RE: DELETE and reuse variables

Dan,

AFAIK, the Cobol standard specifies that the contents of
the record buffer *after* an I/O operation is undefined.

In the past, I have noticed that on the AS/400 the 
buffer after a Write/Rewrite is still retained and
valid, however, it was *not* retained on a Delete.

YMMV.

Terry


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Rasch [mailto:drasch@mail.win.org] 
> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 8:58 AM
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> Subject: DELETE and reuse variables
> 
> 
> 
> We have a COBOL program that deletes a record, moves new 
> values into the 
> key fields and then writes a new record.  The expectation was 
> that the old
> field values from the deleted recortd would be retained and the
> new record would be the same data, but with new key values.
> 
> We are seeing some records where the field values from the 
> deleted record
> are not retained.  Not totally sure the COBOL program in 
> question is the
> cause, but I thought I remembered the famous IBM phrase 
> 'results may be
> unpredictable' regarding variables from deleted records.  The program
> would require generous unit, system, and regression testing - 
> along with
> similar management signoffs - so I thought I would get some feedback
> first.
> 
> Comments?
>     
> 
> Dan Rasch - because if the human species concentrated on the really 
> important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles!
> IBM Certified twice....... but still a couple PTFs away from Nirvana.
> 
>