I've been tasked with evaluating A-Shell Editor.

The latest CHM docs I can find is from May 2005 on the http://www.ashelleditor.com/
Is there any later docs.
I thought I saw a PDF, but now I can't find it.

I am working my way thru the OVERVIEW / EDITOR demos.

The three things I need to understand are:
1) Debugging tools
2) Use with UNIX development
3) Use with ver 5.0 (my company does not want GUI)

Thanks,
RJ

PS I have programed in OOP/IDE for Delphi 2005 & M/S Visual Studios VB

a little tip, To get it to work well with UNIX we used a Samba connection to the AIX server, all been working fantastic for, well, years now.

Im sure Jorge will give you the heads up on the rest.

To answer your question the best I can:

1. There aren't any debugging tools in the A-Shell Editor like there are in other IDE's. But, there are context menu options to create trace.print statements for selected mapped variables. This is quite handy, and saves a lot of time. So, this can take the place of being able to see variables values as you step through code as you would in other IDE's.

2. Just like Steve, we use Samba in Linux to access the files in the Editor. We use a separate editor miame.ini file which has the devices mapped using UNC paths. Also, I find it easiest to just have 2 ATE sessions running when programming. One for compiling the program I'm working on, and the other to run the program. Another option is to compile with the editor, and then use the "Publish Wizard" to compile and then copy or FTP the runtime file to the Linux box.

3. I'm guessing you need to find out from Jack what version of the compil.exe you need to use in the Editor; if you're going to compile programs directly in the Editor.

I'd just like to say that I couldn't go back to not having the Editor. I too program in other languages w/ IDE's, and they make a world of difference. To me the best thing about the editor is the ability to have multiple files open, and to be able to search all of them at once. As well as, being able to easily open the files that are included in a source file.

Hopefully that helps you in the process of evaluating the Editor.

Hi Robert,

I'm glad you decided to give a chance to the Editor that, as the name suggests, the main goal behind it, is to provide a faster tool to write A-Shell programs instead of being a fully integrated development tool that "talk" with the running code.

Because I know that, satisfaction on using a product is directly proportional with our expectation about it, it's important to clarify since the beginning what are the real benefits.

Regarding the CHM, the file you've downloaded from the Editor website is the only available that, I think, describe and point to the major issues for who is start using it, in your case, the UNIX topic can be particularly interesting that, anyway, Steve and Stephen also mentioned, thank you guys.

I like to think about the Editor as an organizer and a power editor that talk with the A-Shell COMPILER, recognizing most of the key words and so, provide some tools to handle each part.

The Editor as an organizer:


The basic element inside the Editor are Projects (I) to what we add Programs (II) that have INCLUDE files (III).
We can have as many Projects as we want and, each Project, can be whatever we want, in my case, each Project correpond to a version of a package (one single folder) and I include there only BAS, BP files but, it can also be the full content of a bunch of folders. Onde program can be included in different Projects.

If for nothing more, just having one console where I can look at, and organize my software packages, is a huge step ahead.

If we add to that:
- Publish tools (copy, zip, e-mail, ftp)
- Windows based, basic, edit tools (copy/paste, find/replace)
- Customized preferences (font, colors, keywords,...) to get code easier to read

And A-Shell specific tools, like:
- Embedded compiler with easy list error handler, across all the include files

- Automatic TRACE statements
- GOTO Function/Procedure/Routine

- View structures

- List handler for Routines/Functions/Variables/...


...and much more.

In my opinion, obviously, these are enough reasons to forget VUE, starting today :rolleyes:

The first decision to take, is to decide how we want to use Projects, even here, each programmer use them in a different way so, try different models and make your choice, remember that you can add the same program to how many projects you want.
Open one test program, adjust some preferences with colors and play around, exploring all the available options.

Considering your experience with other development tools, I'm sure that, after a few clicks, you will realize all the benefits, at least, I hope

For all the questions, doubts, this is the right place to do it.

Thank you