Re: using a defined constant to dimension an array -- RPG400-L

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Barbara wrote:
>By the way, INZ(*SYS) (but not INZ(*JOB)) is allowed in subprocedures
>starting in V4R4.

Yeah, but it's broke!  (Well certainly for TIME and TIMESTAMP and I assume 
DATE too).  I raised APAR SA92403 for this problem.  The issue is that a 
TIME or TIMESTAMP (and probably DATE) data structure subfield initialised 
to *SYS defined in a subprocedure is not reinitialised on subsequent calls 
to the procedure.  (Since INZ(*SYS) and INZ(*JOB) arrived in VRM370, not 
supporting them in procedures until VRM440 seems a silly oversight.  And 
why can't I use INZ(*JOB) in a procedure?)

>Simon, it's not that it parses the subprocedures before the global
>definitions, but rather that it can't consider any global definitions 
>until it has finished parsing the subprocedure, in case there is a later 
>definition within the subprocedure.  We _could_ have "fixed" the DIM 
>problem earlier by making a rule that DIM did an immediate global lookup, 
>but that would have forever precluded the possibility of 
>forward-referencing for DIM that was added in V5R1.

Hans wrote:
>No, the problem is that within a procedure names are assumed
>local until the end of the procedure is reached.  Then, if
>there are any names undefined, they are searched for in the
>global scope.  Since the parameter of DIM must (prior to V5R1)
>be previously defined, coding a global constant name for DIM
>will always result in an error since the name is not considered
>defined within the procedure until the end of the procedure is
>processed.

I simply repeated what I was told by IBM support.  It is quite likely that 
it lost something in the translation.  However, I don't understand why the 
parsing process can't scan the current procedure for the constant and if 
not found then check the global D-specs.  It doesn't seem too difficult.  
The restriction that DIM parameters be defined before use seems excessive 
-- one might say dim but that pun is just too obvious.

Regards,
Simon Coulter.

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