× The internal search function is temporarily non-functional. The current search engine is no longer viable and we are researching alternatives.
As a stop gap measure, we are using Google's custom search engine service.
If you know of an easy to use, open source, search engine ... please contact support@midrange.com.



The file issue is the minor issue. Its fairly straight forward and in a few hours you will have it sorted out in your mind.

That is not where you will get your frustrations. The frustrations will come from the hardware restraints that programmers had to works with 30 years ago. Their work-arounds and shortcuts worked, but you will regret having to deal with them. The MOVE opcode can do things those programmers needed done, but it will make you gasp, defining a numeric field with varying lengths so it will fit on a printed page will mystify you, defining a field as alpha or numeric, depending how you wish to use it in your program will make you cringe. Seeing whole programs written, and temporary files created, sorted, used, and destroyed just to do some small piece of a report will trouble you. And, we haven't even begun to discuss the hoops created by CL program manipulation of files.

In short, I have done dozens of these and they always start out looking like _this_ one will be different. They never are, Programmers back then did the best they could with what was available, but since then a whole lot more has become available. I will offer this hint: if you are going to do it, start with the smallest, least significant application first. Get your feet wet, and get a success early on, so you will have a better basis to decide whether or not to continue. My estimate is that, once you understand what is happening in an application, you can probably write the same thing, new, in 20% of the time it will take to update the existing application.

But yes, the files can be keyed. The keys are contiguous and added to the end of the record, even if they are identical to data fields in the original record, There is also another feature called the ADDROUT file which is a separate file made up of only addresses. A data file can have any number of these detached address files, allowing an early version of indexed files.



On 11/5/2013 11:08 AM, James H. H. Lampert wrote:
A couple of questions about S/36 files, prompted by a potential new
customer whose whole native system is apparently set up around them:

First, while I've occasionally futzed around with totally flat,
non-keyed files, and while I've used program-described mode to
circumvent level-check problems on externally-described files that
change regularly, but in a manner that's under our control, I don't have
a lot of experience with actual S-36 files. Am I correct in my
understanding that an S-36 file can be both flat and keyed at the same
time? Is there a convenient way to create a file indistinguishable from
an S-36 file on a V4 or V6 box that doesn't have any S-36 emulation
installed?

Second, can SQL access an S-36 file? Is it difficult?

--
JHHL


As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This thread ...

Follow-Ups:
Replies:

Follow On AppleNews
Return to Archive home page | Return to MIDRANGE.COM home page

This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].

Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.