Re: "If %scan(x:y)" is not valid???

[Douglas Handy <dhandy1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark,

>Then you could make a function called MOVE, use it in /free and everyone
>would be happy. :-)

Actually, if we had operation descriptors for numeric fields that could do that.

However, I'm with IBM on this one.  I think it was a good decision to leave MOVE
out of /free supported opcodes.

While MOVE may be easy to "read" and code initially, it is *not* easy to
understand by just reading the code unless you have an in-depth knowledge of the
fields involved.  And that can't always be taken for granted.

You can get some very subtle program bugs by field defintions changing and MOVE
not working the way the original programmer intended.  And they can be very hard
to spot when perusing a program using the "readable" MOVE opcode.

Aside to Joe:

In terms of converting legacy code where 50,000 lines are using MOVE, the vast
majority of those will be with compatible field sizes.  So I'd write a utility
which analysed the fields involved and replaced MOVE with the equivalent code
which may be as simple as changing:

  MOVE X      Y        to    Y = X

or it may require adding substringing, a routine to convert char to numeric or
vice versa, etc.

In the end you have the readability of a simple assignment when that is what the
code is doing, and explicit substring or casting when that is necessary.  And
*that* to me makes the program *more* readable than if it continued to use MOVE
with its various ambiguities.

IMHO

Doug