Editor: Change "buffer exceeded: you probably have a missing closing bracket on a previous line" compile error message

[edmundito]

Describe the problem
I ran into an issue where I made a mistake in my code and got the following error message:

GlobalScript.asc(X): Error (line X): buffer exceeded: you probably have a missing closing bracket on a previous line

So I looked around to see where I missed a bracket, and couldn't find anything. It was definitely nowhere near the previous line. I have my project on Git and reviewed the diff, seeing nothing unusual with the brackets. So I started commenting out some functions to see which one was stopping the compiler, and what I found is that I was missing a closing parenthesis and a semicolon in one of the functions. 🤦🏼

Anyway, the message above is too cryptic and too confident for what it knows.

Suggested change
This is a tricky one to solve because it needs to serve various potential errors and hint this. What can be done is:

1. Identify different ways this error may occur (probably a closing whatever - } ) " ' ]) and confirm that the error appears when these are missing.
2. Learn how other compilers communicate this in a friendlier way. Does it say "buffer exceeded?"
3. Write a new message with a more vague suggestion. For example, ". This may be caused by a missing x, y, or z somewhere above this line."

Alternatively: The script parser somehow traces back to check where what is the first missing closing element and tells you the exact line, although this may be a more complex solution.

[ivan-mogilko]

This problem is only related to the old compiler.
The new compiler in ags4 already reports these errors like:

NewScript1.asc(7): The '{' on this line isn't closed.

Normally a compiler should remember the last opening symbol and its position, and use this data in case of end of file.

[fernewelten]

I assume that the (old) compiler is emitting the message?

A trick that I'm using in situations like that is to temporarily add a closer (e.g., a )) at the place where the error is reported. Then I use the editor functionality to find the opener (the () that corresponds to the added closer. Usually this puts me in a location that is nearer to the place where I goofed. (Try all the possible closers: ), ], }.)

As Ivan said, the new compiler should provide more helpful messages for mismatched opener/closer pairs - but as of now, the compiler is AGS 4 only.