Benefits of SQLRPGLE (was: Re: RPG IV release levels and complexity)

Hi Scott,

> Of course, I don't use SQL, which might be part of the reason I
> don't see the disadvantage.

> I should really learn SQL, it would probably make me a better programmer.
> But, I haven't yet seen a need for it -- and the company I work for does
> not own the licpgm...

In the time before i worked for a software company, i was in the same
boat.

That's why i learned them only some years ago, although i dare to take
money for RPG programming for 19 years now.

They are really great for all those nifty selections, e.g. having 20
fields to enter criterias or not and to sort by this and that, at
runtime.

With plain RPG, it's a major pain, with SQLRPGLE, it can be a piece of
cake.

And used that way, it can show it strengths and outperforms "normal"
programs.

If you use it for record-level access, it is way to slow, at least
compared to traditional batch programs. But that perverts a "Query
language", IMHO.

And it's a gift for many things that you normally write a
one-time-program for, correcting things, leading data from one file to
another (various versions) and so on. Suddenly you do things in a
statement instead of a whole program. But that's available to you,
too, even when you "have not SQL". There are free "RUNSQL" tools
around (a special query manager thing), there are API's and there's
Net.Data. You can do all your interactive SQL in the browser, counted
as batch job, with a tiny macro.

0.02 Euro

-- 
Mit freundlichen Grüssen / best regards

Anton Gombkötö
Organisation und Projektleitung

Avenum Technologie GmbH
Wien - Salzburg - Stuttgart
http://www.avenum.com