Enabling Source Browser Menu Related to .BSC & .MAK Files

• Microsoft Programmer's Workbench for MS-DOS, versions 1.0, 1.1
• Microsoft Programmer's Workbench for OS/2, versions 1.0, 1.1

SUMMARY

The Source Browser feature of the Programmer's WorkBench (PWB) versions 1.0 and 1.1 is enabled or disabled depending upon the existence of a database file (.BSC file) AND a program list (.MAK file). The existence of a .BSC database file alone does not guarantee that the Browse menu will be enabled for all modules in a project, even if the .BSC file was built from .SBR files for every module. The setting of a program list is also required.

Thus, if a .BSC file is built outside the PWB environment with PWBRMAKE, then upon entering the PWB environment, the Browser will be enabled for only one module at most (see below). To enable the Browse menu for ALL modules, choose Set Program List from the Make menu, then type the base name of the .BSC file (with .MAK or no extension) when you are prompted for the filename. If the .MAK file you enter does not exist, the dialog box appears for adding files to the program list. Select Save List without actually adding any files. The Browse menu will now be enabled for all files you open in the PWB editor.

PWB 2.0 can open a custom browser database. In fact, it can open any browser database independently of a project file.

MORE INFORMATION

The existence of a Source Browser database file means that the Browse menu will be enabled for a source file with a base name that matches the .BSC file.

For example, assume a project consists of several modules, with the main source module named PROJECT.C. In addition, assume a Browser database file named PROJECT.BSC is built from the .SBR Browser information files produced by the compiler for every module in this project. If the file PROJECT.C is opened in the PWB editor, the Browse menu will be enabled because the base name (PROJECT) is the same as the base name of the database file PROJECT.BSC.

On the other hand, if any of the other source files in the project is opened in the PWB editor, the Browse menu will be disabled because the base name of the file does not match the base name of the database file. Also, if PROJECT.C is made the current file (which enables the Browse menu) and a command is chosen from the Browse menu, such as Goto Reference (which causes a jump to a different module), the Browse menu will be disabled. In this case, the only way to reenable the Browse menu is to make PROJECT.C the current file again.

To enable the Browse menu for all modules, set a program list to a file with the .MAK extension and the same base name as the .BSC file. Thus, in the example above, setting the program list to PROJECT.MAK will enable the Browse menu for all modules. In fact, this connection between the .BSC file and the .MAK file enables the Browse menu for the modules in the current project and for ANY file opened in the PWB editor.

Therefore, if you open a file in the editor that is completely unrelated to the current project (and may not even have a related .BSC file), you can still use the Browse menu options. However, in this situation, the information available from the Browser still pertains to the original project only.

In summary, the .MAK file and .BSC file relationship is based solely on the files' existence, NOT on the files' contents. The program list does NOT need to contain the names of the modules in the current project (or even be an actual makefile) in order for the Browser to function.

Additional query words: kbinf 1.00 1.10

Keywords : kb16bitonly
Version : MS-DOS:1.0,1.1; OS/2:1.0,1.1
Platform : MS-DOS OS/2
Issue type :