RE: strange behavior with MOVEL, RPGIII

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Chris Devous
>
> Sometimes, but not always, it is -3.

This statement bothers me.  It seems highly unlikely that the same MOVEL of
the same data will cause different results in different cases.  However, I
decided to do some testing, and here's what I found:

z-add     1             value             1 0
movel     '350P'        value
z-add     -1            value             1 0
movel     '350P'        value
z-add     1             value             1 0
movel     '350 '        value
z-add     -1            value             1 0
movel     '350 '        value
z-add     1             value             1 0
movel     '350C'        value
z-add     -1            value             1 0
movel     '350C'        value
move      *on           *inlr

The MOVEL instructions where the alpha data ends in "P" generate a negative
value (-3), while the others generate a positive value (+3).  This is, IMO,
because the zone of last character in the field is tested and if it is a
x'D' ("P" = x'D7'), then the MOVEL generates a negative number.

This is news to me, by the way.  I've never run into this before, and I'm
not sure I like it!

Joe