Re: RPG Cycle (was Multi-Occurring DS)

Armbruster, Tom wrote:

<snip>
I believe there will come a time when IBM, as it has done in the past, will ultimately
dictate to conform or perish.
</snip>

I have tried to come up with a case, as regards RPG, when IBM has ever removed anything. The only thing that I have been able to recall (I started on a System/3) are devices; MFCU and DISK40 would cause an RPG program (even II) to barf on the i5. I had to help port a S/3 application to an AS/400 some years ago, and the only thing I remember that had to be changed was the F-specs.

Though I'm sure the compiler writers would love to chuck some of the "old" stuff, they won't / can't. IBM does deprecate (strongly discourage) things sometimes, such as not allowing MOVE in /free format - but the compiler handles it fine if one wants to take the trouble to code the /end-free MOVE /free set.

Outside of RPG, IBM has deleted many products, including compilers, from the product lines. Or simply refused to bring them to the next platform. But the discussion is the RPG Cycle, not other products.

<snip>
With a normalized database,
appropriately keyed files and valid logic, there should never be a
reason to read every record in a file. This is an old method which
requires high I/O and introduces entirely too many logic errors for
which to compensate. It also reduces the extensibility of the end
result.
</snip>

Ninety-nine percent of the time I am dealing with a subset of the database. Even when I'm dealing with the entire database, I'll usually wrap the file I/O in a DO loop - but sometimes it is just easier to let the cycle help. Perhaps it is because I started on a S/3 that the cycle doesn't frighten me, but learning and using embedded SQL, IFS access, and prototypes didn't fright me either (just slowed me down a bit the first time).

If by "extensibility" you mean (I apologize if I'm putting meaning to words that you did not intend) being able to invoke an RPG routine/function from, say, a web site (a customer wants to see their order status, say), I fully agree. But, if I'm writing a report for our COO (and, love 'im, he comes up with a new one every other day), I'll do it the quickest way possible. And things like level breaks and MR have been around for a long time - meaning that the bugs are probably out of the compiler features.
Thanks.



* Jerry C. Adams
*IBM System i Programmer/Analyst
B&W Wholesale Distributors, Inc.* *
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