John H. Ganter

ArcView/Avenue:
Coding Styles and Utility Scripts for Efficient Development

Abstract

The effectiveness and efficiency of software development can be greatly increased by writing modularized code using informal (styles) and formal (standards) work approaches. Software development is about connecting pieces into a coherent whole. Thus consistent work approaches (while evolving and even arbitrary) provide a structure that allows individuals and teams to minimize the time and thought that they devote to making these connections. These investments in structure return even more benefits in the maintenance phase when old code has to be examined by new programmers (or even the same authors after time has passed). While this philosophy is widely advocated in the software engineering community, what does it mean for the Avenue developer?

We present some examples of coding style for Avenue. These include Hungarian notation (notationHungarian, stringCustomerName, etc.), script naming prefixes and suffixes, and options in script headers. We demonstrate several modular, object-like utility scripts that can be used alone or combined into other utilities. These include developer tools such as a 'System.Echo' substitute for Windows, a Dictionary inspector, and code for detecting and dealing with multiple display resolutions.

Additional information on this paper is at: http://www.sandia.gov/gis/tech/avcsus.html

John H. Ganter
Member of the Technical Staff / GIS Specialist
Sandia National Laboratories
POB 5800, M/S 1138
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87185-1138
Telephone: 505-844-1304
FAX: 505-844-0745
Internet: jganter@sandia.gov