Subject: [TS] Re: Delete Button
From: Jack Nutting (jnutting@orcsoftware.com)
Date: Tue Mar 14 2000 - 05:00:38 EST
Thus spake bgdarnel@unity.ncsu.edu:
> Jack Nutting <jnutting@orcsoftware.com> wrote:
> > <BASE TARGET="meattach">
> ><PRE>Thus spake Ben Darnell:> There's a lot of code in ThoughtStream that
> breaks if given NULL as a> parameter, but since it's difficult to
> gracefully handle errors in> PalmOS, I'm currently relying on the fact that
> it's difficult to get> things into a confused state (i.e. a null db
> parameter), and when they> are, things are so badly broken that it's
> probably safer to just crash.
> ^^^^ ^^^^^</PRE><BR>
> >Um, I think maybe you should change your thinking from "just crash"
> to"exit gracefully". On a platform like PalmOS, where a crash means
> youhave to find a paperclip and reboot the thing, exiting the app and
> dumpingthe user back to the Launcher in case of catastrophe is probably a
> betterchoice. IMHO.<BR>
>
> [Please fix your word wrapping and avoid HTML on mailing lists]
Oops! Sorry. My mail program does screwy things sometimes.
> I did not mean that it was acceptable for the app to crash; if there is any
> way for the user to crash the program, then that's a bug and should be
> fixed. I was referring to the fact that I generally check user input for
> validity rather than having every routine check the state of the system.
> PalmOS sort of forces you into this philosophy because many PalmOS routines
> "just crash" when given invalid conditions.
OK; I guess I misinterpreted what you said. Also, being a Palm programming
newbie, I still haven't experienced the relative crashability of PalmOS
routines (that fun still lies ahead for me).
> ThoughtStream is still beta; crashes are a fact of life for now, so you
> should keep a reset pin handy. (If your device came with the metal/plastic
> 3-part stylus, you can unscrew the top for a reset pin)
Oh sure, I mean I don't have a problem with the occasional reset, but it's
something to think about when it comes to the "unwashed masses" who might
eventually want to try ThoughtStream.
And I know I really shouldn't complain, the source is of course out there
and I said I'd start poking at it a bit myself... I do at least have the GNU
tools set up and working at home, hopefully I'll find a bit of time to start
looking at things myself.
-- Jack Nutting : jnutting@orcsoftware.com Orc Software : www.orcsoftware.com------------------------------------------------------------------------ You have a voice mail message waiting for you at iHello.com: http://click.egroups.com/1/2377/3/_/6321/_/953028170/
-- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault -- http://www.egroups.com/docvault/thoughtstream/?m=1
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