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Subject:Re: WordBasic program error From:d -dot- venzke -at- GENIE -dot- GEIS -dot- COM Date:Thu, 28 Oct 1993 01:30:00 BST
>Patrick O'Connell <OCONNELL -at- DEV -dot- EICON -dot- QC -dot- CA> writes:
>If the words "Dialog Box description too complex" have a special
>meaning for you, and especially if you have detailed knowledge of
>how to make them go away, please do get in touch.
I'm not sure if I'm a WordBasic programmer or not, by Woody Leonhard
and Vincent Chen, authors of _Hacker's Guide to Word for Windows_, are.
Here's what they have to say on page 241:
"WinWord demands that you keep the number of characters in your custom
dialog boxes below an arbitrary maximum; otherwise you'll trigger a
WordBasic Dialog box description too complex error 503. Want to know if
your dialog box is an offender? Count all the characters in Text commands.
Add one for each character in the dialog box's title (remember that omitting
WindowTitle$ gives rise to a title of "Microsoft Word", 14 precious
characters). Then add one for each command between Begin Dialog UserDialog
and EndDialog (in Windows lingo, each command is a "control"). That total
must remain below 512. Microsoft thinks of this as a design limitation.
We call it a bug -- one of the most frustrating bugs in WordBasic."
[ a paragraph omitted here ]
"There is a workaround to the 'Dialog box description too complex' error
message. It's a kludge, but it works every time. Instead of using a Text
command, use a TextBox. Then fill the TextBox before running the dialog."
[ Examples showing what doesn't work and what does follow ]
Everyone who is doing WordBasic programming should have this book. It is
800+ pages of no-holds-barred tips, techniques and commentary on WordBasic.
What works, and what doesn't. Highly recommended.
Hacker's Guide to Word for Windows, by Woody Leonhard and Vincent Chen
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993, ISBN 0-201-63273-X (paperback)
