Re: Signature violations

Hi Steve,

maybe I am wrong on this. If I am correct, I think it is important for
people to understand the problems you are exposed to if you
incorrectly use service programs.

You're not wrong, but I gently draw your attention to the word 'incorrectly.' I find more RPG programmers forget to put the 'K' in the F specification than inadvertently reorder binder language exports. Yes, if we do the wrong thing, we will break stuff. My experience is that I don't find this particular issue (reordering exports) to come up in real life.

The underlying theme in this thread is that it's too easy to make a mistake. Implicit in that is the idea that it's not easy enough for programmers to find out how to do it the right way. That made me stop and think, because I have certainly encountered that in my travels (my favourite example is programmers using EVAL without understanding intermediate precision.)

The RPG IV Redbook has a section on binder language, and that's pretty old. The ILE Concepts manual has it too (page 81) http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/books/sc415606.pdf The RPG Reference has no mention of binder language that I could find, but the RPG Programmer's Guide has examples of binder language and a reference to the ILE Concepts manual. I am clearly biased, because I found these manuals enough to learn the ideas when ILE was introduced. Where do you think IBM could do a better job explaining the importance of not reordering exports in binder language?

One other thing. I fully realise that the vast majority of RPG programmers do not read this list and so searching the archives, FAQ or Wiki is probably a non-starter. Do you think that many 'cut off' programmers will start using service programs without reading the IBM manuals first? I'm talking specifically about someone changing jobs to a new place. He never used service programs before, but now he has to... Will he just start plunking away without talking to his new colleagues?
--buck