(48) DATE->NUM, NUM->DATE, ->EXCELDATE, EXCELDATE->, DTDIFF

[Dave Britten]

(05-16-2014 02:45 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(05-15-2014 02:05 PM)HP67 Wrote:  Thanks, Bob. I know there are a couple of utilities for this but I try to avoid using other people's tools as much as possible. I had to flog myself pretty hard before I used a 3rd party library tool but eventually I will need to bite the bullet and start learning SysRPL and be able to make all my own tools.

Happy to help. I guess I'm not as independent, and happily use other folks tools if they do what I need. For this requirement, suggest you grab the zip file and read the notes in the docs as the author explains the technique pretty well (which comes from Bill Wickes of all places) used to hide objects in the Home directory. If you can follow the technique (its in SysRPL), you could probably write your own version, or somehow integrate the technique into your own tools/environment. HTH.

Yeah, the technique is pretty simple really, it's just a bit clumsy to move things around as desired because of the way the ORDER command works.

Basically, you just make sure you have an object with a null (empty) name, and anything that you ORDER after it in the variables list will be hidden, but fully accessible by name as normal.

I think I might play with the D->LIB approach later, though. That way, I can still find the utilities by name in the library menu. If I hide too much stuff, I'm liable to forget what I've got.

WARNING: There's already a hidden directory with a null name in HOME. Do not try to create a new object for this purpose within HOME, just ORDER around the directory that's already in there. Apparently you'll be on your way to a memory loss crash if you blow away the hidden directory by mistake. Also be careful what you do to the objects inside that directory if you get adventurous and start looking around in there. The 48 is supposedly a bit touchy about the user directly changing things in there (don't try to ORDER anything, for example).

As for using custom stuff, I too find it more satisfying to build a tool that does EXACTLY what I want, the way I want it, but be careful about falling into the not-invented-here-syndrome trap. If I need something much more complex, or want a highly optimized/tested SysRPL routine, I'll start rummaging around hpcalc.org (I'm not going to try to build my own version of D->LIB, for instance). For the little tools, yeah, I'd rather bang out something in UserRPL. Much more engaging and customizable that way.