Re: Sources for External Data Structures

> INDDS was a relatively simple addition to the "Named Indicators"
> function.  It offers several advantages:  1) It allows you to name
> conditioning and response indicators in your program, so you don't
> have to refer to indicators by their 2 digit code name;  2) You can
> have an INDDS for each file, thus minimizing "indicator cram".
> 
> Our goal since the initial design of ILE RPG was to minimize the need
> to refer to those old-style, cryptically named 2 digit indicators.
> With the INDDS, as well as the new indicator BIF's (%EOF, %ERROR, etc),
> there are only a few places left where the old-style indicators are
> needed.  (LOOKUP, SHTDN, and the TESTx opcodes.)
> 
> Cheers!  Hans
> 
> Hans Boldt, ILE RPG Development, IBM Toronto Lab, hboldt@vnet.ibm.com


I like what you are doing here. I'm still stuck on V3R1, but SOME DAY I'll get 
to try it.
I have dabbled with VisualBasic just to see what it's like. One thing that I do 
like is how you can change attributes using keywords. Now that we are removing 
indicators from RPG, what about removing them from display files. Instead of 
conditioning the Position Cursor "DSPATR(PC)" with an indicator, let us use a 
BIF type statement (i.e. %PosCur(Field_Name:RecordFormat) = *On). You could do 
things like positioning cursor, setting the color, underlining, reverse image, 
etc. INDDS will let you set on the indicator with a meaningful name, though you 
will still need to use the indicator in the display file.

Joe Teff
QDS
Bloomington, MN
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