Re: RFE String interpolation for RPG

[Scott Klement <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

IMHO a good way to do this would be similar to what JavaScript does.  
Use a different type of quote, and if that type was used, it can process 
interpolation -- that way, you don't have to worry about breaking 
backward compat with existing programs.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Template_literals

For example:

myString = `I have ${apples} apples and ${bananas} bananas`;

Or

result = logMessage(`Error code ${err} occurred in routine ${rout}`);

Or

CALLP QCMDEXC( `WRKSPLF SELECT(${List(1).UserId})`: 200);

Under the covers, the RPG compiler would essentially convert it to 
something like this:

CALLP QCMDEXC( 'WRKSPLF SELECT('  + %trim(List(1).UserId) + ')': 200);

I'm thinking making it trim the spaces is a good default, too... it's 
what you want most of the time.

I realize that this doesn't really give us any new functionality -- we 
can do everything with concatenation already (or %ScanRpl) but this is 
the sort of coding that people do every day, and it would make it 
significantly more elegant, imho.   This is one of the things from 
JavaScript that I miss the most when I'm working in RPG.


On 10/20/2021 10:27 AM, Justin Taylor wrote:
> Description:
>
> Add string interpolation support so variables can be inserted into string
> literals without having to use concatenation with + symbols and multiple
> literals.
>
> For example:
>
> apples = 4
>
> bananas = 3
>
> print(f"I have {apples} apples and {bananas} bananas")
>
>
> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rfe/execute?use_case=viewRfe&CR_ID=152890