Part of the problem is that updating pointers when a record is deleted is an expensive process, and when deleting records at the application level, people often tend to skip it. A second issue is that Classic Fileman uses a field by field (rather than a record at a time) model for editing that is not always appropriate. In general, using the DBS ("silent") interface can reduce the likelihood of introducing errors (and, in fact, I use DBS calls almost exclusively). A more significant issue is proper use of the MUMPS error trap. I've noticed that many developers tend to look at setting an application level error trap as an "extreme" measure and are loathe to make use of it. I don't believe this a good practice and would argue that it should be used much more than it is currently. One possible issue is that Kernel sets a default error trap that logs errors and application programmers often forget to call ^%ZTER to log the error (as appropriate) and so think that setting the error trap will prevent errors from being logged when they should be. Another issue is that trapping errors is a tool that can be misused (simply ignoring errors like "disk full" can cause database problems). A final issue is that the Standards and Conventions document (SAC) currently does not provide any guidance or standardization in this area. This is something I hope to address.
Gregory Woodhouse [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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