Re: New Stuff

[Jim Jefferson]

Harry, I thought I might jump in here just to clarify this VN business, since
it's not really documented...we've seen this before!

When we got into the development of coding for translated versions of
Signature, XyWrite 4, etc., there were some issues which caused stumbling
blocks for the program due to the translation factor. Internally, there are
command lists within the program for the following command types:

EMBEDDED commands FUNCTION calls IMMEDIATE commands MODE commands VALUE
commands ERROR MESSAGES

There may be a few more types, but let's just say these are the main concerns.
Now, for translation purposes, we internally create duplicate lists for all
these command types. These duplicate list take the translated values of all
translated commands. This duplication is present in the English version,
however, translation does not take place since the lists are identical. Now in
the case of a translated version, there were many areas which we encountered
that caused problems, such as XPL code and routines. When value (VA) commands
were issued through an XPL program or routine, incorrect information was being
returned in some cases, and in others, the program was sent off into and
endless loop. We formulated some commands which would adapt to these situations
by going directly to the proper internal list in the Editor. The VN (Value
Native) and BN (Blind Native) commands are examples. For the purpose of using
the English version there should be no need to play around with these commands,
since there are english commands which correspond. I'm sure that there will be
some of you out there that can incorporate these commands into your routines
and have them manifest varying results when compared to the english command.
Although this may be true, there was no intention for these command pairs to
produce varying results. These commands were strictly put in for a specified
purpose. Testing was done with this in mind.

I hope this clears it up a bit. There have been many instances over the years
where undocumented commands, values, etc., have been unearthed by our users. In
most cases we have not documented these for specific reasons, product stability
being one. If a command is not documented, we most likey do not want to
advertise it until we feel we have polished it's performance. And in some cases
we have just dropped the ball in this area.

Regards, Jim J.