Re: Character to Numeric can it be cleaned up

[Douglas Handy <dhandy1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carel,

>To get a numeric value in a character field into a numeric field you 
>have to use MOVE. 

Absolutely not true.  I've been doing it since V3R2, when subprocedures were
first added to RPG IV.  All you you have to do is write a simple routine -- once
only -- and put it in a service program.  Just like you should do for countless
other things which are useful to multiple programs.  No need to wait for IBM to
do it for you.

>I would have been better, if IBM had not introduced them at that time.

How so?  They still provided conversions useful for other purposes.

>>> And to think of it: this BIF (and its cousins) were developed to dump MOVE 
>>> in /free. (sic!)

I don't think /free had anything to do with it.  I've avoided the use of MOVE in
new code I write ever since V3R2.  (And yes Bob, I still have countless lines of
existing code using MOVEs too, and I still understand them.  I just don't code
that way anymore and haven't for years.  It has nothing to do with /free.)

Doug