Aesthetic feature request and suggestions

[David Morris]

G'day. I am evaluating Zeus, after a suggestion on a Borland newsgroup. There are lots of things to like, but one or three minor things that I would love to see added. (I like Zeus, not least of all because it has not hung or GPFed on me.)

So here are the small issues: (These are things that I suspect could be added or changed or optioned quite trivially).

1) There is no separate entry for the colour highlighting of 'line numbering', it seems to default to block comments. (For some reason I think that my brain/eyes wants to see the numbering in black on grey and the text on white, so that visually the numbering is out side of the text area. This is the Aesthetic feature request.)

2a) (Is this a bug?) I can't seem to run a batch file in a separate shell. I don't want to have Zeus capture the output, but despite trying all sorts of check boxes I can't seem to shell to a batch file from within Zeus (as a compiler).
2b) As part of that I would like to see another check box, "Add to Workspace popup menu", so I can add tools (et al) and run them on files from the workspace without having to open them in the editor.
2c) Perhaps just a 'Shell to Dos' in the workspace popup menu would do.

3) I would like to have 'open include file' as the top item in the right click popup menu, rather than 'close'. I can close a file with one click directly on the close box, so I don't need that to be the top item - and I am rather used to the old Borland 5.02 IDE.

I am not quite sure if these are deal breakers. I am sort of stuck liking features of Both Crimson and Zeus right now - and I haven't really decided. If these happened to be addressed I think it would be an easy decision, and it will be the only the second piece of shareware I have purchased (I generally avoid shareware unless it is very good). I am on day 30 of 60.

Here is an extra one that might be a little harder, and is less important to me; Drop and drag (moving) folders and files in the work space.

Are any of these changes possible?

regards DM

[jussij]

Hi David,

I like Zeus, not least of all because it has not hung or GPFed on me.

Over the years there have been more than enough hangs and GPF's But with the help of countless Zeus users it is now very stable So if you ever have Zeus doing either, please send in a bug report.

1) There is no separate entry for the colour highlighting of 'line numbering', it seems to default to block comments.

This feature is in the current Zeus 3.94 alpha.

2a) (Is this a bug?) I can't seem to run a batch file in a separate shell. I don't want to have Zeus capture the output, but despite trying all sorts of check boxes I can't seem to shell to a batch file from within Zeus (as a compiler).

I see what you mean. I create this test batch file:

Code: Select all

@echo off
dir *.*
pause

If I add this to the Tools menu it is easy enough to configure the batch file to run in a seperate shell window. But using the same batch file as a compiler, Zeus always captures the output. Something is not quite right with the compiler code

2b) As part of that I would like to see another check box, "Add to Workspace popup menu", so I can add tools (et al) and run them on files from the workspace without having to open them in the editor.

I think I understand what you mean. You would like to select a file from the workspace and have the ability to run a tool against that file in the same way the tool is currently run against the currently open document.

This may not be as simple as seems. A lot of code gets run between the action of clicking the menu and seeing the tool output window, so a bit of care is require to make sure nothing breaks. This feature will require some investigation.

2c) Perhaps just a 'Shell to Dos' in the workspace popup menu would do.

That is very easy to do. Consider it done

3) I would like to have 'open include file' as the top item in the right click popup menu, rather than 'close'. I can close a file with one click directly on the close box

The close action can be found in several places so I guess this change makes a lot of sense. Ok.

I am on day 30 of 60.

I recomend taking full advantage of the entire trial period.

Most of these features should make their way into the Zeus 3.94 but as this version is still in Alpha, it will most probably not be ready for at least a month or so

Here is an extra one that might be a little harder, and is less important to me; Drop and drag (moving) folders and files in the work space.

This feature is on the todo list and has already been attempted once before . Unfortunately the drag and drop within the Windows tree view control is not standard, meaning the drag and drop must be 100% hand coded and as such needs a considerable coding effort. For this reason the feature is still on the todo list but it has been moved down a few places One workaround option is to edit the worskpace by hand. The workspace files are XML and quite easy to edit.

Cheers Jussi

[jussij]

Hi David,

2a) (Is this a bug?) I can't seem to run a batch file in a separate shell. I don't want to have Zeus capture the output, but despite trying all sorts of check boxes I can't seem to shell to a batch file from within Zeus (as a compiler).

I did some more investigation into this and it turns out Zeus is working as designed The Options Compiler Options menu panel only has one check box and that is Capture standard error output. In other words the compiler always captures stdout but it can also be configured to capture stderr.

Thinking about this some more, I understand the logic used. For the compiler error navigation features of Zeus to work, some sort of compiler output must be available. Therefore, by forcing the stdout capture, Zeus is trying to remove the possibility of a user configuration error where by the compiler navigation breaks, just becuase the compiler output was inadvertantly not captured.

Can you explain the reason why you require the compiler output not to be captured?

If you do not require the output to be captured, why is it not possible to use the a Zeus Tool option instead?

Cheers Jussi

[Guest]

Hi jussij! What an excelent repl. You sound like me responding to my customers, so I obviously like your style!

Can you explain the reason why you require the compiler output not to be captured?

If you do not require the output to be captured, why is it not possible to use the a Zeus Tool option instead?

Well, essentially, I am running batch files that run batch files that run make files that do everything depending on the phase of the project. I have a master batch file that does a build everything for the project, and takes about 10 minutes to run. At the end of that run I have a complete distribution. To make sure everything works correctly I develop using fragments of this procedure, rather than relying on IDE features.

These fragments also have pause commands on compiler errors (I'll show an example below) and I am not sure if it is this or some other issue, but Zues takes up memory and does not release it after my batch files run (with Zeus capturing the output).

I have decided philosophically to return to using make files exclusively (and I think I am not alone in this trend). However a good IDE like Zeus, gives me a good structure for editing, which I also need. Of course, editing the make files and the batch files are just as important as the code. And so is being able to run them in their "expected" environment. I managed to make a Zues tool option do what I wanted (after I sent the message yesterday), however, I really want to be able to run this from the work space (with a right mouse click).

For example, I might be editing a 'c' file or two, running the bat file to test the syntax. I don't want to have the make or batch files open unless I am actually editing them , in part , because I have my own MakeDepend (and that is a whole other story). I am going to do this iteratively, and so I want as few key strokes as possible. I know I loose some of the IDE features - but I gain it back in environmental consistency.

In the end I know it comes down to preferences, and these are just mine (which who knows may evolve over time).

Basically though "Perhaps just a 'Shell to Dos' in the work space popup menu would do. ", would meet all my requirements.

regards DM

[Guest]

1) There is no separate entry for the colour highlighting of 'line numbering', it seems to default to block comments.

This feature is in the current Zeus 3.94 alpha.
Excellent!!!

2c) Perhaps just a 'Shell to Dos' in the workspace popup menu would do.

That is very easy to do. Consider it done

Excellent!!! (and see the post below)

3) I would like to have 'open include file' as the top item in the right click popup menu, rather than 'close'. I can close a file with one click directly on the close box

The close action can be found in several places so I guess this change makes a lot of sense. Ok.

Excellent!!!

I am on day 30 of 60.

I recomend taking full advantage of the entire trial period.

Most of these features should make their way into the Zeus 3.94 but as this version is still in Alpha, it will most probably not be ready for at least a month or so

Ok I guess I need to hold on. Hopefully 30 days = Month. Would you like me to beta test?

Here is an extra one that might be a little harder, and is less important to me; Drop and drag (moving) folders and files in the work space.

This feature is on the todo list and has already been attempted once before . Unfortunately the drag and drop within the Windows tree view control is not standard, meaning the drag and drop must be 100% hand coded and as such needs a considerable coding effort. For this reason the feature is still on the todo list but it has been moved down a few places One workaround option is to edit the worskpace by hand. The workspace files are XML and quite easy to edit.

I have actually done that. One reason I even looked further was the ability to edit the project files in a text editor. It is the major reason why I am moving on from the Borland IDE.

And I understand the problems with drop and drag. I have hand coded moving around in trees, and it took forever to shake out the bugs. And as you will (or have) discovered, the documentation to explain how to change the Icons when dragging, is not exactly clear.

But as I said, this is not as important to me.

In fact I am very, very pleased with your response. It have given me a lot of confidence. And I am keen to see just those three 'easy' ones mentioned above in Zues. That would be a deal maker!

regards DM

[Guest]

These fragments also have pause commands on compiler errors (I'll show an example below)

Oops i didn't, so here it is:

@echo off

call "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\VCVARS32.BAT"

cd C:\Work\Montel\SRC\fsetop
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\nmake" /Fvc32.mak maintainer-clean
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\nmake" /Fvc32.mak installdirs
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\nmake" /Fvc32.mak depend
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\nmake" /Fvc32.mak clean
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\nmake" /Fvc32.mak all /A > vc32.log


if errorlevel 255 goto NOTUPTODATE
if errorlevel 4 goto OUTOFMEM
if errorlevel 2 goto ERROR
if errorlevel 1 goto INCOMPLETE
if errorlevel 0 goto OK

:OK
@echo.
@echo Make successful!
@echo.
goto END

:INCOMPLETE
@echo.
@echo Make failed (INCOMPLETE)!
@echo.
goto PAUSE

:ERROR
@echo.
@echo Make failed (ERROR)!
@echo.
goto PAUSE

:OUTOFMEM
@echo.
@echo Make failed (OUTOFMEM)!
@echo.
goto PAUSE

:NOTUPTODATE
@echo.
@echo Make failed (NOTUPTODATE)!
@echo.
goto PAUSE

AUSE
pause
:END
cd c:\work\montel\src

[jussij]

Hi David,

And I understand the problems with drop and drag. I have hand coded moving around in trees, and it took forever to shake out the bugs. And as you will (or have) discovered, the documentation to explain how to change the Icons when dragging, is not exactly clear.

I could not have summed it up any better

These fragments also have pause commands on compiler errors (I'll show an example below)

I see, you have pause commands in the batch file. I did some more testing in the hope of coming up with a possible work around, but unfortunately all I came up with was a conclusion that something very strange is happening

Whenever Zeus captures the stdout the stdin is totally ignored. It behaves as if the stdin handle is closed or invalid and as such all requests for standard input return straight away.

What this means is that even if the Zeus did run the compiler as visible, this would not fix the problem since the console would never stop for stdin. Thus the Pause command in the batch file would just be ignored

I am not exactly sure why this is happening, but at this stage it does seem like there is fix to this problem

Cheers Jussi

[jussij]

The Zeus for Windows Version 3.94 release fixes some of the issues you have raised.

Cheers Jussi

[jussij]

A workaround to the bug relating to the use of the pause command in a batch file while trying to capture standard output is described in the Capturing tools/compiler output bug.

Cheers Jussi

[Guest]

The Zeus for Windows Version 3.94 release fixes some of the issues you have raised.

G'day. And thank you! Two of the features have been address just as I wanted! This is excellent!

For the third, I have noticed the new DOS Shell (and command line) on the workspace right-click menu, but when I tried them nothing happens. These look like the same commands used elsewhere in the program (tools menu?) , which if so, was not quite what I meant. I think that just a call to "ShellExecute" Windows API would do it, since we could run .bat, .cmd and even exe's to test a result - independent of Zues. Perhaps even a menu item called "Shell Execute (no capture)", to save confusion with other options.

That would solve all my issues!

And thanks again for your quick response. I am pretty much committed to Zues now. This one chance would allow me to work the way I want to!

regards DM

[jussij]

Hi David,

I think that just a call to "ShellExecute" Windows API would do it, since we could run .bat, .cmd and even exe's to test a result - independent of Zues. Perhaps even a menu item called "Shell Execute (no capture)"

On the Drives panel there is a popup menu item called Open with Association which is equivalent to a ShellExecute command.

If you select the batch file item from the Drives panel and uses this menu command does it perform the task as expected

Cheers Jussi

[Guest]

On the Drives panel there is a popup menu item called Open with Association which is equivalent to a ShellExecute command.

If you select the batch file item from the Drives panel and uses this menu command does it perform the task as expected

Yes!

If this item was on the workspace right click menu it would be exactly what I wanted.

regards DM

[jussij]

I will duplicate this menu to the workspace popup.

Cheers Jussi

[Guest]

I will duplicate this menu to the workspace popup.

Cheers Jussi

Excellent! Any chance of an interim fixup release?

regards DM

[jussij]

These changes have been added to the current Zeus 3.94a release.

Cheers Jussi