RE: Text on report

On Wed, 21 Jun 2000, Stone, Joel wrote:

> If you create a file now with a key prefix, you can use the same file
> for all reports, and write only one maintenance program for them all.
> 
> Fields could be something like:
> 
> field-name    length
> Msg_Group       10
> Msg_seq         3 numeric
> Msg_data        78
> 
 
Or better yet, put each different block of text into a seperate member in
a source physical file. This eliminates the need for a keyed access path,
which in turn makes file access quicker.

Having it in a source file makes it very easy to edit, with STRSEU, or
other editors.  You can FTP the file to your PC if you prefer that, and
OS/400 will know how to convert the text, because its being done with a 
file type that was DESIGNED with text in mind. 

It seems to me that it'd be better to NOT create your own custom file
with your own custom record format that only works with programs written
specifically for it.  (Unless of course, you need to do something
"custom")

> In addition to the good advice you received about placing the data in a
> file (and the bad advice about using eval / arrays), I will add my 2
> cents.

I disagree with the assessment that "eval / arrays" are "bad advice."
The original poster did NOT give enough information for any programmer
to make a good decision about what the "best way" to do this is.  

Personally, I like the idea of either using a source PF, or a stream file
(in the IFS) to store the data.  


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