RE: external *PRTF (was: RE: 'ILE RPG' or 'RPG IV' . What's the diffe rence!!!)

OK, I can see I'm going to take my lumps for this.

>I could just as easily ask why you don't describe your display files
internally.
As I asked before, _can_ you?  Since two of you have mentioned this, I'm
guessing it's possible, but I've never seen it before.  Can you do subfiles?
Display attributes?  Protecting fields?  Position cursor?  Or any of the
other features of external display files that are STANDARD and otherwise
REQUIRED of today's AS/400 shops?  I'm guessing not.  But I would defer to
your knowledge of this.

>Or your database files for that matter.
Doesn't count.  Database files are used in more than one application.

>Now that I have Code Designer to do the print layout it is even simpler ...
And how many shops have this?  I've not seen nor heard of any shops around
here that use Code/400.  As mentioned previously, perhaps my tainted view on
external printer files might have taken a different turn if IBM had made RLU
more like RDA.

I've already ranted in a previous post about wanting to be in a leading-edge
AS/400 environment.  Maybe I need to move to California.  ;-)

- Dan Bale

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon.Paris@halinfo.it [SMTP:Jon.Paris@halinfo.it]
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 10:16 PM
> To:   RPG400-L@midrange.com
> Subject:      Re: external *PRTF (was: RE: 'ILE RPG' or 'RPG IV' . What's
> the diffe     rence!!!)
> 
> 
> 
>  >> Jon, please indicate why you think "it is just better and safer to
> describe
> these things externally."
> 
> I could just as easily ask why you don't describe your display files
> internally.
> Or your database files for that matter.
> 
> RPG programs are way too big and lumpy anyway.  Printer files allow me to
> keep
> the physical definition separate from the logical definition.  That makes
> it
> simpler to customize the output to the users needs (that is who we are
> coding
> for right?) without having to keep messing around in the source.  Every
> time I
> touch the source there is a chance I will screw up something else.  If I
> need to
> modify a print file to split one line into two I can often do so with no
> change
> at all to the program.  I can move fields around, modify spacing/skipping,
> etc.
> etc.
> 
> I have never understood why the same programmers who so eagerly embraced
> the
> S/38's external database and display definitions were so determined to
> continue
> doing their print programs the hard way.  When I first discovered the S/38
> I was
> so delighted to get all that $#%@ out of my programs that I wouldn't ever
> want
> to have to go back to doing it the old fashioned way.
> 
> Now that I have Code Designer to do the print layout it is even simpler
> 'cos I
> can drag and drop, stretch fields, move groups of them, etc.  I used to
> use SDA
> and hand convert the final product 'cos I couldn't stand RLU and SDA was
> what In
> used for the job on the S/38 anyway!
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