Steve Dirickson writes:

>> TURBOIMAGE ERROR AT ???????; RETURN STATUS = -11
>> DBCLOSE, MODE 121, ON <NULL>; OF DBAC.PUB
>> BAD DATABASE REFERENCE (FIRST 2 CHARACTERS)
>> HEX DUMP OF STATUS ARRAY FOLLOWS:
>> fff5 0003 0000 2488 0000 0193 4164 49e8 0079 0000
>
>However, this error indicates a more serious condition: a programmer
>who holds error- and status-checking in such low esteem that s/he is
>attempting to close a database that was not successfully opened. Since
>opening a database is pretty fundamental to the operation in most
>HP3000-based applications, I'd be more than a little concerned about
>the quality of a program that is flummoxed by a failed DBOPEN.

Or it could indicate the opposite: a programmer who's very careful and
wants to make sure that a data base is closed cleanly. That means s/he
puts the DBCLOSE in the termination path of the program so that it's
always executed, no matter what other failures (database or logic) the
program detects. This results in a spurious error message if the thing
that failed is the DBOPEN, but otherwise, it's sound practice. The logic
necessary to skip the close if the open wasn't successful might just be
viewed as a pointless complication that adds another potential point of
failure.

-- Bruce


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