Re: HereDoc

[Dennis <iseries@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

CL has had the equivalent of Here docs since S/38 CPF R1 circa 1977.

See //DATA in the CL reference manual.

"Mark Murphy/STAR BASE Consulting Inc." <mmurphy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Some time ago I learned PHP, and was introduced to a concept called 
> HereDoc.  Essentially a way to insert a string inline.  Didn't really
> see 
> the use of it, and never really thought about it much until now.  I
> have a 
> piece of code where it would be highly useful for improving the 
> readability of my program.  Unfortunately  The use is in an RPG
> program, 
> and the feature does not exist there.
>
> Anyway here is what I was thinking.  I am using dynamic SQL in a 
> particular program (so that I can use set schema to direct unqualified 
> references to the environment of my choice).  Some of the SQL commands
> are 
> quite complex, and I have to double quotes in my string literals.  the 
> whole thing degenerates into a bunch of extra quotes and continuation 
> marks that would not be necessary with a HereDoc.
>
> Consider the following (very simple, but serves to make the point):
>
>       updateStmt =
>         'Update MCPSRV Set SESCLS=''O'',                        ' +
>         '  semdat = Date_As_Cymd(Current_Date),                 ' +
>         '  semtim = time_As_Hms(Current_Time), seuser = user,   ' +
>         '  sempgm = ''SQL''                                     ' +
>         'Where SEICD9=''V2020Z'''; 
>
> With a HereDoc I could write something like:
>
>       updateStmt = <<<DOC
>         Update MCPSRV Set SESCLS='O', 
>           semdat = Date_As_Cymd(Current_Date), 
>           semtim = time_As_Hms(Current_Time), seuser = user, 
>           sempgm = 'SQL' 
>         Where SEICD9='V2020Z' 
>      <<<DOC
>
> Even with a simple example the lack of superfluous quotes and
> continuation 
> marks makes the second far more readable than the first.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Mark Murphy
> STAR BASE Consulting, Inc.
> mmurphy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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