Re: Stuck on accessing the LDA -- manuals no help so far

[James Lampert <jamesl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Helge Bichel wrote:
> The LDA defined with an ext. PF for having fields common to programs
> where used. Feel free to add additional fields (addfield1, addfield2).
>
> Do an IN at start, change desired fields, do an OUT before calling the NextPgm,
> do an IN after return from NextPgm.
>
> d MYLDA          e ds                  extname(MYLDA) dtaara(*lda)  
> d  addfield1               501    501 
> d  addfield2               502    503  0
>
> /free
>     in MYLDA;
>     addfield1 = 'X';
>     addfield2 = 10; 
>     out MYLDA;
>     NextPgm();
>     IN MYLDA;
> /end-free

or, reduced to its essentials and put into traditional RPG format:
> DFOO              DS                                               
> D BAR                     1     10                                 
> C     *ENTRY        PLIST                                          
> C                   PARM                    NEWVAL           10    
> C     *DTAARA       DEFINE    *LDA          FOO                    
> C                   CLEAR                   BAR                    
> C     BAR           DSPLY                                          
> C                   IN        FOO                                  
> C     BAR           DSPLY                                          
> C                   MOVE      NEWVAL        BAR                    
> C                   OUT       FOO                                  
> C                   CLEAR                   BAR                    
> C     BAR           DSPLY                                          
> C                   SETON                                        LR

This little program, inspired by Helge Bichel's example (and written to 
see whether said example answered my question), will DSPLY whatever 
parameter you gave it the last time you called it, between 2 blank lines 
(these blank lines, the CLEAR statements, the DSPLY statements 
immediately after them, and the SETON LR are in there simply to verify 
that FOO is really being stored in, and retrieved from, the LDA).

The confusing part is that the manual insists that you can't explicitly 
*LOCK the LDA, but it also says you have to *LOCK the IN statement if 
you want to have a subsequent OUT statement, and doesn't say that the 
LDA is an exception to this rule.


Thanks, Helge, for giving me something that cut through the confusion.