RE: cat and varying

["Steve Richter" <srichter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: rpg400-l-admin@midrange.com [mailto:rpg400-l-admin@midrange.com]On
Behalf Of Hans Boldt

>And so, yes, the + operator is preferred over CAT when dealing with
>varying length character. Not because it's necessarily faster, but
>rather, it works as you would expect with varying length character
>variables.


The larger the string, the slower
  a = a + b ;
runs.

I coded a "Cat" procedure.  It runs slower than a = a + b when a is short,
but runs a fair bit better when %len(a) > 2000.  Also the Cat procedure
doesnt know the extent of target string unless "opdesc" is used.

using %subst performs well in either short or long string conditions:
  Lx = %len(a) ;
  %len(a) = Lx + %len(b) ;
  %subst(a:Lx+1:%len(b)) = b ;

Too bad the += operator is not smart enough to use the %subst method instead
of a = a + b.

thanks,

Steve Richter