R:Style provides structural error checking, and spelling assistance to help debug your code prior to running it, or help you find errors quickly if a new piece of code drops you to the R> Prompt. R:Style catches many errors of coding style which only occasionally cause an application to fail.
R:Style will tell you where in the file to look, and what error to look for! R:Style is not a full syntax checker, but it is an excellent structure checker, with some syntax checking thrown in as a bonus.
If your first step after modifying a command file is to R:Style it, many errors will be caught before you run the code. Why wait for your code to bomb? Why go back to your code and stare at it to see if you can find the error? TRACE is really helpful but some of the errors R:Style traps are ones that cause trace to give up and abort. The few seconds it takes to R:Style the file from within R:BASE Editor will find many of your errors right away, making you MUCH more efficient.
R:Style gives you powerful tools to change all occurrences of a word with a smart algorithm which knows how to isolate words based on their context. This is really useful when doing conversions.
R:Style automates the process of unifying the style of your command files, while at the same time giving you a great deal of flexibility in matching your current style. This frees you to write code without worrying about the case of the words you are typing.
R:Style allows you to quickly re-style someone else's code to your style so you can read it more easily. This is valuable because of the great diversity of coding styles among R:BASE programmers.
If you are a consultant, you often have the job of cleaning up someone else's code. R:Style makes that code easier to read because it will be in the style you are used to.
In a shop where more than one person is coding, everyone's code can be quickly cased and indented to one style. When the existing code is consistent it is amazing how fast everybody learns to use the standard or, at least, to use this program to style their code.
You can select from many different styles of indenting and line wrapping, so you are sure to find one close to what you are used to. R:Style's consistency will make you wonder how you managed without it.
R:Style gives you the ability to switch styles if you find one that you like better. All your old code can be restyled in VERY short order. If you don't like the new style, you can always go back.
The automatic word casing and indenting eliminates having to correct these details while coding so that part of your work can proceed faster. Custom word casing and reporting of unknown words helps you find spelling errors in your code.
Even better, since R:Style looks at ALL the code in your files, it will find some of the errors that may be lurking in the code undetected which is very useful!
WARNING
ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR FILES before handing them over to a utility like R:Style. This will save you a lot of grief if anything should go wrong.
SECURITY
R:Style avoids processing quoted text, comments, $SCREEN or $MENU blocks, and data in a LOAD block. The built-in keyword expansion tables are carefully crafted to avoid breaking your code. R:Style recognizes SET QUOTES and processes your files properly even if you change the setting in mid-stream. The quotes content of each file is examined and processing is aborted if the majority of quotes contained in the file do not match the character specified in the configuration. Extensions of the files you specified are also checked and an abort occurs if any are in a list of dangerous extensions such as .EXE, .RBF, etc.
In any case, BACKUP YOUR FILES, TEST THE RESULTS.
Obviously, if you process a file twice, the benefit of the backup file is lost. You are responsible to protect yourself by making backups of your files before processing them. We cannot be responsible beyond my own personal desire to provide a bullet-proof product. You have a responsibility to protect yourself. BACKUP YOUR FILES! It is your responsibility to test your code after processing with R:Style to verify that it still works properly. In most cases, the alterations made by R:Style will enhance your code without breaking it. If your code does break it usually is because you used an abbreviation of a reserved word for a variable or column name and R:Style expanded it to the full word. TRACE will find these problems quickly if they exist and your program will be more bullet-proof after it is corrected. These problem names are easy to see because they will be upper cased.
We are constantly adding to our arsenal of tests to make sure R:Style continues to work correctly as improvements are made. If you find a situation where R:Style breaks your code, make sure to refer to the Feedback page of this help document.
