RE: New to RPG

I could not disagree more.

Level break programs have never needed the cycle. It is an archaic approach. When I learned RPG almost 34 years ago, I was fortunate to have an instructor (thank you, Howard Andrews) who made us aware of it but also strongly encouraged structured techniques.

Comparing variables is not an onerous task. With %kds(), level breaks are even easier now. I have a program with about 8 level breaks via procedures and it is a snap to understand.

We have to promote modern practices or we become our own worst enemy. We've interviewed about 12 people over the last two years and all but two wrote fixed form RPG for the test we give them. Not one used procedures or accepted the offer to use RDi. That is a sad commentary.


Sent from my Galaxy Tab® A


-------- Original message --------
From: "Englander, Douglas" <Douglas_Englander@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 4/27/17 10:33 AM (GMT-08:00)
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: New to RPG


I agree with James Lampert. Do not ignore the cycle. I agree that in "most" current applications, it is not utilized. However, when producing reports or PDFs with subtotals, the cycle can't be beat. You do not have to worry about coding logic that says "compare these two values, and when they change, do that" for each subtotal level desired. It is much easier to use the cycle and only code what should happen when the value changes. Let the compiler worry about all of that extra comparison and save prior value stuff so you don't have to. You can use the cycle in modern ILE-RPG code also.

I had worked in a school system and people were always asking for detailed student reports with summarized data at the classroom [L1], grade level [L2], school building [L3], and entire district level [LR]. That is where I learned an appreciation for the ease of Level Indicators and the Cycle.

In addition, if you have to maintain older code, you may need an understanding of what the cycle does for you "behind-the-scenes".

Doug

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