Re: Overlaying fields within a data structure with an array

On Mar 14, 2011, at 5:20 PM, rpg400-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Am I correct to say that your techinque, once used in the
program, will restrict the program from being able to to define a file
DS from then on? Another word, you can't do something like below
(Assuming that ALLOWANCPF file contains all those 5 allowance fields):

d ds
d allowances
D allowance1
D allowance2
D allowance3
D allowance4
D allowance5

d FileDS e ds extname(ALLOWANCPF)


I would expect above to get compile error. File DS sometime is quite
useful, becuase it gives us the ability to pass the entire record to
another program or save it for later comparison.

It will restrict the use of a non-qualified file DS - yes. That technique by itself is typically used when you don't want the whole record as a unit - just the "array" part of it. I can always add the qualified keyword if I want a copy of the record. These days in the circumstances you describe I often use an array DS and use different index levels for the different versions. I also use EVAL-CORR and result field I/O in these circumstances.


Jon Paris