
   try
     start using stack "Foo"
     --> error if not available
   catch myErr
     put myErr into url "file:C/log file.txt"
   end try
end someScript

Now, if an error occurs, you need to know why. You can post the  
contents of the file "log file.txt" into the form above and parse it  
into a readable error message.

If you want to try it right-away, just copy the two lines of error  
codes above, paste them into the form on the website, and press the  
button below the field.

If you would like to build this feature into your own stacks, Economy- 
x-Talk has a shareware library available that will allow you to do so.  
This library can be downloaded at <http://economy-x-talk.com/developer.html 
 >. Note that there is also the error reporting feature in the  
standalone builder, which is often, but not always, sufficient.

Best regards,

Mark Schonewille

--

Economy-x-Talk Consulting and Software Engineering
http://economy-x-talk.com
http://www.salery.biz

A large collection of scripts for HyperCard, Revolution, SuperCard and  
other programming languages can be found at http://runrev.info