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Moving more tightly on-topic: To test a candidate's RPG knowledge, I would write a short RPG program that had neither a primary file, nor an explicit SETON LR statement, nor an explicit return, and then ask the candidate to: 1. Explain the sort of compiler error one might get (answer: an error complaining that the program had no way to exit, and would continue to ride the RPG Logic Cycle until forcibly stopped) 2. Modify the program so that it would execute exactly once when called, and so that the first two times it was called, it would terminate but remain active, with its variables intact, and the third time, it would shut itself down completely (answer: add a counter, a return statement that would be executed at the end of the first two calls of the program, and a SETON LR statement that would be executed somewhere in the third iteration). and 3. Modify the program so that it would loop endlessly, without a compiler error, and without using any explicit DO, DOWHILE, or DOUNTIL construct (answer: add a return statement or a SETON LR statement that can never actually be executed; that would satisfy the compiler, while leaving the endless Cycle loop intact). An exercise like this would weed out the people who took purely academic RPG classes that never even mentioned the ability of an RPG program to take a free ride on the Cycle (even without a primary file). Outside of RPG, one could ask about common CL commands, as well as any other languages you use (such as MI). You can and should probably ask relevant philosophical questions, such as (either as an essay question or as part of an oral board) what language(s) the candidate would use to write a program to solve some stated problem, and (more importantly) WHY he or she would use that language. -- James H. H. Lampert Professional Dilettante http://www.hb.quik.com/jamesl http://members.hostedscripts.com/antispam.html http://www.thehungersite.com Help America's Passenger Trains. http://www.saveamtrak.org Read My Lips: No More Atrocities!
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