Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 April 11

= April 11 =

What's changed?
When I open an image in Photoshop, print it, and close it, it asks me if I want to save the changes. What changes have I made to the file by printing it? --Nicknack009 (talk) 09:52, 11 April 2014 (UTC)


 * You might not have made any -- all this means is that the software marks the image as "modified". Perhaps that's a bug.  However, if the image is in PhotoShop's PSD format, it's possible that some metadata associated with it has been modified (e.g., "print properties"). Looie496 (talk) 12:59, 11 April 2014 (UTC)


 * I've noticed a similar bug in MS Paint. There if I want to save a copy of the currently displayed color file as monochrome, it refuses and insists on changing the currently displayed image to monochrome, too.  When I then try to close the session, it asks if I want to save the modified file, which of course would overwrite the original color image with the monochrome one.  Perhaps when you print it changes the displayed image in some way, then later asks if you want to save that change. StuRat (talk) 18:28, 11 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Uhmm. Don't think that is a bug. Look at it this way. Say you have a Canon 40D (sad I know). Its RAW file is 14 bit but on opening it up in PS it is displayed as  16 bit (Ok, to be pedantic in true Ref Desk tradition -it is actually  15 bits+1 only, on PS). So PS is asking you if you wish to save the converted image you see before you. Just tried it on GIMP and it closed without this message – so perhaps PS is just trying to be annoyingly helpful. --Aspro (talk) 19:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Formatting Entry Fields in gnuCOBOL
I'm teaching myself COBOL using gnuCOBOL (formerly openCOBOL), and I'm having trouble with displaying formatted numbers. I define two variables as:

I'm using the following code to accept data for them (I hope the syntax is correct):

When I run the program, I see this:


 * Account Balance Date:  00/00/0000


 * Account Balance Value:      $0.00

Which is what I want. However, when I enter data, it overwrites the "/" slashes, and always starts at the left of the field, like this:


 * Account Balance Date:  0410201400


 * Account Balance Value: 1.23 $0.00

Is there a way to program this to look correct, like so:


 * Account Balance Date:  04/10/2014


 * Account Balance Value:      $1.23

Thanks!OldTimeNESter (talk) 15:01, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
 * It looks as if we don't have a lot of COBOL expertise on this reference desk, so you might be better off asking at a more specialised site, such as Stack Overflow. Their cobol or opencobol forums will probably be able to help you.


 * I haven't had any experience with COBOL for decades, but I suspect the answer lies along the lines of using a display picture such as PIC -,---,---.99 rather than PIC $Z(7)v99. However, you will need to move the result to a variable with a more conventional picture before doing any arithmetic on it. I gleaned this from the first answer here.- gadfium 20:52, 13 April 2014 (UTC)