RE: Testing from the command line (was: Use of%DECwithunformattedcharacter numerics)

One of the original reasons for doing APIs was to provide HLL program-level
access to information that was either available only via some of the DSPxxx
commands are not available at all.  

I mean, why would anyone want to call an API such as QUSRMBRD from within CL
when you can use RTVMBRD?

At least that was the thinking.

Today, obviously there are a number of APIs that have been release since the
early days of S/38 that came out during that dark period in history when IBM
though CL commands were not going to be used anymore. During that time they
created API after API without a CL equivalent. So I can see the frustration
in an end-programmer wanting to call an API from within CL via a
user-written CL command. 

Who knows, maybe if you send a note off to IBM they may put some money into
is since they're apparently upgrade CL again for the first time in 2
decades.  (It seems like 2 decades anyway.)

-Bob Cozzi


-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Buck Calabro
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 7:16 AM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Testing from the command line (was: Use
of%DECwithunformattedcharacter numerics)

> And I'd love to be able to set an option on a
> command PARM() definition that told it to
> leave off "Number of values passed" from
> the beginning of lists that I define. While it's
> very useful for standard list parms, it just
> gets in the way when I want to define a
> mixed list that essentially creates a fixed
> data structure such as what gets passed into
> various APIs. I can't simply name the API
> as the CPP; I have to create a CPP that
> receives the parm, strips off "Number of
> values passed" and then calls the API.

It's a priviledge to be able to have access to the opinions of top
quality programmers.  Until Tom said this, I never once thought about
it like this.  I have been wrappering my API calls in either CL or RPG
forever; the HLL provides the 'clean-up' and grageful error handling
for my command definitions.  Now that I hear the idea broached, it
sounds attractive...  Food for thought is good food indeed!
  --buck



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