Re: Chain vs SetLL/ReadE

[David Gibbs <david@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chandra Krieg wrote:
> I have been told that the preferred method of random record retrieval
> is to use the SetLL, then do a ReadE and check for the %EOF
> indicator.

By whom?  Just curious.

> Why is this preferred over using a Chain with %found or even checking
> for %Equal on the SetLL before reading the file?  I have been told
> that the Chain doesn't do what I'm expecting it to but I've never had
> issues in the past.

As with just about everything, it really depends on what you want to do.

If you want to get a single record, then Chain is _probably_ more efficient and is much clearer and easier to understand.

If you need to process multiple records, then setll followed by reade is the best way to go.

Strictly speaking you could do an initial chain, process your first record if it's found, then process the rest of the records using reade ... but that makes your do loop more complex.

david