
                                  PEX Problems

                           Written by Gregory Gulick
                                 March 19, 1994

                             - For ProBoard v2.0 -



    This document contains a listing of PEX problems and documentation
misprints that will hopefully spare any new PEX authors the headaches that
would come with discovering these problems on your own.  Be sure that the
version number above corresponds with the version of ProBoard you plan to be
writting PEXes for.  Chances are, if this document is old, the problems and
misprints may have been fixed and this document, could in itself, cause a
headache of it's own!

    Some of these problems could be editor/compiler specific.  If the
problems/misprints below work for you, great.  Furthermore, this document isn't
meant to be seen as my pointing a finger at anyone for these problems
(especially Philippe).  PEXes are by far the most powerful software development
kit I've seen for any bulletin board system.  I just hope that this document
will prevent anyone new to C programming or PEX programming from getting
dicouraged from silly little, undocumented problems.  Anyhow, let's get
rolling...

(1) The function SetfullColor() in the manual, is actually SetFullColor()
    (notice the caps difference).

(2) The function ReadUser(USER_REC *rec, int recnr) doesn't return the values
    the documentation claims it does.  It actually returns TRUE and FALSE (1
    and 0) as opposed to -1 and 0 (which is documented).

(3) The function WriteUser(USER_REC *rec, int recnr) is documented incorrectly.
    The "int recnr" argument is uneccessary, and in fact, causes a "too many
    arguments in call to function" error to occur.  So, use WriteUser() as
    WriteUser(USER_REC *rec) instead of what's listed in the documentation.

(4) In the PB_SDK.H header file, the constant BLUE is actually the color for
    MAGENTA and the constant MAGENTA is actually the color for BLUE.  This
    may easily be changed by modifying the header file, if you wish.  Although
    I tend to use the following color codes in the printf() statement instead
    of using the SetColor() function:

                                \001    RED
                                \002    GREEN
                                \003    YELLOW
                                \004    BLUE
                                \005    MAGENTA
                                \006    CYAN
                                \007    WHITE

(5) NEVER use TABS with the printf() function!  If you need to put spaces in
    your output, don't use the TAB key to get there!  When I run a PEX that
    I've used tabs between printf()'s quotes, ProBoard freaks out and requires
    me to bang on the keyboard several times before the output will continue.
    So, if you need to place spaces in your quotes, use the space bar and put
    them in manually, don't use the TAB key.  This may be compiler/editor
    specific, so if it works for you great, however every editor I tried
    did the same thing.



That's all I've found so far.  You can always check my board for a new listing
of PEX problems, should I find any.  Furthermore, though I'm no mastermind when
it comes to C programming, I will gladly help any new PEX author get started in
any way that I can.  The best way to get a hold of me, is through my system:

                               The Power Supply!
                         Official PowerPEX Support Site
                                 (813)949-7153
                                    1:377/64

