Re: *ENTRY PLIST (was: RE: Pointer not set for location .....)

And what happens if someone passes the fourth parameter and not 1-3?

Rob Berendt

==================
A smart person learns from their mistakes,
but a wise person learns from OTHER peoples mistakes.


                                                                                
                                        
                    rbaird@esourcecons                                          
                                        
                    ulting.com                To:     RPG400-L@midrange.com     
                                        
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                    owner-rpg400-l@mid        Subject:     Re: *ENTRY PLIST  
(was: RE: Pointer not set for location     
                    range.com                 .....)                            
                                        
                                                                                
                                        
                                                                                
                                        
                    05/31/01 02:16 PM                                           
                                        
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Rob,

I use %parms a lot.  yes, in answer to your question - if the last parm was
passed, all were passed.

The way I use it is pretty foolproof, assuming there is only one version of
the program in use (with one copy of the source).

The reason I use it is when I'm adding parms to an existing program to add
functionality such as returning a value that wasn't returned before, change
the functionality in some other way.

consider this:   Pgm A has 3 parms and is called from 20 different programs
in the system.  all work fine as designed.   Now I'm writing Pgm B and I
want to perform the exact functions Pgm A is designed for.  But I also want
it to pass me additional information that it wasn't originally designed
for.   I then change Pgm A to perform this extra step, and return the new
value, but ONLY if %parms > 3.

No need to change any other programs.  Also, if someone is writing or
changing another program, they might find an example of calling Pgm A, or
they might even look at the source for Pgm A it doesn't matter, it will
always work for what they need it for (passing 3 or 4 parms even if they
pass 4 and never use the additional value)

If you wish to add more functionality to the pgm, just repeat the steps
above, and voila' - if %parms > 4 perform the new function (as well as the
last function).

No, not as slick or "new" as %addr but esentially serves the same purpose,
and I think is more intuitive as to what is meant.

Rick

original message:
Rob sez:
>> %PARMS again?
<snip>
As far as I am concerned the only good use for %parms is if it is equal to
the total number of parms available then you don't have to check each one
individually.  Or, does it assume that if you send the last parm then you
sent all?-->>





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