Anyone know of an A97 utility to help solve If - EndIf mixups?

[MLH]

Would love to be able to click on any If-statement
and launch a utility that would find what A97 believes
to be its corresponding EndIf. Such a tool would save
me lots of time as I am forever botching them up and
having to go back 'n fix 'em.

[Allen Browne]

Perhaps someone else can suggest a tool, but hope this experience helps.

When I first started coding, I used to print out the code and draw lines to
match the block operations such as If...EndIf, or For...Next. Haven't done
that for years now. FWIW, here's my current approach.

1. Indent
You probably do this. Indenting every block operation is the simplest way to
help keep them matched.

2. Modularize
Break the code down into smaller procedures. Ideally, a procedure should be
no more than a couple of screenfuls. Helps avoid huge numbers of embedded
indents.

3. Outside in
Type the End If immediately after the If. Your code is therefore coming up
from the bottom as well as down from the top. If you are not doing this, it
will probably solve the issue for you.

For example, you type:
If x < 0 Then {Enter} End If {Up} {End} {Enter} {Tab}
and you are then ready to code the inner part of the If block.

4. Rotate your monitor
Why code on a landscape monitor, when it would be so much easier to stay on
top of the blocks with portrait orientation?

A couple of years ago I did move to dual monitor: application on the left
(normal landscape) and code on the right. It was then obvious that the right
monitor needed to be portrait, so I flipped the old 19" CRT on its side and
told the nVidia driver to rotate the image.

This suggestion won't suit everyone, but the flippin' code monitor is the
best hardware change I have made in the last few years. And the combination
of these 4 approaches means I never get lost any longer with block
operations.

HTH.

--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia.
Tips for Access users - http://allenbrowne.com/tips.html
Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.

"MLH" <CR**@NorthState.net> wrote in message
news:n7********************************@4ax.com...

Would love to be able to click on any If-statement
and launch a utility that would find what A97 believes
to be its corresponding EndIf. Such a tool would save
me lots of time as I am forever botching them up and
having to go back 'n fix 'em.

[MLH]

Thanks, Allen. They were all very helpful comments.
I am doing #1. I couldn't live without indenting.
I got the red pen out and have been drawing lines for hours.
Plead guilty to not being as modular as I could be.
I like #3. A few more instances like today and perhaps I'll remember
always to do it.
Would love to hear everyone's comments on experience w/ dual monitors
and particularly what brands/models have been found best. I'm only
familiar with architect/engineering firms using them in CAD apps. That
has been a long time ago though.

BTW - when I got to the bottom of my problem, it was that I'd
overlooked inserting 2 End With lines. Because the error msg
was blaming my If - EndIf coding, I spent all my time chasing that
down like a dumb!f&xxxWXX!!!

[salad]

MLH wrote:

Would love to be able to click on any If-statement
and launch a utility that would find what A97 believes
to be its corresponding EndIf. Such a tool would save
me lots of time as I am forever botching them up and
having to go back 'n fix 'em.

I used to work with a code editor in a program similar to SourceSafe
(where you checkout/in the code) and it had lines that drew the
loop/endif lines. I think it would be a PITA to contantly be using two
editors to do your coding. You might want to check
http://www.tucows.com and see if they have any code editors that does
what you want.

Allen's suggestions were excellent. Here's another suggestion...it may
be a hard habit to correct your current coding style but in your case
it'd be best to change it. Every time you enter an IF/Do While/Select
Case immediately enter EndIf/Loop/EndSelect on the next line. Then
insert a blank line, tab, then start coding. You shouldn't worry about
your current style then.

[corey lawson]

MLH <CR**@NorthState.net> wrote in
news:s4********************************@4ax.com:

Thanks, Allen. They were all very helpful comments.
I am doing #1. I couldn't live without indenting.
I got the red pen out and have been drawing lines for hours.
Plead guilty to not being as modular as I could be.
I like #3. A few more instances like today and perhaps I'll remember
always to do it.
Would love to hear everyone's comments on experience w/ dual monitors
and particularly what brands/models have been found best. I'm only
familiar with architect/engineering firms using them in CAD apps. That
has been a long time ago though.

BTW - when I got to the bottom of my problem, it was that I'd
overlooked inserting 2 End With lines. Because the error msg
was blaming my If - EndIf coding, I spent all my time chasing that
down like a dumb!f&xxxWXX!!!

Also, I sometimes do this:

if some-complex-boolean-expression then
....big nasty tree
end if 'some-complex-...

I put enough in the comment after the END IF of the expression to be
evaluated so I can see what it's referring to.

Or, paste the code into an editor that lets you do code folding once it
knows it's working on VB/VBA code...

[Lyle Fairfield]

I use the WriteSimpleShortCode Utility found at
http://www.abovetheshoulders.com.

[CDMAPoster]

Allen Browne wrote:

3. Outside in
Type the End If immediately after the If. Your code is therefore coming up
from the bottom as well as down from the top. If you are not doing this, it
will probably solve the issue for you.

For example, you type:
If x < 0 Then {Enter} End If {Up} {End} {Enter} {Tab}
and you are then ready to code the inner part of the If block.

I sometimes find it useful to take this a step further by sticking an
Else in there also. It forces me to make sure the Else part, if any,
gets accounted for.

James A. Fortune
CD********@FortuneJames.com

[MLH]

I know, I know. It is a better way. No doubt.
Find myself kicking my own arse time 'n time again
for not following the advice.

I use the WriteSimpleShortCode Utility found at
http://www.abovetheshoulders.com.