| Title: | *OLD* ALL-IN-1 (tm) Support Conference |
| Notice: | Closed - See Note 4331.l to move to IOSG::ALL-IN-1 |
| Moderator: | IOSG::PYE |
| Created: | Thu Jan 30 1992 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jan 23 1996 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 4343 |
| Total number of notes: | 18308 |
*** Guidelines on Merge, Boilerplates etc *** Hi, A customer has just asked me if any documentation exists that describes everything that can (and CANNOT) be achieved when using the Merge command, specifically in the context of merging boilerplates etc. The reason they are asking is that <using IOS V3.0> they are currently developing an application that has some pretty complex boilerplates (lots of conditional .IF's, nested calls etc) and they are finding this very time consuming as certain things, such as a TAB or SPACE, in the wrong place causes IOS to dump the user. The CSO who develop another application for them have said that extra documentation in this area is available. I'm not aware of any but am happy to be proved wrong. Can anyone help ? Regards, John (Cross-posted in WPS-PLUS conference)
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933.1 | You need one line <&oa do everything.scp> | BRUMMY::MARTIN::BELL | Martin Bell, TCC, Birmingham UK | Wed Dec 09 1992 16:43 | 21 |
John, i personally much prefer to use DO scripts to perform complex conditional merges. Just use GET OA$MERGE_LINE="Whatever" to include the text into the output document. The syntax of a script is much easier to grasp, you can use .GOTOs, include comments, and you don't have to worry about screwing up the layout with your continuation lines etc. What you _can_ (officially) do is described in the APR2 under the MERGE function, what you _cannot_ do "isn't" ;-) But seriously though, suggest to your customer that they use scripts. Back in 1987 i wrote some boilerplates/scripts for a well known mortgage lender here in the UK, and these generated 22 page letter sets for offer- letters, solicitors letters, archives etc, and even included digitized signatures. At the time �2B of mortgages per year were generated via this method, and as far as i know, they still are! mb | |||||
| 1933.2 | read the title, too! | AIMTEC::BUTLER_T | Wed Dec 09 1992 18:59 | 7 | |
The title to Martin's reply also said alot.
Your customer could put alot of those .if conditionals into a script
called from the boilerplate, set local symbols in the script, then
use them in the boilerplate.
Tim
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