RE: Strange behavior w/%editc()

Joe Pluta wrote:

> In any event, if, in your mind
>
>     eval %subst(lotnumber : 3 : 8) = %editc(Lotseq : 'X')
>
> is a logical replacement for
>
>     MOVE LOTSEQ LOTNUMBER
>
> then fine.  I disagree.  I think the extra coding is
> unnecessary.

To quote McConnell (_Code Complete_): "explicit is better than
implicit".  In the former statement it's very clear that the intent is
to modify a substring of the lotnumber; in the latter it is not.

>  Not only
> that, but to keep the exact equivalence (that is, the code
> will still put
> the lot sequence in the last six positions of the lot number,
> regardless of
> the size of my lotnumber field), I have to do this:
>
>     eval %subst(lotnumber : (%len(lotnumber) - %len(lotseq)) + 1 :
> %len(lotseq)) =
>          %editc(lotseq : 'X')

This is certainly messier, but careful formatting and liberal use of
whitespace can vastly improve readability.  For example:
        eval %subst( lotnumber :
                     ( %len( lotnumber ) - %len( lotseq ) ) + 1 :
                     %len( lotseq ) ) =
             %editc( lotseq : 'X' )

That doesn't look too great in a proportional font, but in fixed-width
it should be fine.

Cheers,

Martin.

--
Martin McCallion
Senior Technical Consultant
Work:  martin.mccallion@misys.com
Home: martin.mccallion@ukonline.co.uk
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