Contents - Index


Errors

 

The Error page is used to assess the status of a tab-indented list currently showing in the WorkSpace area. It will show the number of characters, word, and lines in the current list. It will check for the four different types of brackets, and indicate if any bracket-mismatches occur. It will check for errors that might stop your list performing properly in the intended end-use program, and will let you step through errors using familiar 'VCR'-style buttons.

 

You can choose which type of errors to find by checking or un-checking the desired boxes in the 'List Error Types' panel. For more information about error-types, see the 'Error Types' page. Error-type boxes that have been un-checked will not include a check for that error-type when a Status Check is performed, even though such errors might still exist.

 

To check the status of your list, click the 'Status Check' button. The status will be reported in the 'List Status' panel, and colored labels will show the types and numbers of errors that were found. Each line in your list that contains an error will be highlighted with a red background, and an Error Marker will be placed in the Error Margin. You can hide the errors in the Workspace by clicking the 'Hide Errors' button in the 'Error Check' panel.

 

Stepping through Errors: This can be done even if the markers and line-highlighters are hidden. The 'Prev' and 'Next' buttons work from the current caret-line, not from the last error visited. If there are two errors on the same line, the 'Prev' and 'Next' buttons will take you to the next line, but the step-counter will show a jump of 2 places. As you step through errors, the Workspace text is scrolled to make the error-line visible, and the caret is placed on the correct line in the Workspace page. Its error index-count is shown in the 'Step Through Errors' panel, and the exact error-type is identified briefly by a message in the right panel of the Status Line.

 

To check for 'Matching Lines' errors, you must first perform a Status Check, and clear any existing 'Blank Line' or 'Excess Indent' errors first of all. Once you have cleared any  'Blank Line' or 'Excess Indent' errors, click the 'Match Check' button in the 'Matching Lines' panel. The total number of matching lines will be reported. The matching line, but NOT the previous line that it matches, will be highlighted, and an Error Marker added to the correct line. You can Step through  'Matching Lines' errors as mentioned above.

 

Note that there is a difference between a 'Matching Line' error and a 'Duplicate'. 'Matching Lines' are defined as identical lines: same text, same number of indents, same everything, whereas 'Duplicates' refer to repeated words anywhere in the text, even if they have a different indent level or parent hierarchical structure. Matching Lines are always errors. Duplicates may be errors, but generally are not. To check for Duplicates, see the 'Duplicates' page.

 

You can delete three types of errors automatically. These are listed in the 'Delete' panel. For information about why more types of errors are not deleted automatically, see the 'Error Fixing' page. You can also remove leading, trailing, and trapped spaces using the 'Tools > Edit > Whitespace > Trim' tool.

 

To delete errors of type 'Matching Lines', 'Trailing Tabs', or 'Trailing Spaces', select the one you want in the 'Delete' panel, then click the 'Delete Errors' button. You should then perform a Status Check to see if any other errors might be found. It is often the case that some errors disguise other errors in a tab-indented list.