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  1.  Home
  2. RPG400-L
  3. April 2022

RE: *varying vs varchar

That would be me... This was originally written in fixed format and I used a converter to convert to /free format a while back. That could be part of the problem (and/or my confusion about VARCHAR and *VARSIZE).

So when I remove *varsize and recreate the service program, will I likely need to recompile all the programs that call it? Or will they be OK?



-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L <rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Scott Klement
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2022 1:39 PM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: *varying vs varchar

I would remove all of those options(*varsize) keywords.

The way this is coded is dangerous. The called procedure has no way to
detect the lengths of these fields, so if you pass something shorter
than indicated on the prototype, you will end up overwriting random memory.

Whomever wrote this did not understand how options(*varsize) works.


On 4/29/2022 12:22 PM, Greg Wilburn wrote:
So just to clarify...

This is the actual prototype:

dcl-pr Eml_Stmf int(10) ExtProc('Eml_Stmf');
pcom# char(6) const options(*varsize);
psubject char(100) const options(*varsize);
pstmf char(1024) const options(*varsize);
ptoaddr char(50) const options(*varsize);
pccaddr char(50) const options(*nopass:*varsize);
pmessage char(1024) const options(*nopass:*varsize);
pbdyct char(80) const options(*nopass:*varsize);
end-pr;

What I observed:
I passed in a CHAR(3) variable for PCOM# when I called EML_STMF from another program. The calling program passed (as the first two positions)
COM_NBR='070'
SUBJECT='Invoice #40064611'

Inside EML_STMF, the PCOM# variable contained '070 I '. It looks like the "I" from "Invoice"

Based on your last sentence below, PCOM# should have contained blanks for the 3 trailing positions. Or am I still misunderstanding?

-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L <rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Jon Paris
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2022 11:58 AM
To: RPG programming on IBM i <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: *varying vs varchar

Correct - but the assumption is that you will detect the actual length and process accordingly.

Remember - when you pass a parm (other that by value) you are only passing a pointer. So unless your called routine restricts itself to the length passed you will "see" whatever data is in the 6 bytes addressed by the pointer. That extra stuff could be blanks or just rubbish left around by a previous user of that storage.

The important thing is NOT to use the combination you used - it has no value. CONST was enough by itself and will always supply blanks for the training positions.


Jon P

On Apr 29, 2022, at 11:18 AM, Greg Wilburn <gwilburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Sorry... my fault, Charles is right. It was not real code, and the option is *varsize

So back to my example... if I call this procedure, where the first parameter is CHAR(6) *VARSIZE passing only '123', why does it contain "other" data?

My understanding is that I can pass it something smaller?


-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L <rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Jon Paris
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2022 11:12 AM
To: RPG programming on IBM i <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: *varying vs varchar

Thanks Charles - I knew there was something wrong with Options(*varchar) but since it _appeared_ to be from real code ...


Jon P.

On Apr 29, 2022, at 11:05 AM, Charles Wilt <charles.wilt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There is no options(*varchar)

I assume from the title you mean options(*varsize)

options(*varsize) and varchar()/varying are two very different things

...and Jon beat me to the details... :)

Charles

On Fri, Apr 29, 2022 at 8:37 AM Greg Wilburn <
gwilburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I have an older procedure interface defined like this:

dcl-pr myProc;
myfield char(6) const options(*varchar);
myfield2 char(100) const options(*varchar);
end-pr;

If I call this procedure like this:

Callp myProc('123':'This is myfield2');

The value of myfield in the procedure is not just "123"...

What am I missing?
Should I change the Procedure Interface to be VARCHAR instead? And what
are the ramifications of that?

I apologize for asking as I have a strange sense of déjà vu.

[Logo]<https://www.totalbizfulfillment.com/> Greg Wilburn
Director of IT
301.895.3792 ext. 1231
301.895.3895 direct
gwilburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:gwilburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
1 Corporate Dr
Grantsville, MD 21536
www.totalbizfulfillment.com<http://www.totalbizfulfillment.com>
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