[thelist] Re: weird error, sometimes...

[Techwatcher]

Okay, here's a tip from an old (since '69) programmer, so old I think
it probably cuts across most languages in general use today:

If your code seems to work sometimes and not other times, if any kind
of database is involved (or just a file which might have a pointer at
different locations), chances are *very* high that your problem is an
interaction of where in the data the pointer is, and where your code
thinks it is.

So, try to reinitialize your problematic routine with regard to the
file. Make sure you're at the top, at the bottom, or you understand
exactly where the previous routine(s) left it, with regard to what the
troublesome routine is attempting.

Occasionally this kind of error indicates a problem in your data, too.
I don't know what you're working with, but if something should be even
(number of quotes/parentheses?) within the data, and it isn't, you can
get a similar result.

Cheers
Carol Stein
techwatcher at accesswriters.com