RE: Compile error when using field in a subfield data structure

> From: Colin Williams
> 
> Lack of MOVE in free-format wouldn't bother me so much,
> if the need to put /free,/end-free, to switch from free to fixed and
back
> was removed.
> 
> Surely the presence of the spec, eg C,D,F etc on the left is enough to
> indicate that it's a fixed format line.

I agree.  This restriction is entirely unnecessary.  And Hans has stated
in the past that the restriction was put in place precisely to make it
difficult to switch back and forth.



> And although the MOVE opcode is powerful, its very power may be the
cause
> of
> many bugs over the years,
> as it packs a heck of a lot of functionality in one opcode, tthat you
can
> easily get wrong.

I disagree here.  This is simply a variation on the "programmers are too
stupid" argument.  There would be a lot fewer database problems if we
just got rid of that pesky UPDATE opcode, too <grin>.

Seriously, if you can't handle the MOVE opcode, you shouldn't be
programming.  You certainly shouldn't have pointers and based variables!


> As with all things in this game, its swings and roundabouts!

This I can agree with, anyway.  It's a business decision, not a
religious decision.  Fixed format RPG IV is just as powerful as free
format RPG, except where the RPG team has chosen to artificially
differentiate the syntaxes.

Joe