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Propagate User Exceptions

In Java, you can propagate checked exceptions up a class hierarchy in two ways. First, you can declare the exception in the “throws” clause of the enclosing method. Second, you

Destructors Should Handle Exceptions Locally

It is legal to call a function that may throw an exception inside a destructor. However, it is important to handle any exception that might be thrown from such a

Avoid Improper Inheritance

Using public inheritance with two classes that do not fully comply with the is-a relation (although they are related to one another) is a common design mistake. For example, deriving

Beware of Using setjmp and longjmp

Using a longjmp() in C++ is dangerous because it jumps out of a function, without unwinding the stack first. Consequently, destructors of local objects are not invoked. As a rule,

Is the Array Dimensioned?

Use this function to determine whether a dynamic array has been dimensioned. I use dynamic arrays to store small, foreign key tables locally for fast lookups. Not wanting to load

Quick Check on Collection Key

You might need to determine whether a certain key is in a collection. The Collection object doesn’t provide a method to retrieve a key after you add an object to

Set the Width of a ListView Column

The ListView Windows control has some additional features that haven’t been exposed in the OCX provided with VB. One feature can shrink or enlarge columns automatically to ensure that data

Keep Track of Global Variables

Forgetting the names of global variables is easy to do. You can solve this problem by letting VB remember the variables for you by making the variables into fields of

Do You Know About Date Literals?

Using a Date literal is about 12 times faster-according to NuMega TrueTime-than using the CDate function and converting a string literal. Here’s an example: Dim TestDate as Date ‘The following

Perform Look-Ahead Typing

This subroutine lets the user perform look-ahead typing, as in Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and other apps. The sub takes an array of strings and a TextBox control as

Use Brackets to Keep VID 6 Happy

When you use the Scripting Object Model (SOM) in Visual InterDev 6, keep in mind that the script library is biased towards JavaScript. Your perfectly valid VBScript may produce strange

Pass Data Between Threads Using Piped Streams

Java simplifies I/O by providing a rich library of classes that support stream interfaces. Among these classes, the combination of PipedInputStream and PipedOutputtStream closely resembles a UNIX system “pipe.” The

Strings

Question: How can I convert integers to strings? I’m using a gcc compiler under Solaris 2.6. itoa, which I used in VC++, doesn’t work. By the way, how can I

Void Pointer and -> Operator

Question: I am a beginner to C++ and have looked into several resources but still have some questions. Can you tell me what a void pointer is and what it

Command Line Parameters

Question: I want to write a DOS program that takes command line parameters and uses them in the program.For example, if the program was comline.exe and you typed in the

MFC vs. VB?

Question: I am not new to C++, but I am new to VC++. The question I have pertains to the usability of MFC versus the ease and power of VB.

Short Vs. Int and Number Conversion

Question: 1) What is the difference between a int and a short variable? 2) How do I convert a number to binary from decimal? Answer: 1. Depending on the platform,

Displaying a date

Question: I have a date stored as an integer — days from 1/1/1900. iis there an algorithm out there to display the day, month, and year? Or is there an

More about sizeof() operator

Question: I’m using the sizeof() operator to find the length of my integers just like the Q&A section said, but it consistently returns a 4 regardless of integer length. What

List Files With FileSystemObjects

One of Visual Basic’s handiest functions is the Dir function, which allows you to find all the files with a given filespec. VBScript does not have an identical function, but

Display the Stack Trace

The stack trace is a useful debugging tool that you’ll normally take advantage of when an exception has been thrown. It provides information on the execution history of the current

Serialize Image Instances

The java.awt.Image class does not implement the java.io.Serializable interface. As a result, attempts to serialize or “marshal” instances of the class will fail. For example, they cannot be passed as

Create Custom Hotkeys in Visual InterDev 6

Visual InterDev 6 installs with its own keyboard mapping scheme, which you can customize to suit your preferences. For instance, you may want to use the F12 key from within

Determine Total and Available Memory

If you find that your Java programs are starting to use too much memory, there are methods available that can help you diagnose how much memory is allocated. The freeMemory()

Determine Absolute Cursor Coordinates

When a component event such as a mouse click occurs, Java provides the cursor coordinates relative to the top left corner of the component in which the event took place.

Friends Should be Declared Public

The compiler ignores the access specifier of friend functions. However, you should declare them as public to make the code readable: bool operator ==( const Date & d1, const Date&

Dynamically Create Selection Box Options

You can create selection box options dynamically using JavaScript 3.0’s Option object. The syntax for its constuctor is: Option(text, value, [default selected], [selected]) Here is an example: Related Posts Singaporean

Empty Exception Specification

Some programmers tend to add an empty exception specification to constructor destructor, assignment operator, and copy constructor of a class: class C {public: C() throw(); ~C() throw(); C(const C&) throw();