Re: variable length field used in DSPF

"MIDRANGE-L" <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 05/19/2017
08:20:43 AM:

It has been some time since I had to put a variable length database
field on a display file (DSPF) screen for update and I know in the
past you could not put the actually database field on the screen,
you had to use a different field name and they move the DB field to
the screen field and then move it back to the DB field. I am needing
to do that again and was wondering if there is any new/better
technique for dealing with this. Still looks like the Display File
compiler changes the definition of the field from variable to fixed
in the DSPF and then the RPG compiler complains about the field
definition being different between the DSPF and logical file.

No, there is no better way. DSPF still does not support
variable-length fields. CNTFLD is for fixed-length text fields that don't
fit on a single screen line. So, yes, you still should use a different
field name in the DSPF and then use %trimr() to move the screen field
content back to your variable-length field. This will maintain the
desired use of your variable-length field.


Sincerely,

Dave Clark