Re: Odd/Even packed numbers.

[Douglas Handy <dhandy1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Barbara/Leif,

>Go figure - this use of the term "signed" has always puzzled me
>since the first time I encountered it in DDS.

I've always presumed that terminology in DDS came about because of the 5250 data
stream where a zoned field became a "signed numeric" input field.  Unlike
regular numeric fields in 5250, a "signed numeric" consumes an extra display
position for the trailing sign but passes the buffer contents as regular zoned
data.

For (unsigned) "numeric" fields, the screen length matches the buffer length and
the use of Field- changes the zone of the last digit.

So why do PF/LF definitions also use "S" instead of "Z"?  I don't know; I
suppose somebody thought it was more consistent to use S in DDS???

Doug