Re: Binary fields in DB2 and RPG

[Barbara Morris <bmorris@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Joe Pluta wrote:
>  H EXTBININT(*YES)                                         
>  FVOTES     if   e             disk    rename(votes:rvotes)
>
> The listing shows that VOTE is a field of type I:
>
>  I                             A    1    8  SESSIONID 
>  I                             A    9   72  USERID    
>  I                             I   73   76 0VOTE      
>
> But the field cross-reference gives me a packed field:
>  VOTE              P(10,0)                 5      11D  

EXTBININT is in effect, making VOTE 10 digits instead of 9 digits.  But 
the old external vs internal thing is also in effect.  The I spec shows 
how the field is defined externally in the file; it isn't necessarily 
how it's defined internally in the program.  RPG always defaults numeric 
fields defined on I specs to be packed internally.  So VOTE is defined 
as packed, and the like define is also packed.

You can get around it by defining an externally-described DS for your 
file.  That provides explicit definitions for the fields in your file, 
so you won't have to rely on RPG's default types.

     H EXTBININT(*YES)
     FVOTES     if   e             disk    rename(votes:rvotes)
add  D               e ds                  extname(VOTES)