Are we insane? Unique use of native DB2

We started with DB2 back in 1979 when the System/38 was first released and from just about the very beginning we have been using DB2/400 in what I think is a very unique way. At least I have never heard of anyone else who is doing this. Since there has been a lot of discussion on this list about DB2 and SQL vs native recently I thought I would share what we do with the native database access methods.

We assign a unique logical file to each and every application that we write. To say this another way, every F Spec in every RPG program has a file that is only used in that one RPG application. When we create that LF it only includes the fields from the physical file(s) (some are joins but not many) that the RPG application needs and specifies each field as either input or both as the application needs it. It also includes any select/omit criteria to keep the application from reading data it does not need to deal with. We use to explicitly share an access path until DB2/400 was able to do that automatically. Now we just specify the key needed for the application. What this does for us is that we can add a field to a physical file in production and not need to re-compile any programs. After the new field is there we change the logical files used by the application(s) that need the new field and compile the LFs and RPGs that need changed. If the project allows it we can even implement each application change as it is tested and not need to wait for a mass implementation.

So, are we insane or was the analyst that worked here back in 1979 a man far ahead of his time (It was not me - I did work here at the time but as a lowly entry level coder who no one listed to)