Friday, July 3, 2020

Continuing to test my 3174 substitute functionality and fix bugs

CAREFUL TESTING UNCOVERS SMALL FLAWS

I found a number of places where the code wasn't doing what it should. As an example, it is possible to enter characters past the right end of an unprotected field, wiping out the attribute character immediately following. It was necessary to identify these and flag them as protected.

I was also failing to handle Insert mode properly for space bar keypresses, as it was treated differently from the other characters, as if it were a control key. The Backspace key is a control function and I erroneously grouped them as if they were similar. I moved Space over with the other characters and that was resolved. 

My initial code for the Tab and Backtab keys just moved to the next or previous field, but it should have skipped over any protected fields. Thus, Tab means the cursor will go to the next unprotected field. Used a simple while loop that executes repeated movement to the next field if the field is protected, stopping when it reaches the next unprotected one. 

The terminal has a down shift key, which is used to temporarily cancel the effect of the Shift Lock key (actually not capital versus lower case letters but lower versus upper character printed on the key cap). However, I wasn't processing that properly nor was I updating the status line as needed.

Once everything seems totally solid, I will film a video using the terminal and upload it to YouTube. I set up a very simple form, entering name, ID number and some notes. It will demonstrate the various movement and data entry methods as well as the status line and appropriate validity checking. 

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