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...and really enjoy all the information that is passed between users, however I have been reluctant to post anything in fear of being blasted.

That makes me sad. The purpose of this list is to share knowledge.
There are practical limitations as to how much knowledge can be shared
via email; we can't really /teach/ someone from the ground up. The time
investment would be enormous on both sides. Much etiquette on 'How to
ask questions' springs from that fact.

It's something of a paradox that the hardest question to answer is the
easiest to ask. An example: 'What is the best way to read a record?'
Read? CL? Rexx? RPG/36, RPG III, RPG/400, ILE RPG? Cobol, Fortran, C,
SQL? Java via JDBC, Excel via ODBC, Crystal Reports? Best? Fastest to
execute once, fewest lines of code, easiest to maintain, fastest to
execute for a million rows?

The easiest question for me to answer involves enough code and sample
data that I can recreate the situation on my machine. That's usually
the hardest thing for the asker to do, because it means he has to
extract out the bits that aren't working, set up a dummy table and then
cut and paste the lot into a question (although code.midrange.com can
help with that; post your code there, then paste the link here).

So help us to help you. If you have a question, show your code and
sample data that makes it fail. It sounds weird, but the more specific
your question, the faster you'll get an answer. I've been on this list
since the BBS days, and honestly can't recall complaints that an asker
gave too much detail in her question. The list is far more likely to
complain that it takes forever to tease out every last morsel of
information needed to understand the problem.

I've taken too much of your time as it is. I hope this helps to
encourage you to ask - or answer - some questions. The community draws
its strength from those who actively participate.
--buck

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