Tips for editing expressions more comfortably

Kirk_Masden · 06-29-2019 06:17 PM

I have three little tips regarding editing expressions that I’d like to share today.

You can adjust the size of the editing window by dragging its lower-right-hand corner. If you are trying to work with longer, more complicated expressions, this can be important, as the default window is quite small.

Using returns to change lines does not affect the validity of expressions. So, as I have done in the example shown above, line changes can help make the editing process easier.
A good text editor can be useful. On my Mac, I use a free app called TextWrangler. It’s the free version of BBEdit. One thing I like about it is that it helps me check how the parentheses are paired. If I use my arrow key to move the cursor over a closing parenthesis, it highlights the opening parenthesis with which it is paired. This helps me avoid parsing errors that result from having extra or missing parentheses.

Suvrutt_Gurjar

@Kirk_Masden, thank you for these useful tips. Even though you are calling these “little” tips, I believe these are important, as all the tips are related to frequently used activities in an app configuration process.

Kirk_Masden

Thanks @Suvrutt_Gurjar! By the way, I know everyone at AppSheet is very busy but I think it would be super cool if the the AppSheet editor could highlight points in expressions that cause errors. I hope this feature comes eventually. Such a feature would save lots of people a lot of time and frustration.

Aleksi

Good software for not Mac user is the Notepad++.

And btw… you could write your sample expression like

SWITCH(CONTEXT(“View”),
“Session”,LINKTOVIEW(“Session J”),
“Session J”,LINKTOVIEW(“Session”),
…
LINKTOVIEW(“Refresh”)
)

Kirk_Masden

I couldn’t find a Notepad++ version for Mac.

"Is There Notepad++ For Mac?
Unfortunately, the exact native Notepad++ Mac alternative doesn’t exist. And there are a few good reasons for it. "
https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/notepad-mac.html

However, this page lists some alternatives, as does the following page:

Kirk_Masden

Thanks! I’ll try both – Notepad++ and Switch!

Aleksi

I wrote NOT Mac users

Kirk_Masden

You did indeed. My mistake. Nonetheless, searching for Notepad++ led me to some other Mac apps that I’m eager to try. Also, I noticed that some Mac users like Notepad++ enough to use special software so that they can run the Windows program on their machines. So, it must be very good.

Mike_A

Sorry Notepad++ is not for Mac
I can tell you it works well, handles code highlighting for lots of languages, and it’s fast/light on resources. I keep trying others, but end up back with ++. Been using it forever…

Kirk_Masden

Maybe I should get setup to run in on my Mac. Macs can do that but I’m not doing it at the moment.

LeventK

Hi Guys,
For MAC users, possible alternative could be investigated from below pages: