Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
Guy Werry
guy.werry@hbms.ca
Fri, 14 May 2004 08:13:48 -0500
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Wow! I had no idea that Powerhouse went that far back. Never even seen an
HP1000. The question is asked down further, "what happened to Fortran".
Well, in some places it is still kicking around, used in Legacy "Scientific"
systems. Like where I work, for instance.
Now, a plug. I came from the COBOL world and started getting into
Powerhouse when we inherited some systems that had reporting done in Quiz.
Gradually, we went through Reactor/Speedware (remember them?) screens into
Quick, spent some time experimenting with an HP 3 1/2 generation language
(great for db & screen handing, but its array handling was right out of
Assembler and it couldn't round its way out of a wet paper bag). Eventually
we got pretty good at all aspects of Powerhouse, picking up a couple of
commercial systems that were Oracle-based, so learned some Oracle Forms,
SQL, C, etc.
Yeah, I'm rambling. The end result is that if I have to write something in
a 3GL, give me Cobol. C as a commercial data processing language? What a
joke! Any language where if I want a character string 6 bytes long means
that I have to declare it as 7 bytes and then explicitly put a null in the
7th byte .... give me a break! I don't program anything new in Fortran any
more, because Powerhouse can do anything that I need! Nothing against
Oracle Forms, it's kind of a toss-up between forms & Powerhouse, but
there'll always be a soft spot in my heart for a Canadian product that made
it into the big time!
(As an important side note, Canadian stuff rocks! Didyaknow that we're
responsible for the invention of the green plastic garbage bag??? Where
would the world be otherwise .....)
Guy.
-----Original Message-----
From: Deskin, Bob [mailto:Bob.Deskin@Cognos.COM]
Sent: May 14, 2004 5:28 AM
To: Jon Hawks; powerh-l@lists.sowder.com
Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
I should break out my book on a Programming Languages - History but it was
written in 1969 - seriously :-)
True, PowerHouse has some roots in COBOL. PowerHouse started on the HP1000
(yes 1000) moving to the HP3000 and COBOL was the dominant business
application language. If you look at the original dictionary, QSCHEMA, it
used COBOL-like constructs for datatype sizes. It was also English-like
again designed to appeal to COBOL users.
Bob Deskin
Product Manager, Application Development Tools
Cognos Inc. 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa ON K1G 4K9 CANADA
bob.deskin@cognos.com (613) 738-1338 ext 7268
-----Original Message-----
From: powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com
[mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com]On Behalf Of Jon Hawks
Sent: May 13, 2004 7:47 PM
To: Joe Boyle; powerh-l@lists.sowder.com
Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
Hello All,
Once upon a time back in the 1970's and 1980's software development tools
were proliferating across platforms. Nothing unusual in this early time,
syntax bound languages differentiated themselves by these little quirks. A
few college profs and students joined in and not suprising they still have a
few lines of code running around. Let's see, Powerhouse remained consistent.
Ingres/OSL was spawned by Stonebreaker and Butterworth, and Butterworth went
on to create Forte. Basic turned into Perl and Pascal turned into Delphi.
SPL sadly died but a couple techies, I surmise, added to a little funny
language of late called Java. Almost verbatim in many aspects. We saw script
languages proliferate for PC based activities and watch apostrophe's,
comma's, periods, #, and $ come about as part of syntax and oddly many
simply were used in place of the same command as some other vendor, who
capitalize on some other character. The > sign seems to have made it's way
as the prompt in ! place of the old bang sign !. The octal character % has
taken on peculiar meaning across platforms and the & and - may still have a
use as a line continuation character. Funny how these roots make their way
to looking new, especially to new comers in the last 15 years or so.
Separation characters have settled in some with the comma, | pipe and tab.
Some languages even permit you to define your own character set for these.
Many languages, even Powerhouse, find their roots in good old COBOL. Take a
look at an old manual. Anybody have an idea what happened to Fortran? C
still has a life in engineering and C++ has a life in code generators. I
still now and then wonder what happened to A and APL. And the SQL language
is still trying to make a way to be a transaction based code-set. I guess
applying cartesian algebra to datasets has gone by the wayside in favor of
practical extracts. Who knows what's next?
The Old Man,
Jon Hawks
Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com> wrote:
they do say that column names should be kept short - for parsing performance
? - but I don't know if this is limited to relational databases or if it
includes the IMAGE database :)
>From: Robert Edis <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>
>To: PowerHouse List <powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
>Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
>Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 12:37:12 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Was that the variable '_' or a one char string containing the underscore
character? :)
>
>Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com> wrote:
>could it be that you don't have to press the shift key all of the time ?
:-)
>
>It's also often used on VMS platforms and I'd use it in place of the '_' if
databases accepted it.
>
>
>
> >From: "Deskin, Bob" <Bob.Deskin@cognos.com>
> >To: "Robert Edis" <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>, "PowerHouse List"
<powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
> >Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
> >Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 21:56:30 -0400
> >
> >The single quote is one of the default special characters allowed in
PowerHouse names. I'd have to check, but it may be allowed in IMAGE names as
well which is why it would have been included. Similarly, IMAGE allows
hyphens but not underscores. Since PowerHouse started on MPE and IMAGE was
big, well, that's the history.
> >Bob Deskin
> >Product Manager, Application Development Tools
> >Cognos Inc. 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa ON K1G 4K9 CANADA
> >bob.deskin@cognos.com (613) 738-1338 ext 7268
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com
[mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com]On Behalf Of Robert Edis
> >Sent: May 10, 2004 8:09 PM
> >To: PowerHouse List
> >Subject: Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?
> >
> >
> >I've seen a number of people use apostrophies in field names with
PowerHouse. WHY????
> >
> >They confuse the heck out of me when trying to visually parse code as
they can be mistaken for the beginning or ending of the string litteral.
> >
> >What's wrong with using under[score|bar]s? Much more readable.
> >
> >Blue
> >
> > This message may contain privileged and/or confidential
information. If you have received this e-mail in error or are not the
intended recipient, you may not use, copy, disseminate or distribute it; do
not open any attachments, delete it immediately from your system and notify
the sender promptly by e-mail that you have done so. Thank you.
> >
>
>
>
>---------------------------------
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>
>
>Robert JM Edis
>Principle Consultant
>Robert Edis Consulting
>P.O. Box 676
>Deerfield IL 60015
>USA
>1-847-612-3863
>RobEConsult@sbcglobal.net
>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=750285712-14052004>Wow! I had no idea that Powerhouse went that far
back. Never even seen an HP1000. The question is asked down further,
"what happened to Fortran". Well, in some places it is still kicking
around, used in Legacy "Scientific" systems. Like where I work, for
instance.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=750285712-14052004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=750285712-14052004>Now, a
plug. I came from the COBOL world and started getting into Powerhouse when
we inherited some systems that had reporting done in Quiz. Gradually, we
went through Reactor/Speedware (remember them?) screens into Quick, spent some
time experimenting with an HP 3 1/2 generation language (great for db &
screen handing, but its array handling was right out of Assembler and it
couldn't round its way out of a wet paper bag). Eventually we got pretty
good at all aspects of Powerhouse, picking up a couple of commercial systems
that were Oracle-based, so learned some Oracle Forms, SQL, C,
etc.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=750285712-14052004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=750285712-14052004>Yeah,
I'm rambling. The end result is that if I have to write something in a
3GL, give me Cobol. C as a commercial data processing language? What
a joke! Any language where if I want a character string 6 bytes long means
that I have to declare it as 7 bytes and then explicitly put a null in the 7th
byte .... give me a break! I don't program anything new in Fortran
any more, because Powerhouse can do anything that I need! Nothing against
Oracle Forms, it's kind of a toss-up between forms & Powerhouse, but
there'll always be a soft spot in my heart for a Canadian product that made
it into the big time!</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=750285712-14052004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=750285712-14052004>(As an
important side note, Canadian stuff rocks! Didyaknow that we're
responsible for the invention of the <STRONG>green plastic garbage
bag???</STRONG> Where would the world be otherwise
.....)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=750285712-14052004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=750285712-14052004>Guy.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Deskin, Bob
[mailto:Bob.Deskin@Cognos.COM]<BR><B>Sent:</B> May 14, 2004 5:28
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Jon Hawks; powerh-l@lists.sowder.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE:
Why do some people use apostrophies in variable names?<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=753162110-14052004>I
should break out my book on a Programming Languages - History but it was
written in 1969 - seriously :-)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=753162110-14052004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=753162110-14052004>True, PowerHouse has some roots in COBOL. PowerHouse
started on the HP1000 (yes 1000) moving to the HP3000 and COBOL was the
dominant business application language. If you look at the original
dictionary, QSCHEMA, it used COBOL-like constructs for datatype sizes. It was
also English-like again designed to appeal to COBOL users.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=753162110-14052004>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bob
Deskin
</FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Product Manager</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>,</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>Application Development Tools</FONT>
<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Cognos Inc.</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>
<FONT face=Arial size=2>3755 Riverside Drive</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>,</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>Ottawa ON K1G 4K9 CANADA</FONT>
<BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>bob.deskin@cognos.com</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>(613) 738-1338 ext</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>7268</FONT> </P></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com
[mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Jon
Hawks<BR><B>Sent:</B> May 13, 2004 7:47 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Joe Boyle;
powerh-l@lists.sowder.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Why do some people use
apostrophies in variable names?<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>Hello All,</DIV>
<DIV>Once upon a time back in the 1970's and 1980's software development
tools were proliferating across platforms. Nothing unusual in this early
time, syntax bound languages differentiated themselves by these little
quirks. A few college profs and students joined in and not suprising they
still have a few lines of code running around. Let's see, Powerhouse
remained consistent. Ingres/OSL was spawned by Stonebreaker and Butterworth,
and Butterworth went on to create Forte. Basic turned into Perl and Pascal
turned into Delphi. SPL sadly died but a couple techies, I surmise, added to
a little funny language of late called Java. Almost verbatim in many
aspects. We saw script languages proliferate for PC based activities and
watch apostrophe's, comma's, periods, #, and $ come about as part of syntax
and oddly many simply were used in place of the same command as some other
vendor, who capitalize on some other character. The > sign seems to have
made it's way as the prompt in ! place of the old bang sign !. The octal
character % has taken on peculiar meaning across platforms and the & and
- may still have a use as a line continuation character. Funny how these
roots make their way to looking new, especially to new comers in the last 15
years or so. Separation characters have settled in some with the comma, |
pipe and tab. Some languages even permit you to define your own character
set for these. Many languages, even Powerhouse, find their roots in good old
COBOL. Take a look at an old manual. Anybody have an idea what happened to
Fortran? C still has a life in engineering and C++ has a life in code
generators. I still now and then wonder what happened to A and APL. And the
SQL language is still trying to make a way to be a transaction based
code-set. I guess applying cartesian algebra to datasets has gone by the
wayside in favor of practical extracts. Who knows what's next?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Old Man,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jon Hawks<BR><BR><B><I>Joe Boyle
<joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<DIV>
<DIV class=RTE>
<P>they do say that column names should be kept short - for parsing
performance ? - but I don't know if this is limited to relational
databases or if it includes the IMAGE database :)<BR><BR></P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: Robert Edis <robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>
<DIV></DIV>>To: PowerHouse List <powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in
variable names?
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 12:37:12 -0700 (PDT)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Was that the variable '_' or a one char string containing
the underscore character? :)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Joe Boyle <joeboyle_adt@hotmail.com> wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>could it be that you don't have to press the shift key all
of the time ? :-)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>It's also often used on VMS platforms and I'd use it in
place of the '_' if databases accepted it.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> >From: "Deskin, Bob" <Bob.Deskin@cognos.com>
<DIV></DIV>> >To: "Robert Edis"
<robeconsult@sbcglobal.net>, "PowerHouse List"
<powerh-l@lists.sowder.com>
<DIV></DIV>> >Subject: RE: Why do some people use apostrophies in
variable names?
<DIV></DIV>> >Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 21:56:30 -0400
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >The single quote is one of the default special
characters allowed in PowerHouse names. I'd have to check, but it may be
allowed in IMAGE names as well which is why it would have been included.
Similarly, IMAGE allows hyphens but not underscores. Since PowerHouse
started on MPE and IMAGE was big, well, that's the history.
<DIV></DIV>> >Bob Deskin
<DIV></DIV>> >Product Manager, Application Development Tools
<DIV></DIV>> >Cognos Inc. 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa ON K1G 4K9
CANADA
<DIV></DIV>> >bob.deskin@cognos.com (613) 738-1338 ext 7268
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >-----Original Message-----
<DIV></DIV>> >From: powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com
[mailto:powerh-l-admin@lists.sowder.com]On Behalf Of Robert Edis
<DIV></DIV>> >Sent: May 10, 2004 8:09 PM
<DIV></DIV>> >To: PowerHouse List
<DIV></DIV>> >Subject: Why do some people use apostrophies in
variable names?
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >I've seen a number of people use apostrophies in field
names with PowerHouse. WHY????
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >They confuse the heck out of me when trying to
visually parse code as they can be mistaken for the beginning or ending of
the string litteral.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >What's wrong with using
under[score|bar]s? Much more readable.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >Blue
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > This
message may contain privileged and/or confidential
information. If you have received this e-mail in error or are
not the intended recipient, you may not use, copy, disseminate or
distribute it; do not open any attachments, delete it immediately from
your system and notify the sender promptly by e-mail that you have done
so. Thank you.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>---------------------------------
<DIV></DIV>>Have more fun with your phone - download ringtones, logos,
screensavers, games & more. Click here to begin! = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Mailing list: powerh-l@lists.sowder.com
Subscribe: "subscribe" in message body to
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<DIV></DIV>>" in message body to powerh-l-request@lists.sowder.com
http://lists.sowder.com/mailman/listinfo/powerh-l This list is closed,
thus to post to the list you must be a subscriber.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Robert JM Edis
<DIV></DIV>>Principle Consultant
<DIV></DIV>>Robert Edis Consulting
<DIV></DIV>>P.O. Box 676
<DIV></DIV>>Deerfield IL 60015
<DIV></DIV>>USA
<DIV></DIV>>1-847-612-3863
<DIV></DIV>>RobEConsult@sbcglobal.net
<DIV></DIV>>
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