you can turn on the debugger. On Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 2:30 AM Arthur Anger <[email protected]> wrote:
> I recently spent 20-30 minutes tracking down the source of an error > condition caused by an ill-formed number. The error reported during load > began with '[-726]', and named the offending verb, but did not display the > line (or even just the "number"). > > The verb contained only about half that number of lines. The script had a > few more than 700, so scrolled back from its end about that far, to an area > in the offending verb, but did not easily spot the error. > > I copied the verb definition to a separate file, and reloaded, getting the > identical errror message. Only after two more splits did I get a small > enough file to get the negative-line count close enough to the error to > recognize it on careful reading > > My conclusion is that the error reports a count of statements, perhaps > including empties, but also including controls such as do. and else. > > It is certainly useful to have some indicator of the error's location, but > I find the current indicator difficult to use. > --A number based on physical lines in the file would be more useful. > --A number counted from the top would be more conventional. > --A display of the offending character string would allow an immediate > search for it, which should nearly always be a unique target. > > Thanks in advance to the team that considers an improvement in error > reporting and--perhaps--chooses and manages to install one. > --Art > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
