On 08/04/2009, at 4:13 PM, David FOXWELL wrote:
I have to admit that I find the IBM information very hard to
understand.
It's not difficult but you do have to concentrate. (A concept
unfamiliar to the MTV generation but a necessary life-skill
nonetheless.)
Which is why I made this post. I am understanding, from the example,
that AB and VNE are combined so that a blank is then acceptable in a
zone with CHECK(VNE).
Unclear exactly what you mean by that sentence. AB will allow the
field to be completely blank. It will not allow it to contain embedded
blanks. Trailing blanks are always allowed.
I still do not understand what is meant by "the name" in the help
text. What name?
The name being validated of course. The documentation states this is
the case:
VN
Validate name
Use this code to specify that the data typed into the field must be a
valid simple name.
VNE
Validate name extended
Use this code to specify that the data typed into the field must be a
valid extended name.
Names are used to name objects on the system.
An input field has been defined. CHECK(VNE) is specified therefore the
field is being validated to ensure it contains only characters that
are allowed in an extended object name.
CHECK(VN) performs S/38-style validation. CHECK(VNE) is used to
perform OS/400-style validation which has been extended to allow the
use of '.' in a name plus other special characters if the name is
quoted.
To answer your early query:
What does "name delimited by double quotation marks" actually mean ?
Obviously, it means a name enclosed (or delimited) by double-quotes.
For example, "lower" is a valid OS/400 object name. The system cheats
a bit because the quote marks form part of the name itself thus
reducing the 'real' name to a maximum of 8 characters. Although these
are valid names the resulting object might not be accessible from a HLL.
A search of the Information Centre for quoted name would have enabled
you to answer your own question. The first result explains all you
need to know.
Regards,
Simon Coulter.
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