ANY-maze Help > The ANY-maze reference > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Testing > Procedures > Writing a procedure using the procedure editor > Errors and warnings while writing a procedure

Errors and warnings while writing a procedure

Introduction

Before you can run a test, any procedures that have been defined must be valid. If there are any errors in a procedure, then the test will not run (you'll be warned of this on the Tests page and given the opportunity to edit the procedures at this point).

If you want to run a test without a procedure - say you're in the middle of writing a procedure, and you know that it's not yet working properly - you can disable the procedure to prevent it being used.

The ANY-maze procedure editor allows you to run a check on a procedure at any time, to see if it is valid - just select the Check for errors button.

Procedures will still run if they contain any warnings; it is only errors that will stop a test from starting.

Checking for errors

You can check a procedure you're currently editing for errors using the Check for errors button. This will check through the procedure to see if it's able to run during a test.

Errors and warnings are shown in an information window at the bottom of the procedure editor. If there are no errors or warnings, then the window will remain closed and its title will be blue, showing that there are no problems:

Figure 1. Procedure information, if there are no errors or warnings.

If there are any errors or warnings, then the window will open, and its title will change colour to red (if there are any errors) or yellow (if there are only warnings). All errors and warnings will be listed within the window, and a small error or warning image will be shown in the left-hand margin of the procedure itself, at the position where the problem has occurred. These images will be light in colour, but clicking on one of the lines in the information window at the bottom will highlight that specific error or warning in the procedure, and darken the image to make it clear where in the procedure the problem is.

Figure 2. A procedure with errors. One of the errors has been selected in the information window, and is highlighted in the procedure.

The information window can be opened or closed using the little arrow at the right-hand side of its title.

More information

The most common errors when writing a procedure are those that result in a parameter to a statement being missing - for example, waiting for an event but forgetting to specify which event to wait for (like the first error in the example in figure 2, above). However ,there are a number of possible errors that may occur when writing a procedure, and they are listed below.

Errors and warnings

There are a number of errors and warnings that can be generated when you check the procedure for errors. If you need further information, click the link for the relevant line in the list of errors and warnings at the bottom of the procedure editor to go to an explanatory help topic.