I agree with the spreadsheet analogy, it is more like a macro language than a programming language. However I don't find the query language all that intuitive either, and I *AM* a programmer.
I find myself using it only when I can't accomplish something any other way and as a result I pretty well suck at it. If Altium wasn't Altium and included some clearly worked examples in the manual, I think people would adapt much more readily. Bob Stephens Principal Design Engineer DCX-CHOL -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jason Morgan Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 8:32 AM To: Protel EDA Discussion List Subject: RE: [PEDA] 99se vs. DXP vs. 2004.. Need a sample offeelingsaboutdiff.and reasons for moving or not to the next I would not describe the query language as programming, more like entering a formula in Excel. When programming you have to worry about each lines affect on all others, the query language is much simpler thatn a 'proper' programming language. In the query language, you are just describing what you want to show, all in one line. How is that any different to clicking the right boxes and typing the a=b formulas for replacement in 'old protel' I think perhaps calling it a 'language' is what people are worried about - perhaps altium should rename it. In any case, just like in excel, there is a wizard that allows basic queryies to be build with no knowlege of programming required - just english. j. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of John A. Ross [RSDTV] Sent: 19 November 2004 10:48 To: 'Protel EDA Discussion List' Subject: RE: [PEDA] 99se vs. DXP vs. 2004.. Need a sample offeelingsaboutdiff. and reasons for moving or not to the next > snip < > If your only hurdle to P2004 is the query language, then I > suggest you just get used to it. Jason Exactly the attitude Altium took. There are genuine people out here who cannot get there heads round the query language enough to make it natural for them, if it cannot become a natural trained response then it becomes counter productive. For anyone who has not been used to working with code at any time it will always be so. Trying to force the customer to change to fit the tools / vendors is actually, to be frank, nuts. Look at the time it has been around and it still scares people who look at it. If this one KEY tool in using P2004 cannot become natural and easy to use then it is a feature that fails the whole tool chain and any other benefits which rely on it (pretty much everything). I include myself in this group, every day I use DXP and have to do something that was a natural, trained, instinctive process in 99SE and have to make up a query for it I need to think hard about this, construct it, test it, check it and if need be debug it and do it again (very common iterative process). I do not have to write a macro in MS word to do a simple thing like select text, and make only that text bold, I have buttons to do it, a graphical process, much easier for the eye/mind to recognise and process. No text to type, no parenthesis to worry about, no syntax to worry about.... Getting the right query is sometimes the type of iterative process I would expect in software development, or VHDL development where the expected behaviour is to construct, test, debug and back round again. This however should NOT put anyone off DXP, when it comes to the query language and getting used to it and making it natural to use, well, I must just be extremely stupid and dumb compared to the other 99.9999% of DXP. It does have its benefits, in odd occasions and it is a feature I would NOT like to see disappear from DXP and be entirely replaced by 99SE method & 99SE query manager, but I can account, in terms of real time, how much pain using the query language directly, instead of a wrapper, costs me. This is only one mans opinion, mine, I guess, it is also not a direct attack on your post, it . John ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ____________________________________________________________ You are subscribed to the PEDA discussion forum To Post messages: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe and Other Options: http://techservinc.com/mailman/listinfo/peda_techservinc.com Browse or Search Old Archives (2001-2004): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Browse or Search Current Archives (2004-Current): http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
