Frank Schoenheit, Sun Microsystems Germany wrote:
Hi,
issue 109142 (http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=109142)
requests to change the behavior of assertions (OSL_ASSERT/DBG_ASSERT and
friends) to abort if their condition is not met. The current behavior is
that the assertion text is reported to the user, usually by a message box.
All of the above applies to non-product builds only, in particular, the
request, as I understand it, is *not* to extend assertions to product
builds.
...
But making assertions abort instead of "just" being reported would
worsen the situation, IMO: We have that many assertions in non-product
builds because a) too few developers actually use non-product builds
(which means they silently introduce new ones) and b) fixing existing
assertions is not a priority [1].
Aborting in case of an assertion would just make a) much worse. Also, it
would put the burden onto the shoulders of those actually *using* the
non-product builds, not of those *causing* the pain. I.e., it would
punish the "wrong" people.
a strong NO to the question in subject. strong support to the opinion
expressed in this email, for asserts not to abort.
speaking as a user here, not a coder - if software can continue with
operating, it should. yes, it should warn me, but it should run as long
as possible, either allowing me to save the document, copy data out of
it or whatever.
i'd like to point out one thing i've noticed in other projects with user
vs developer mentality. if a user reports program closing, it is a
_crash_ for them. you might call that "assert", "controlled quit" - it
does not matter. at all. to the user, software crashed. and that is the
last thing i want from any software, especially one i rely some of my
most important data ever to.
...
--
Rich
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