Subject Re: Overwrite Memory File
From Norman Snowden <duluth@msn.com>
Date Sun, 18 Feb 2018 18:02:16 -0500
Newsgroups dbase.getting-started

Mervyn Bick Wrote:

> On 2018-02-17 9:21 PM, Norman Snowden wrote:
 >
> > Case Solved! I forgot that the Command SET Safety OFF should have been included. I found the answer in Alan Simpson's classic dBASE IV 4 1.1 Book
 >
> It's well over 20 years since I last used it but I still have his dBASE
> III+ Programmers Reference book in my bookshelf.  It was a veritable
> gold-mine in it's day and worth every cent it cost me.
 >
> >
> > A problem further: Using Plus 10 every time I started to type SET ... the Program crashed! Message was" dBASE has encountered an internal error and must close"
 >
> It's a while since I used dBASE Plus 10 but I have no recollection of
> having problems with SET.  This is a command that most programmers use
> regularly and I can't recall having seen it reported in the bug-reports
> newsgroup.
 >
> >
> > I also have Plus 11 and using it I was able to type in SET SAFET OFF successfully.
 > >
> > I don't use Plus 11 normally because in it Message Boxes are extremely slow to Appear and  also extremely slow to disappear!
 >
> I use dBASE 11.3 in Windows 10 and message boxes appear instantly.  Try
> the little example program attached.  On my computer the message box
> appears as the mouse button is released.
 >
> What could be causing the problem is if your program has, for example,
> to churn through a long table before deciding that it needs to open a
> message box.  Using OODML instead of XDML should improve things but it's
> quite a steep learning curve.
 >
> There may also be ways of speeding up your existing code depending, of
> course, on what your program actually does.  Back in the day of SLOW
> computers a lot of effort went into cutting down the time spent in a
> loop.  Today, with nice fast computers, this has become less of a priority.
 >
>
> Mervyn.
 >
>
>
> ** END HEADER -- do not remove this line
 > //
 > // Generated on 2018/02/18
 > //
 > parameter bModal
 > local f
 > f = new test_msgboxForm()
 > if (bModal)
 >    f.mdi = false // ensure not MDI
 >    f.readModal()
 > else
 >    f.open()
 > endif
 >
> class test_msgboxForm of FORM
 >    with (this)
 >       height = 16.0
 >       left = 106.5714
 >       top = 8.5909
 >       width = 40.0
 >       text = ""
 >    endwith
 >
>    this.PUSHBUTTON1 = new PUSHBUTTON(this)
 >    with (this.PUSHBUTTON1)
 >       onClick = class::PUSHBUTTON1_ONCLICK
 >       height = 1.0909
 >       left = 9.0
 >       top = 7.0
 >       width = 15.2857
 >       text = "Show msgbox"
 >    endwith
 >
>
>    function PUSHBUTTON1_onClick()
 >       msgbox('How slow was that?','test msgbox',0)
 >       return
 >
> endclass
 >
Thanks Mervyn,

I loaded your code into a new form and ran it both in Plus 11 and Plus 10. In each case test msgbox ran very quickly and disappeared very quickly. Very strange. I use a series of rather long messages in my program and  Plus 10 loads and unloads the messages almost instantly, but not Plus 11.

I upgraded to Plus 11 0 in August 2017. From the beginning it was frequently unstable in design mode and I would have to close it. I used the Text Editor code as much as possible. I came to accept slow message boxes.

However, last week both Plus 10 and Plus 11 both began to just crash. "dBASE Plus executable has stopped working. I called dBASE Tech Support. A very capable Lady used Team View to connect to my computer. She ran through everything she could think of such as running dBASE files form Program Files. It was not evident what corrected the problem, but whatever, she solved the problem. I certainly do thank dBASE Tech Support.

Thanks,
Norman Snowden