April 1994
Volume 12 Number 4
USER INTERFACES
Expanding a Conversation Processor for Time
By Russ Suereth
Just a little understanding of
time-oriented utterances can make your program look pretty
knowledgeable about time.
Spin Controls for Windows
By Keith Bugg
One sure way to get only valid
input is to disallow any other form. Spin controls even make
the selection process pleasant for users.
Scrolling List Dialog for Scientific Programming (Article unavailable in electronic form)
By Steve Welstead
"User friendly" input is
nice, if it doesn't make your program too unfriendly to
code. Use this package to avoid the worst complexities of
dialog boxes.
FEATURES
An Alternative to Large Switch Statements
By Matt Weisfeld
There's more than one way to write
a case switch, and some are definitely better than others
when the number of cases gets large.
Approximate String Matching
By Thomas Phillips
How close is "close enough"
for two strings? Here's one way to get quantitative about a
fuzzy question.
Record-Oriented Data Compression
By John W. Ross
Compressing an entire file
obscures its structure. A simple record-compression scheme
makes more sense in many cases.
BOOK REVIEW
Code Complete
Reviewed by Tommy Usher
COLUMNS
Standard C: Introduction to Iostreams
P.J. Plauger
Code Capsules: Visibility in C
Chuck Allison
Stepping Up to C++: Compilation Firewalls, Part 1
Dan Saks
On the Networks: Expensive CD Player
Sydney S. Weinstein
Questions & Answers: Pointers and Arrays
Kenneth Pugh
CUG New Releases: Sockett++, SGPC, CForms, and Small Matrix Toolbox
Victor R. Volkman