At long last, WordPerfect 9 is now available. So how does that affect those macros that you developed for WordPerfect 7 or WordPerfect 8?
For the most part, all you'll need to do is make a copy of the macro and recompile it in WPWin 9. Most macros will compile just fine with no errors. There are a few gotcha's that you may encounter, however.
Nothing major has changed in PerfectScript, but the WP 9 version of PerfectScript has been streamlined. WPWin 8 has 503 programming commands, while WPWin 9 has only 465 programming commands. Likewise, WPWin 8 includes 2721 product commands, to WPWin9's 2139.
Obsolete Commands
Many commands were redundant and obsolete in WPWin 8. These redundant commands were removed from WPWin 9. If you used any of these commands in your macros, you will need to substitute the newer command. Here are a few examples:
| CANCELOFF CANCELON | Use Cancel(off!) and Cancel(on!) instead |
| ERROROFF ERRORON | Use Error(off!) and Error(on!) instead |
| NOTFOUNDOFF NOTFOUNDON | Use NotFound(off!) and NotFound(on!) instead |
| VARERRCHKOFF VARERRCHKON | Use VarErrChk(off!) and VarErrChk(on!) instead |
| CoachAnimate | Use Animate instead |
| All other coach commands are removed and no longer supported. | |
| MENULIST | Use Menu or a dialog box instead |
Commands that Never Worked
There were several commands added to WPWin 8 that never quite worked correctly. These have been removed. Other obsolete commands have also been removed. You probably weren't using too many of these, so they shouldn't pose much of a problem.- ClipboardPut
- ClipboardGet
- DateStringParse
- TimeStringParse
- SortArray
- Soundex
- ShortcutCreate
- ShortcutInfo
- DialogSendMessage
- DialogAddPopupButton
- RegionSendMessage
Commands with Dual Syntax
Several commands have had two personalities through the last two or three iterations of WordPerfect. The older syntax has now been removed. For example,| This syntax is obsolete | Use this syntax instead |
| Menu (MenuPick; MnemonicType;HorizontalPosition; VerticalPosition; MenuChoice) | Numeric := Menu (MnemonicType; HorizontalPosition; VerticalPosition; MenuChoice) |
New Enumerations
A few commands now include more possible return enumeration values, or more possible enumerations that can be used in a particular parameter. For example, the FileConvert command now can convert from more formats to more formats. It also has many new possible return values. You should check commands such as FileConvert, FileOpen, and FileSave to see what (if any) enumerations you are using and adjust them as necessary.
Go For It
The best way to determine if you will have conversion problems is to make a copy of your macro, compile it in WPWin 9, and run it. When a problem exists, an error may pop up on the screen giving you an idea of what the problem is. Or, the macro's output may not be correct. You'll just need to tackle the problems on a case-by-case basis.You may experience other problems not mentioned here. For example, in one macro I had a problem with the way a date value was handled. The problem was specific to the way I was manipulating the date in the macro.
At any rate, conversions from WPWin 7/8 to WPWin 9 should go much more smoothly than conversions from WPDOS to WPWin, or from WPWin 6.x to WPWin 7/8/9.
If you find a particularly daunting conversion problem, I would be happy to hear about it and give
assistance if I can.
