Compiling DataFlex Programs

by Curtis Krauskopf

This article provides a way to conveniently compile arbitrary groups of DataFlex source files on a single command line. The filenames on the command line can contain wildcards.

The Problem

The DataFlex compiler, dfcomp, normally displays compile-time errors directly on the screen. For example, when the program being compiled is

// prog.src:
// This program has 3 compile-time errors.

integer i

for i from 1 to 10
  showlnx i    // should be showln
loop

string akey 1
inkey ackey    // should be akey

and the compiler is executed as

dfcomp prog.src

the DataFlex compiler reports

	DataFlex Compiler, V3.1d Copyright 1981-1998 Data Access Corporation Miami FL, USA - All Rights Reserved Compiling Program: prog.src   showlnx i // should be showln ERROR: 164 COMMAND NOT FOUND: SHOWLNX ON LINE: 7 (7) OF FILE: prog.src Do you want to abort the compiler (Y or N) _

on the screen. For single programs, this is acceptable because the compiler immediately tells you when it encountered a problem.

Sometimes, however, an entire project needs to be completely recompiled. Unfortunately, the DataFlex dfcomp compiler doesn't allow us to use:

dfcomp *.src

Even if it were possible, it would be inconvenient to have to baby-sit the compilation. Each error encountered during compilation will stop the dfcomp compiler and it will wait for the programmer to acknowledge the error message.

A Solution

On Windows, the FOR command can be used to process a group of files. The syntax to use on the command line is

for %s in (*.src) do dfcomp %s

If the above command is put into a batch file, then each of the % signs needs to be doubled, like this:

dfc.bat:
for %%s in (*.src) do dfcomp %%s

This is a convenient batch file but it's restricted (hard-coded) to a specific set of source files (*.SRC). For example, let's say my Accounts Payable programs start with AP* and my General Ledger programs start with GL*. I could have two batch files that compile each group: DFC_AP.BAT would compile all of my AP*.SRC files and DFC_GL.BAT would compile the General Ledger files.

The DFC_AP.BAT file would look something like:

for %%s in (AP*.src) do dfcomp %%s

and the DFC_GL.BAT file would look something like:

for %%s in (GL*.src) do dfcomp %%s

Next: User-Specified Parameters

Jump Directly To...
User-Specified Parameters
Don't Stop on Errors
Improvements
Summary

Go to DataFlex Tips