Reader Feedback and Insights: Binder Language

September 13, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Ted:

Great article, Ted! It was a very clever presentation, and I enjoyed reading it. I do have one comment and one question, though. I don’t always create binder source when I first create a service program. When I’ve later added another procedure, I create the service source with a *CURRENT signature and a *PRV signature that defines the original situation and that seems to prevent any problems with needing recompiles.

Here’s my question: Someone once told me that when I created new procedures, or at least when I create the binder source, that new procedures must be

Put Users On the Fast Track

September 13, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Ted:

We are a very user-oriented shop, that is, users do virtually everything on their own. Since the days when we ran a System/34, users have been menu oriented, but they also understood the command line.

In the S/34 and S/36 days, users ran OCL procedures. Unlike CL programs, which are initiated with the CALL command, OCL procedures are run by simply typing the procedures’ names. Users learned the names of frequently used procedures and became accustomed to running procedures from the command line rather than from menus.

When the AS/400 came along, users wanted to continue to use

Properly Sorting Numeric Arrays

September 13, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Ted:

In a program, data could be stored in arrays related to each other. Arrays could be filled from different files, but they could have the same index.

To sort the arrays, we would have to combine the arrays into one alphanumeric array and sort it. However, if the sort field is numeric, and there are negative numbers in the sort field, this is not going to work.

I have a technique that allows proper sorting of numeric values in cases like this one. Would you like to publish it in Midrange Guru?

— A Devoted Reader

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