If the Compiler Can't Find the Mistake, Maybe You Can
by Ted Holt

Programs should not break when people change them, yet they often do. Sometimes programs break when programmers modify only one of two things that have to stay in sync. Compilers can't always catch such errors, but you often can. READ MORE >

Commands with Generic Parameters
Hey, Ted:

A while back you posted a tip regarding DLTF with a generic file name. It works great! I needed to copy a physical file and its related logical files to another library. I decided to prompt the CRTDUPOBJ command and was delighted to find that the OBJ parameter can specify a generic name! The file names were similar, with a slight difference in their suffix, so I was able to duplicate multiple objects with one command. Lesson learned: prompt a command once in a while and read all the parameters. Something may have been missed or added in a newer release. I was also reminded that this old dog can still learn a new trick. READ MORE >