Re: New Opcodes - %SETCELL

Not only does it seem more "modern" to use service programs instead
of SPECIAL files, but...  and forgive me if I'm wrong...  don't
SPECIAL files require "record-based" I/O?

I mean, you use set-length parameters to call your special program,
don't you?

Seems to me that this largely defeats the purpose of using a
file in the IFS in the first place.

I have to say that I DON'T like the idea of something like a %GetCell
BIF.   I dont know of any language where the compiler has built-in
support for various different file types!  Generally, in ANY language
you have to open up the file and parse the contents yourself...

I *do* like the idea of a more RPG-friendly interface for the IFS,
BIFs that do the same functions as the existing IFS API, with the
added capability of being able to read a single "line" of text from
the IFS (one of the options on the open command should be whether it
uses DOS, UNIX or Mac end of line sequences) but these should NOT
have to do things like parse XML, BIFF (Excel format), or any other
application-specific file format.

Also, I *DO* like the idea of higher-level I/O being handled thru
a service-program, or a similar "shared library" type of support
for the application-specific file formats like Excel.  This would
greatly reduce the NIGHTMARE of trying to deal with the bazillions
of different formats out there.

It also shouldn't be limited to data located on the AS/400 either.
These same functions should be able to access data anywhere that
file sharing is enabled on a LAN, all through this same interface.

Okay, now you don't have to eagerly wait for my opinion anymore :)




Buck Calabro <mcalabro@commsoft.net> wrote:
> > >>Regarding IFS support - Has no-one tried to write a SPECIAL
> > >>file program for IFS reads and writes?  It seems like an
> > >>ideal use for SPECIAL files.
> >
> >There's probably fewer people that know how to write
> >SPECIAL files than know how to find/read the
> >documentation and understand how to use API's
>
> It seems more modern to bind to an IFS service program, explicitly
>  calling
> the OPEN, READ, etc. functions than it does to code to the SPECIAL
>  parameter
> list which has implicit open/close, etc.  Maybe it's just me...
>
> Buck Calabro
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