RE: Cycle programs and control level breaks

Perhaps. Or perhaps you are defining RPG too narrowly. Only time will tell.
But I think that IBM considers Visual Age RPG "real" RPG. 

If you take the wheels off a car, you have a car without wheels. You have
not somehow created a 'not car.' Similarly, if you take the cycle out of
RPG, you have RPG without the cycle. 

To extend you analogy, if you *replace* the wheels on the car with something
else, perhaps some kind of air cushion device, you have a car that is more
nimble and can do a lot more jobs than a car with standard wheels. Those
wheels might look real good in some situations- but you really do not need
them and the car is still a car. 

Replace the cycle in RPG with 3G constructs to have full procedural control,
and you have an RPG that is possible more nimble and can be used in places
where encycled RPG cannot. Even though the cycle may look mighty good to a
programmer sometimes. 

-Paul

-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of James H H Lampert
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 5:56 PM
To: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: Cycle programs and control level breaks

"Paul Raulerson" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

You might want to be careful about being so adamant...
for example, just TRY to use 'the cycle" in a VA/RPG
application. It's real RPG, it's an IBM product - and it
does not even HAVE the cycle in it. Even when running
report programs that use iSeries data.

Then I would argue that it is RPG in name only. Just as
the various QBASICs, TrueBASICs MacBASICs and Visual
BASICs are BASIC in name only. Just as they are most
definitely NOT real BASIC (they are in fact something that
transcends BASIC and begins to resemble PL/I), VA/RPG, if
it lacks The Cycle, is most definitely NOT RPG, because
The Cycle is one of a very small handful of
characteristics that DEFINE RPG.

If you take the wheels off a car, is it still a car?

--
JHHL
--
This is the RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries (RPG400-L) mailing list
To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at http://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.