Re: MCH3402 - and Built-In-Function %OPEN

On 10-Jul-08, at 3:08 PM, rpg400-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

He already expressed against my manager (who unfortunately is no programmer
but sales man):

I feel your pain!

Sounds like your customer is a classic example of the second of your tag lines. i.e. "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." - he has apparently decided he prefers ignorance - or should that be stupidity?

I'm not sure what else to suggest - but I would say that the sins article is probably understandable by even the most non-technical marketing guy - at least in as much as it points out that this is not "usage as intended" and therefore he is aiding the customer to build something IBM will not support. Even with his existing code the customer is taking serious risks.

RCLACTGRP(*Eligible) - oh good grief - you might as well just slit your wrists - it will be far less painful in the long run! This one is so bad that IBM wanted to remove it altogether as an option but were forced to keep it for compatibility reasons. But note that they removed it from the prompts! You can only even find that it exists deep in the help text. Why - because it is lethal - and if you use it and (for example) an operating system function is subsequently blown away - IBM will just tell you to go whistle if you try to raise a support issue.

What the customer is effectively doing is driving his car the wrong way on the Autobahn - it is not a question of _if_ he will have a serious crash - it is a simple matter of _when_ that crash will occur! And when it does happen you can be certain it will occur at very high speed!!


Jon Paris

www.Partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com