RE: ILE-Cobol Subscript range (bug or feature)

["Branston DiBrell, Jr." <bdibrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vanya,

I remember running into that same problem (subscript out-of-range producing no 
error, just writing over other parts of memory) on a VAX.  I think that the 
fact that you got a run time error with the integer variable is a COBOL/400 
'feature'.

In the past, I've always tried to avoid that problem by using a Search...At End 
using a variable length table (then adding 1 to the table size when I want to 
add a table row), or some such trick.

-Branston

----------
From:  Vanya Jovic [SMTP:jovic@calcna.ab.ca]
Sent:  Tuesday, July 14, 1998 2:11 PM
To:  midrange-l@midrange.com
Subject:  ILE-Cobol Subscript range (bug or feature)


        Devil's advocate again :))

        Hi, ppl.

According to ILE COBOL/400 Reference & Programmer's Guide, range of
array's or table's subscript should be between 1 and number in OCCURS
clause. And subscript can be any integer variable or index declared in
INDEXED BY clause. Nice. If you use integer variable and make it
bigger than number in OCCURS clause, run time error occurs in the moment
when you try to move something to table element subscribed by that
variable. But if you set index to number greater then a number in OCCURS
clause, and then move something to table element subscribed by
that index, nothing happens. No warrning. Even worse, memory out of
table's boundaries is beeing changed (and, you guess, data in another
table is corrupted). I've just spent whole morning debbugging service
program (24 modules, thanks for asking), trying to find out which phantom
was populating decimal fields in one table with garbage. It turned out
that it was done by completely irrelevant table, in completely irrelevant
module where programmer typed smaller number in OCCURS clause than he
shold have.

        I red that part of manual a few times, but it doesn't say anything
about this kind of difference in behaviour between integer variable and
index. I checked it in ILE environment, but I'm pretty sure that same
would happened in OPM. 

        Any comments, thoughts ????

Vanya

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