PHD

[Robert J.M. Edis]

Georgia

The PHDMaint utility is like using Windows whereas PDL is like is DOS
commands.  People like me have become somewhat lazy by using the 'POW'
command instead of editing PDL source.  PHD stands for PowerHouse
Dictionary and instead of a PDC file compiled using PDL it is a set of 5
files forming the dictionary metadata.  PHDMaint allows one to maintain
the dictionary interactively rather than recompile for every change.

The 'danger' with interactive dictionary maintenance is that the
metadata integrity can become corrupted without PowerHouse telling you
so in an obvious way such as a compile error.  I am working on a
dictionary at the moment that was originally created in 1987!  When I
tried to create a temporary working version from a PDL extract file I
couldn't.  There were too many integrity issues in the PDL source.  

These issues manifest themselves in PowerHouse compiled code by
unexplained and random behavior.  

In short, I LOVE using PHDMaint vs PDL but it requires a very
disciplined approach to maintenance.

Blue
PowerHouse consultant
Rhode Island, USA

Disclaimer:
The opinions and ideas expressed in this message are my own and have no
relationship to my current employer, Initial Technical Staffing, its
client CCI, or any of CCI's clients.


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