Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes"

From	Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes"
Date	2012-03-06 10:02 +1300
Message-ID	<9rknveFg0kU1@mid.individual.net> (permalink)
References	(2 earlier) <jj0scq$ckd$1@speranza.aioe.org> <9rifh9FadbU5@mid.individual.net> <jj1igi$oae$1@speranza.aioe.org> <9rj9aoFi9oU1@mid.individual.net> <jj2uld$b6d$1@speranza.aioe.org>

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On 03/ 6/12 06:54 AM, Don Y wrote:
> Hi Ian,
>
> On 3/5/2012 12:46 AM, Ian Collins wrote:
>
>>>> First the user or log messages have to be documented somewhere, for user
>>>> documentation and testing.
>>>
>>> Yes. I document them IN THE CODE.
>>>
>>>> Scattering them throughout the code isn't a
>>>> great way to do that.
>>>
>>> Why?
>>
>> Because it is easier to generate code than it is to parse code and
>> extract information from an entire code base. It is also easier to
>> maintain a single document in a form that can be translated in to things
>> other than code (especially if you have a need to get some of the
>> messages translated).
>
> So, you have a "single document" for<stdio>, another for<math>,
> another for<string>, another for<motor>, another for... (i.e.,
> you *don't* have a single document *or* that single document
> is the concatenation of all of these OTHER single documents).

Only for our own stuff.  Everything else is already documented and tested.

<snip>

>>>> Our approaches appear to be opposite. You extract messages from the
>>>> code, I inject them into the code (and the tests and user
>>>> documentation).
>>>
>>> Fair enough. My approach is "inspired" by Literate Programming
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literate_programming). In either
>>> approach, you need to have a tool/utility massage a file (or
>>> files) to generate the actual "source" and supporting files.
>>
>> I believe the the tools required to generate code from XML are much
>> simpler than those required to extract documentation form code (other
>> than from code comments).
>
> That was why I opted for a syntactically simple implementation:
> "MakeErrorCode" is just a "tag" that I can locate and excise from
> the source file (replacing the line(s) that it occupies with
> empty lines).  The tool that does so doesn't need to be aware
> of any C syntax.  Nor does it interfere with any C *statements*.

I don't think we are disagreeing, merely describing different approaches 
to a similar problem.

In our case, the master files (they were hierarchical for a family of 
products with a common core) where used for a lot more than errors. 
They included definitions of the types, structures and enumerations in 
our database.  They also defined the database and user menu structure. 
A lot of code was generated from them, including range checking and 
serialisation.  So it made sense to do as much as possible in one place.

-- 
Ian Collins

Thread

Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-01 12:48 -0700
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Willem <willem@toad.stack.nl> - 2012-03-01 21:29 +0000
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-01 16:53 -0700
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" William Ahern <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2012-03-01 14:13 -0800
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-01 22:07 -0700
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-01 17:53 -0500
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-01 23:05 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-02 01:50 -0500
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-02 00:43 -0700
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-03 17:58 -0500
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-04 03:16 -0500
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 13:47 -0700
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 13:45 -0700
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-04 18:37 -0500
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 22:12 -0700
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-08 01:41 -0500
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-09 14:34 -0700
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-02 00:30 -0700
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-03-02 02:05 -0800
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-03-02 10:47 +0000
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2012-03-02 14:18 +0000
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-02 10:46 -0700
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-02 14:08 -0500
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-02 12:38 -0700
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-03-02 22:57 +0000
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-02 17:14 -0700
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-03-03 02:25 +0000
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-03 06:10 -0500
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-03 16:12 -0500
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-03-03 04:04 -0800
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-03-03 15:05 +0000
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-03-03 16:25 +0000
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Shao Miller <sha0.miller@gmail.com> - 2012-03-03 16:26 -0500
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-03-03 13:40 -0800
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-03 12:03 +1300
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-03-02 15:45 -0800
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-02 17:18 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" blp@cs.stanford.edu (Ben Pfaff) - 2012-03-02 15:08 -0800
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-03-03 10:30 +0000
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-03-03 06:19 -0500
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Phil Carmody <thefatphil_demunged@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-03-03 15:15 +0200
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-03-03 14:52 +0000
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-03 07:39 -0800
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Jonathan Leffler <jleffler@earthlink.net> - 2012-03-03 23:56 -0800
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-05 09:20 +1300
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-04 13:28 -0800
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-05 10:56 +1300
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-03-03 17:02 +0000
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-03-03 12:30 -0800
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 19:15 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-03-04 03:20 +0000
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 11:03 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 16:31 -0700
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 23:04 -0700
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-02 22:13 -0800
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 00:49 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-03 03:32 -0800
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 12:04 -0700
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Lowell Gilbert <lgusenet@be-well.ilk.org> - 2012-03-03 15:06 -0500
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 14:38 -0700
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-03 12:15 -0800
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 16:51 -0700
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-04 14:08 -0800
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 15:56 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-03 03:45 -0800
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Lowell Gilbert <lgusenet@be-well.ilk.org> - 2012-03-03 14:11 -0500
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 13:03 -0700
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 12:32 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 15:04 -0700
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-04 11:09 +1300
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 16:55 -0700
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-04 13:04 +1300
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 18:24 -0700
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-03-03 14:30 -0800
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-03 17:06 -0700
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-05 10:09 +1300
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 16:03 -0700
      Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-05 13:26 +1300
        Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-04 22:21 -0700
          Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-05 20:46 +1300
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-05 10:54 -0700
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-06 10:02 +1300
                Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-05 16:09 -0700
            Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-03-06 10:54 +0000
              Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-03-07 07:22 +1300
  Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" gordonb.8sa24@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) - 2012-03-06 08:51 -0600
    Re: Mechanism to generate annotated "error codes" Don Y <this@isnotme.com> - 2012-03-06 11:21 -0700

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