Ultra-difficult questions

[jontom]

The forum would have to be moderated to stop people moving idiotic unanswered questions there, but it doesn't have to be hard. For example, you could have an "ooh that's a tricky one" button on each post, and each user can only click it once. You then tally up the "votes" as it were, and when you get to a certain score (depending on user membership level) a copy gets linked to the hard questions forum.

I thought of trying to use the MSComm code. I don't think you need to wrap it in VB do you? I think you can use it direct from VC++. However I am not sure if doing so forces you to link to the multi-threaded library or not. Plus if you use ActiveX objects, doesn't your app have to be a Windows app, i.e. not a console app?

[sjeng]

I think it isn't a disadvantage to mix newbie questions with difficult ones. If there is a seperate forum I fear that it becomes "advise: ignore this forum"-forum
If you start such a forum, I would suggest to put only links to other threads there, so you can reach the threads in several ways....

[Gabriel Fleseriu]

Originally posted by jontom
I thought of trying to use the MSComm code. I don't think you need to wrap it in VB do you?

You don't have to, but it can make your life more enjoyable

I think you can use it direct from VC++.

That's a pain, belive me. Except when you like COM, safearrays and crap like that. Question of taste

However I am not sure if doing so forces you to link to the multi-threaded library or not.

Duh...no idea buddy.

Plus if you use ActiveX objects, doesn't your app have to be a Windows app, i.e. not a console app?

As long as your app runs under the GUI, you still can create a hidden window to host your ActiveX controls. I don't know what your requirements are, so I may be totally wrong

CU,

[sjeng]

If anybody needs a challenge, please take a look here: http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showth...hreadid=193368
until now nobody seem to be able to help me. tnx

[Gabriel Fleseriu]

Originally posted by sjeng
If anybody needs a challenge, please take a look here: http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showth...hreadid=193368
until now nobody seem to be able to help me. tnx

I read the thread your link points to. It sounds like a race condition to me, but you provide way too few information to say where and what. This kind of spurious bugs are hard to spot even when you can debug the app and see the full code...

[j.a.z]

hey all

i just like to write my point of view.
i'm a beginner in VC++ and i'm very thankfull of a forum like this. i also very pleased that there are so many cracks which also tries to help my problems and get out of the "beginner-status". of course i do my very best also to try answering questions i be able to answer. however the most questions i even don't understand because i just started to learn C++ 5 month ago. i mean i do what i can... thats the main principle of every forum.

so i also come to the conclusion that the forum ought to have some kind of question-category as it used to have before. that also makes it easier for my to get solutions of my beginner-questions.

Cheers
j.a.z.

[Kdr Kane]

Originally posted by proxima centaur
Why if the reason nobody answers the question is because there is nothing understandable in the question?

Maybe what the person is trying to do is against the so-called "windows philosophy" or any other programming paradigm and maybe this issue should be discussed in a "design" forum.

This probably covers a good portion of the questions that go unanswered. Many of the rest are problems that no one else is really interested in working on. Or, as someone else said, they want other people to do their homework.

Actually, I think the premise of another forum (requiring heavy moderation) is silly. Is it going to be only one forum, or a slew of duplicate forums for each subject matter?

Increasing the workload of the moderator(s) is not acceptable.

[AveryH]

I think jontom may have a point.

I've been browsing through the messages and there are an awful lot with no answers submitted..

As someone else has already suggested, maybe the moderator should periodically review such posts and move them to a "too hard" folder.

[JohnCz]

jontom:

For example, If you use DeferWindowPos() to position a parent and child window in the same set, then the function just does nothing. No errors, no reason given, it just does nothing. This is not documented anywhere either. I raised it as a question, and only got an answer by searching the archives, finding someone who seemed to know stuff about deferWindowPos(), and sending him a PM. I guessed that the parent-child thing might be the reason, but I didn't KNOW. Now I do.

I think I have given you explanation, answering your post. Many times answers are there but one does not want to accept it. Reason? Answer explains how things work but does not change their behavior.

See your own post:

http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190613&highlight=DeferWindowPos


proxima centaur has a good point:

Maybe what the person is trying to do is against the so-called "windows philosophy" or any other programming paradigm

[jontom]

They don't have to be moderated by a moderator. I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier post.

There are various mechanisms for dealing with this, but the best idea I have had is as follows.

On each post in a normal forum add a "This is too hard" button.
Record each user who clicks it.
If a post gets, say, 50 points, it gets moved to the "puzzle" forum.

Junior member votes are worth 1 point.
Member points are worth 5 points.
Senior member votes are worth 10 points.
Elite member votes are worth 40 points.

This way the users of the site can say they don't know, and if an Elite member doesn't know the answer (as opposed to can't be bothered to reply), it will quickly move to the puzzle forum.

Once in the puzzle forum, a similar mechanism can be used to reject posts, or remove them once they have been answered.

Moderators don't have to do anything!

[Simon666]

I think any post should be available for rating first, instead of the entire thread. I'm still a bit pissed about this functionality disappearing with the new codeguru forum. Whether ultra-difficult questions should be rated extra points and by what system or so is only a secondary option to me.

[jontom]

John,

I think I have given you explanation, answering your post.

You did, and many thanks. I used this problem as an example. That is to say that what I was trying to do wasn't, IMHO, against the "Windows paradigm". If this isn't possible, which it isn't, it should be properly documented. My copy of MSDN is a little out of date, but even so when I read it, it clearly suggests that what I was trying to do should be easily achievable. It didn't make even the slightest suggestion that trying to move parents and children at the same time was not possible or problematic.

So I think it still makes a valid example of a "puzzle" question. Basically, the function does not behave rationally (return an error), and nor does it behave as the documentation states that it should. Hence it is a non-trivial problem, and not in the same category as someone using sockets for the first time (I got another guy asking me for code this morning).

To get an answer, I had to search the archives for similar questions to find someone who seemed to know more than MSDN about the function (you) and then PM you with a URL to the post. If you, as a bit of a guru, were subscribed to a "puzzle" forum, and if my post had been moved there, I wouldn't have had to go to these extreme lengths.

I was lucky this time to get an answer. There are many other questions where I still don't know the answer and have had to use work-arounds.

[Elrond]

Originally posted by jontom
On each post in a normal forum add a "This is too hard" button.
Record each user who clicks it.
If a post gets, say, 50 points, it gets moved to the "puzzle" forum.

This is an idea. But like everything in the forum, people should click on it if they really think that it is a tough question, not just if they don't know the ansewr when they see it.

Most of unanswered are just because no one take the time to go find the answer, or because the question cannot be understood (or is not complete enough).

People should be aware of the correct use of it.

[JohnCz]

jontom:

I could not agree more about your remark about MS documentation.

It has many missing topics, things that are undocumented and many contradicting “gray” areas.

For example MS is pushing .NET and it is very hard to find MFC topics as well as samples.

That is why we are participating in this forum trying to do our best but unfortunately that is not always possible.

[jontom]

Here's a tricky one to test your grey matter. I couldn't care less whether I get an answer or not, and yes it definitely breaks the Windows paradigm, but I find it bizarre, curious, and interesting, and thought I would share it with you.



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