PureBasic Forums - English

It would be nice to have a length parameter on ReadString and ReadStringFormat. Otherwise I have to use ReadData and then PeekS.

(1) http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... =3&t=25775
(2) http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?t=23005

Right. I did the same thing as Trond as a work-around. But it would still be nice for it to be native.

> it would still be nice for it to be native

I posted those links to show it's been wanted for 3 years now. Requests just don't get granted like they used to. Seems a change of policy came in at some stage, which is fair enough because we're not the developers, but still... it feels like the days of being listened to are over. It's just that I remember the good old days when you could ask Fred to make PureBasic fart and it would. Now, there's just lots of begging, topic bumping, and holding breath (think of the GIF thread for example). It's sad, actually. It was one of the things I loved about PureBasic years ago. Oh well. Does anyone agree?

> Does anyone agree?

Nope.

We are just finishing one of the most feature-packed updates in the history of PureBasic (with a number of long requested features in it) and you accuse us of not listening to users just because i said "probably not" to your environment variable request yesterday? Come on! :roll:

I knew you wouldn't agree.

Not just because of the environ var request, but because of a lot of other requests that have gone unanswered... and keep getting bumped, like this thread. Three years since this was requested? How hard can it be to add a length param? Now THAT'S where we would say "come on!".

[Edit] Perhaps you can educate us on the process used to add a new command, so we know why it doesn't always happen. Explain the steps so we don't just blindly assume it's easy?

Okay, so you say the new release has a lot of requests... my post was made before it's released. I'm not a mind reader. I can only go by the bumped threads and comments of "probably not" and "typing in caps won't make it happen" and so on. There needs to be better communication with your customers then, even if it's just someone saying "wait 'n' see" like they used to.

It was just a rant. I had to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening (and replying).

>It was one of the things I loved about PureBasic years ago.

I've only been here since 2005, but I've been extremely pleased with the progress of the language and the responsiveness of the team. I can do so many things in PB now that I could not (natively) in 2005, I'm pleased and surprised.

cheers

New features gets in new released based of what we read here. That said, we are doing choices (will the command be crossplatform, will it be useful for most of use, will it be obsolete soon, is it possible to add it without spending 3 months on it, etc.). We never ever "granted" all the requests and reading this from an "old" user is kind of sad, as you seem to imply that we turned our back to the community and did only what we want. This is just plain wrong, we didn't changed a bit about this.

BTW, what's the point to put "wait'n'see" below every request ? It's indeed the default. We often don't comment because:
1) We like surprises
2) We don't like to make promises which will may be not be kept
3) It takes time

> reading this from an "old" user is kind of sad

I don't know how to respond to that. I'm not trying to cause trouble. I'm just concerned. Sorry for bringing it up; the last thing I want is to cause a rift in our friendship. Time for me to go into exile again for a while.

Don't be so extrem, it's doesn't affect anything here. We are just talking and expressing different point of view .

I just feel like you guys must hate me for whinging about it. But if you're cool, then I feel better about it. Freak comes across pretty strong at times...

i kind of understand how PB feels. dont get me wrong, you guys are doing an AMAZING job and the communication between the team and the users is superb!

every new feature is awesome and very useful, but it would be cool if you could focus a little bit more on the small features from time to time. sometimes its the small things that matter most.

for example:

- you can disable/hide a window/gadget, but cant check if its disabled/hidden.
- you receive an event when the window becomes active, but not when it becomes inactive.
- you can only retrieve the windows width/height of the client area, but not of the window itself.
- you can delete a file, but not when its read-only.
- you can delete a folder, but cant specify empty-only.
- you dont have an avatar, but freak does.

sure, its very easy to do this on our own, but it would be great to have it already built in. it saves time and makes our sourcecode smaller.

so maybe, before you start working on another huge update, you could give the small fry some priority?

however.. keep up the fantastic work!

and now free beer for everyone, sponsored by srod!

c ya,
nco2k

...and now free beer for everyone, sponsored by srod!

srod spits his beer all over the lounge...

...fetches an empty barrel...

..wanders to the toilet...

Sure, the beer is on me!

PB wrote:Three years since this was requested? How hard can it be to add a length param? Now THAT'S where we would say "come on!".

This is one thing that is wrong with the feature request forum. Just because something is asked a lot or since a long time in no way implies that it has to be done. This whole "you have to do this"-attitude is what annoys me.

PB wrote:[Edit] Perhaps you can educate us on the process used to add a new command, so we know why it doesn't always happen. Explain the steps so we don't just blindly assume it's easy?

There is no "fixed" process that can be explained in a few words. But think of it this way:
I have planned features on my list up to and probably beyond the 4.60 release (4.40 isn't even fully out of the door yet). If i decide to add a new feature i don't have to just weigh the value it brings against the time it takes to implement, i also have to weigh it against the features that i have to let go or delay in order to do it. This is a question the users don't ask themselves. You just go "i want this, why isn't it added" but it just isn't that simple.

PB wrote:Okay, so you say the new release has a lot of requests... my post was made before it's released. I'm not a mind reader. I can only go by the bumped threads and comments of "probably not" and "typing in caps won't make it happen" and so on. There needs to be better communication with your customers then, even if it's just someone saying "wait 'n' see" like they used to.

I was talking about the 4.40 release (currently beta). Just look at its list of features and browse a bit the feature request forum and you will surely find some requests even by you for some of its features. Its unfair to only look on the "not done" side of things and paint such a dark picture.

When i respond "probably not" i am just trying to be honest in telling you that it is not part of our/my current plans and not give any false hope. If you prefer a "wait 'n' see" response instead i can give you that but would you seriously call that "better communication" ? To me that would just be insincere.

> This whole "you have to do this"-attitude is what annoys me.

I can understand that. I'm sorry it comes across that way, because it's not how I wanted to convey it. I was trying to coerce you guys into delivering all the little requests that have been asked for over and over, but I didn't get it right. My bad.