Re: Like keyword not keeping format

On 2018-02-14 7:06 PM, Jon Paris wrote:

You got that backwards Buck - having it in a DS will _honour_ the database definition. If it is not in a DS it will convert to packed.

Just to clarify this ...

If the subfield is in an externally-described DS, it will honour the database definition. But if you just name it in a program-described DS, it will use RPG's default rules and make it zoned.

A R REC
A P5_2A 5P 2
A P5_2B 5P 2
A S5_2A 5S 2
A S5_2B 5S 2

dcl-f junkf;
dcl-ds *n;
p5_2a;
s5_2a;
end-ds;
dcl-ds ds2 extname('JUNKF') qualified end-ds;

From the cross reference:

DS2 DS(16)
P5_2A P(5,2)
P5_2B P(5,2)
S5_2A S(5,2)
S5_2B S(5,2)
P5_2A S(5,2)
P5_2B P(5,2)
S5_2A S(5,2)
S5_2B P(5,2)

P5_2A and S5_2A are zoned, because they were in the program-described data structure with just their names.

P5_2B and S5_2B are packed, because they didn't appear anywhere in D specs.

The DS2 subfields are the same as the file.