Recent content by RonaldB

You could probably get the same result from a sorting utility like syncsort which can also condense on a value and count the no. of records condensed. Moreover, it would probably be faster. Other then that, indeed, sort on key, process each key until level break while counting and display or...

The decimal point in the sending field causes the MOVE to be regarded as alphanumeric, not numeric, which probably causes the receiving field to be filled strangely. Get the sending field to contain actual numeric data and you'll be fine. -------- Regards, Ronald.

... and one of the very few (or even the only one?!!) with an internationally accepted industry standard behind it. -------- Regards, Ronald.

I'd like to add that, since specialised sorting utilities are usually quite efficient, external sorts often are a lot faster. Moreover, a control card with some parameters for a sorting utility is easier to maintain than a COBOL program. -------- Regards, Ronald.

Don't forget that most COBOL compiler builders aim at the professional market, and when buying a package from one of them, you don't only buy the compiler but also the support behind it. Maybe COBOL just isn't interesting enough for the everage hobbyist... -------- Regards, Ronald.

You can find the complete IBM documentation on IMS on their site, where it is available online: http://www-3.ibm.com/software/data/ims/library.html -------- Regards, Ronald.

When i'm not mistaken, up 'till now this is an all dutch thread; nietwaar, jongens? C'mon guys, throw in some international input! -------- Regards, Ronald.

Jack, right; i made the assumption when backing up Crox that the X(10) field would contain zoned numeric data; also, in dhecht's example, the X(10) and S9(10) COMP-3 suggests that he expects 10 bytes of alphameric data to map onto 6 bytes of packed-decimal data. Nevertheless, dhecht, your...

dhecht, Crox is right; that redefinition definitely is not going to do the trick. -------- Regards, Ronald.

If all files are sorted on persnumber order, there is no need for repeated opens/closes nor for internal tables; a three-file balance line program will do. I don't have the time to write it out in code; anyone? -------- Regards, Ronald.

... and then there's reference modification: 01 OLD-NBR PIC X(10) VALUE '2176252115'. 01 NEW-NBR PIC X(13). STRING OLD-NBR (1 : 3) '-' OLD-NBR (4 : 3) '-' OLD-NBR (7 : 4) DELIMITED BY SIZE INTO NEW-NBR. -------- Regards, Ronald.

Not entirely so; at my shop, different demands are made for programs that just query data collections (namely databases) then for those that actually edit data, like checkpointing and such. So the difference is not just academic. -------- Regards, Ronald.

Jack, Quote: "Why are we fighting over the answers?" end quote; just for the fun of it... :D -------- Regards, Ronald.

Oops! Er... Regards, Ronald. P.S. I'm used to having a fixed signature on some other forums.

Some method for forming test cases formulated it as: CRUD (Create - Replace - Update - Delete). Any inquiries (like print...) aren't strickly maintenance functions, although often needed for at least two of the others.