Fwd: Re: LO 80731 - Incorrect syntax does compile, MID without end bracket

[Pierre Lepage]

The lambda user who makes use of macros written by a third party will 
have a real problem. When a library crashes because of a missing closing 
parenthesis while it still works, and that in addition, the library will 
be locked and nobody will remember the password ...

I think the only way out will be to orient the user to the "Do not check 
Basic syntax strictly" option (I agree with Jean-Pierre for a less 
cryptic term). But the option must remain accessible via the LO options 
interface and not via the IDE. The implementation of the option will 
have to be closely monitored to ensure its deprogramming (after all, it 
is a crutch) and it should be reserved for strict cases of transition to 
an interpreter StarBasic cleaner.

Pegards,

Pierre

2017-06-29 6:12 GMT-04:00 Jean-Pierre Ledure <jp at ledure.be 
<mailto:jp at ledure.be>>:

    The default bahaviour of any Basic interpreter should be IMHO to
    check the syntax as strictly as possible.

    On the other side tons of legacy Basic sources will not compile
    anymore, - including the Basic libraries (Access2Base, ...)
    delivered with LO unless they're patched on time !

    I do support Pierre's proposal to have an option to (temporarily)
    *uncheck* the strict syntax checking,
    However
    - the option should be easily visible and accessible from the Basic
    IDE (f.i. not after having checked "enable experimental features"
    first ...)
    - the text of the option should be less cryptic then "StarBasic
    Pragma Strict", but preferably something like "Do not check Basic
    syntax strictly"
    - Release Notes and help pages should inform the users in detail
    - the option should remain during a long enough period of time

    JP


    Le 28/06/17 à 13:08, Kaganski Mike a écrit :

        On 6/28/2017 2:03 PM, Stephan Bergmann wrote:

            On 06/28/2017 12:12 PM, Pierre Lepage wrote:

                The solution brings a lot of hassle for customers of the
                LibreOffice
                suite whose work relies on the performance of StarBasic
                macros written
                by third parties. Macros containing code in error by the
                absence of a
                closing parenthesis suddenly cease to function. For this
                reason, the
                patch has not been released. Here I want to explore a
                transitional
                solution by getting your feedback first. This is to
                include in
                StarBasic options dialog accessible to the client a
                "StarBasic Pragma
                Strict" option (checkbox) by which the client
                consciously activates
                the solution (the patch that has not been published!).
                This check box
                would be available for a few years with a warning to prompt
                programmers and customers to require their programmer to
                correct their
                default code on the closing parenthesis.

            Another option might be to have some form of such a pragma
            in individual
            BASIC source files, instead of as an IDE option.  (And have
            the pragma
            enabled in the "REM ***** BASIC ****** Sub Main ... End Sub"
            boilerplate
            that is automatically present in a fresh source file.)  That
            way, users
            could enable it for their own, new code, while (implicitly)
            keeping it
            off for non-conforming old, 3rd-party code.

        I'd suggest also a special handling of "Compile" IDE command. It
        should
        always use strict parsing method. As it is a developer's tool,
        used when
        something is created anew, it would help all developers catch the
        problem early even when they don't know the strict option
        (wherever it be).


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