RE: Knotty puzzle with chaining to files not known at compile time

Sorry to join late in this.

The QSQPRCED API uses the SQLDA descriptor. The SQLDA data structure
contains an array, which you have to lopp through to get the column data
retrieved.

You can also use embedded SQL with descriptor SQLDA, which makes that form
of SQL dynamic.

It seems James, the originator, cannot use embedded SQL.

Regards,
Carel Teijgeler.

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 5-7-2006 at 2:36 Larry Ducie wrote:

<snip>
I'm a little confused (not that that's unusual).  What do you mean

"iterate 

through each column"?  The ResultSet in JDBC has a next() method which 
positions you to the next row, at which point you do getXxx (e.g., 
getString, getFloat) passing either an ordinal column number or a String 
containing a column name to get the appropriate field from the current

row. 

I don't have to iterate through the columns.
</snip>

OK. The comparison I was drawing was based on trying to perform two

fundamentally similar tasks:

1) Within RPG - use QSQPRCED to dynamically retrieve data from columns in

a 

result set which is not known at runtime.
2) Within Java - use JDBC to dynamically retrieve data from columns in a 
result set which is not known at runtime.

I have done both, and I believe the process is similar. Consider building

a 

very basic query processor using Swing. You have a SQL scratchpad and a 
table to display the results. As you have no idea what the resultset will 
look like (because you don't know what query the user will type) you have

to 

build code which simply processes each row, and for each row processes

each 

column - retrieve the data, format it, and place it in a String object.

Once 

done, you can display the table data.

To obtain the same result in RPG I would use QSQPRCED and a couple of 
for-loops. I could have used the phrase "sequencially process in a looping

fashion" instead of iterate but I assumed they were the same - and iterate

takes less typing. :-)