Re: Lost in free format conversion.

On 1/27/2013 1:11 AM, Vernon Hamberg wrote:

...
I did suggest, because it is easier to understand, the use of a data
structure with overlaid subfields to accomplish the same thing, in which
the called program parameter would also be A5.

Vern, you may be right that coding the data structure in the calling program would be easier to understand than just a zoned value, since the caller is passing a character value.

Maybe ... But I'm not sure that it would really be easier since the OP is using a PI in the called program. That would require using LIKEDS for the parameter, so you have also to code the template DS, and the reader has to look elsewhere in the code to fully understand the parameter. Seems to me it's way easier (both for the coder and the reader) to just code it as zoned, and add a comment saying that the caller is passing it as a character field containing a zoned value.