On 29.06.2022 17:39, Bob Bridges wrote:
My first language was a subset of PL/1, and I still think it's a great
language, but there doesn't seem to be much call for it at the clients I serve.
I didn't know PL/1 programmers indent the END with the paragraph; I thought it
was just my preference, but maybe I learned it earlier than I thought.
I don't follow what you're saying about ISPF. If I indent the END, then I can
use eXclude and Show to reveal the start of code blocks in certain column
numbers without the END obtruding, which (it seems to me) is just what I would
want. Or are you thinking that you can make sure there's an END for each one?
I guess that would work.
Usually I test a program as I'm developing it, running it in its unfinished
state every so often to be sure that the parts I've written so far are working
correctly before going on to the next part. So, for example, I read the input
data and table it, and generate a SAY statement to be sure it's parsing the
input correctly. Then I delete that SAY and write the next part, with SAY
statements to convince me it work, and so on. But occasionally I complete a
large amount of code, only to have REXX tell me that I'm missing and END
somewhere. It's usually not hard to go through the program and check each
block of code, but yeah, a couple of times a year the problem hides from me for
15 minutes or so.
I've written stuff in ISPPF, but never long enough for this to be a problem.
If it needs to be that complex I write an external REXX.
One possibility would be to use the ooRexx plugin [1] for IntelliJ [2] which does syntax checking of
classic and ooRexx programs (including the Executor derivative).
It will show you any kind of errors with a small red horizontal line at the right hand side. Just
hover and click on such little red lines and the plugin will try tell you what kind of error it
found and will move you to the location of the error upon the click.
It is really a helpful tool. Copying the syntax highlighted [oo]Rexx code to the clipboard will
allow you preserve the syntax highlighting when pasting it e.g. into a slide or a word processor
document. Another nice feature of the plugin is automatic generation of Rexx documentation
("ooRexxDoc"), which will create HTML-rendered documentation.
---rony
[1] IntelliJ [oo]Rexx plugin:
<https://sourceforge.net/projects/bsf4oorexx/files/Sandbox/aseik/ooRexxIDEA/GA/>: pick the latest
version (currently 2.1.0).
[2] IntelliJ IDEA: <https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download>: implemented in Java, therefore
available for all platforms.
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