Why not start with a "How Stupid..."?

I have been working in both VFP and .NET lately, and recently had a "blonde" moment due to the fact that in VFP, everything is 1-based, whereas in .NET, everything is 0-based.

In VFP, if you want to search for a string within a string, VFP has a function called AT(), which returns the starting point of the string within the string. If the string cannot be found, AT() returns 0.

I wanted to create the .NET equivalent of the following VFP code:

   lcEmailMessageBody = "<html> ...."

   IF AT("<html",lcEmailMessageBody)>0 THEN
      SendHTMLMail(lcEmailMessageBody)
   ELSE
      SendTextMail(lcEmailMessageBody)
   ENDIF


So I create the following .NET equivalent:

   lcEmailMessageBody = "<html>....";

   if(lcEmailMessageBody.IndexOf("<html")>0)
      SendHTMLMail(lcEmailMessageBody);
   else
      SendTextMail(lcEmailMessageBody);


Pretty straightforward, n'est-ce pas?

AAANNNN - wrong! When I ran this code, it only sent text mail.

***HEADSLAP***

Since strings in .NET are 0-based, a return value of 0 from IndexOf() means that the string was found in the first character of the string (character position 0 in the string). A return value of-1 means that the string is not found. so the proper if-statement is:

   if(lcEmailMessageBody.IndexOf("<html")!=-1)

The funny part is that before I got slapped, I created another project to test it there, andthen asked a colleague if he got the same result on his computer. And as the words came out of my mouth, I realized the mistake, and braced myself for the slap.

Comments

Rick Hodder said…
Thanks for the kind words requiscat! Your no slouch yourself - your blog shows that you're well read, and your tastes in music are very eclectic.
5:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Using Linq To XML to Parse XML with Multiple Namespaces

I am working on a SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 project. I decided to write a tool in C# that will document the reports that I have created. What should make this easy is that the structure of the RDL (report) file is XML, which makes it a perfect candidate for using LINQ to XML to dig through its information. Here’s the top of the RDL file I’m trying to process (C:\MyReport.RDL): <? xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> < Report xmlns : rd = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQLServer/reporting/reportdesigner" xmlns = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2008/01/reportdefinition" > < DataSources > < DataSource Name = "SalesDM" > < DataSourceReference > SalesDM </ DataSourceReference > < rd : DataSourceID > 60c7781c-ab9c-4c5f-b779-24afa5d5bac3 </ rd : DataSourceID > < rd : SecurityType > None </ rd : SecurityType > </ Data
Read more

String Interpolation in Powershell Strings

I've been re-learning PowerShell lately. String Delimiters There are two string delimiters available for building strings in PowerShell: apostrophe (') and double quote ("): Write-Host 'Hello World' Write-Host "Hello World" Both of these PowerShell commands send the string Hello World to the console. I fell into the habit of using the apostrophe in my PowerShell scripts, and found that I missed string interpolation that I use so often in C# and PHP. Consider the following example: $name='Rick' $distanceInMiles=10 $greeting = 'Hello, my name is '+$name+' and I work '+$distanceInMiles+' miles from home.' Write-Host $greeting When this script is executed, the following is written to the console: Hello, my name is Rick and I work 10 miles from home. String Interpolation String interpolation lets you embed expressions into a string when defining the string. The expressions are evaluated when
Read more
Welcome to my blog! My name is Rick Hodder and this is my blog. A little about me. I'm a computer programmer by trade, but my interests/hobbies include: Improv Comedy : Both short form (a series of games like the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? ) and long form (the audience is asked for words or phrases, after which a half hour show is created on the spot). I have taken classes and have been an ensemble performer at Gotham City Improv in New York City. GCI was started by a group of "improv"ers from the famous LA improv group called "the Groundlings." I find improv a great way to "get out of my head" - its amazing where your mind can take you. I especially enjoy the fact that you don't prepare: no scripts, just what happens, and how you react to it. You create your own reality, and watch it change as other performers embellish. It's also great for thinking on your feet. Community Theater : I have been involved in theater since highschool. The la
Read more