Re: Count String

Bill

I understand that completely - and there is a time and place for both. This IS a great place to get a quick answer. It is also a place to be told to RTFM - or to call IBM Support. As another poster said, "teach them how to fish". That's all my post was about. I'm glad people here are gracious enough to answer politely even the simplest question, because I'm going to have them, too, someday.

It is worth reading that link that SJL posted - it REALLY does have great suggestions on how to get good information, and in the process help others to learn more. Basic is to publish what you found out after you solve the problem - we don't do that enough here, IMHO.

Now we all know the folks that pester the "expert" in the office and don't take the time to look around first. The "expert" - if he or she is nice - loses productivity. This is a very gross generalization, but it has something behind it.

Now today I was bugging the GHK (green-haired kid - thanks, Jerry A.) about wiki markup - he was just sitting there watching a database conversion slide by - heh - but we got a laugh, because I'm always saying, read the manual! Google it! Sigh! "Now why don't my kids have shoes?", said the cobbler.

Cheers
Vern

-------------- Original message --------------
From: Bill Brosch <bbrosch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Right, but look at the process from a different perspective:

Rather than searching for the answer to this question Srinivas asks his
question here. He is then able to continue working on a different part of
his project without stopping to do this (simplistic) research. After he
finishes the other part of his project, he can then come back here & get
the answer.

By not doing the research himself, he has:
Saved time by not doing the research
Multi-tasked by having someone else get him the answer

Bill

SJL wrote:

Vern wrote:



Hi Srinivas
I must ask - are you able to see the manuals? I think you should be able to get
to the
IBM site and see the PDF of the ILE RPG Reference. The thing I always do is do
a
search - once in the PDF, Ctrl-F and put in the word "length" - you will get to
the
answer quickly.
It is fine to ask these things here, but it is important also to say what you
have done
to find the answer already. You will do better in the future once you learn how
to
find information yourself, like we all have had to do!


Vern -

I think it is once again time to remind people about
"How to Ask Questions the Smart Way",
by Eric Steven Raymond

See:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

There is some very good advice here on seeking help, but unfortunately this web
page
is considered by many to be a hacker-related site, so many corporate web
filters
will prevent you from reaching it.

If so, view it from home!

- sjl


--
This is the RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries (RPG400-L) mailing list
To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l
or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at http://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.