Half baked.... Yeah, that's pretty much the point I was trying to
make....
One major difference between most languages that support null and RPG is
that you cannot easily propagate null fields within your code.
Internally defined variables do not come with null flags, though you can
define them manually... To pass a null field to a procedure? Well, I
suppose you could pass two parms for each one you pass now....
Regardless, you are correct that there is a concept of null support for
RPG, but it exists only in the DB interface, and nowhere else... If all
fields supported a null attribute, then the situation would not be so
bad.
JMO,
Eric
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Walden H. Leverich
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 2:19 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Interesting question and debate on ddl tables
withdatefieldsthatwill not always have a value
The reality is, if you MUST support null capable fields in RPG, you
must ALWAYS check the null indicator before you EVER access the field
in question.
Well, that's true in most languages. It's very common to code:
if (theField == null)
DoThis();
else
DoThat();
or
if (theDateField != null)
theScreenField = FormatTheDate(theDateField);
Did you know that even a null field will still return a valid value
during a fetch?
Eh???? OK, I can see how that would happen, but in my opinion (not that
Rochester asked) that's simply a half-baked implementation, and
basically a bad design.
-Walden
--
Walden H Leverich III
Tech Software
(516) 627-3800 x3051
WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.TechSoftInc.com
Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
(Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
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