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Status Delivered
Workspace IBM i
Categories Languages - RPG
Created by Guest
Created on Jul 5, 2018

RELATED IDEAS

Number of elements in a compile time array (CTDATA) should be determined at compile time

It happens that I have to use compile time arrays in programs. And every time I have to define the array with a fixed number of entries and have to remember to modify it if I add or remove an element in the CTDATA part.

I would like to have the possibility to specify that the number of elements should be determined at compile time based on the CTDATA elements at the end of the program.


Use Case:

Instead of defining it with 189 elements
D ctRcd S 35 DIM(189)
D CTDATA
D PERRCD(1)

I would like it to be defined like this
D ctRcd S 35 DIM(*CTDATA)
D CTDATA
D PERRCD(1)

Of course it would be necessary that PERRCD is 1 in order to know how many elements there are in ctRcd.


Idea priority Low
  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jun 20, 2019

    The enhancement for the compiler to automatically detrrmine the dimension of compile-time arrays is available with the 7.4 release of the ILE RPG compiler.

    If a compile-time array is defined with DIM(*CTDATA), the dimension of the array will be determined by the number of lines in the compile-time data for the array.

    For more information, see the ""DIM(*CTDATA" part of the documentation for the DIM keyword in the 7.4 version of the ILE RPG Reference. https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/ssw_ibm_i_74/rzasd/ddim.htm.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jan 29, 2019

    IBM agrees with the request and a solution appears to be desirable and feasible. IBM intends to provide a solution. However, IBM's plans may change and no commitment is made that a solution will be provided.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jul 6, 2018

    IBM has received the requirement and is evaluating it. IBM will provide a response after evaluation is complete.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jul 6, 2018

    I think something like DIM(*CTDATA) would be great for compile time arrays.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jul 6, 2018

    It depends. First you don't have to calculate the number of elements and put that in the code. And second you don't have to update it afterwards. It has always annoyed me that I had to do this.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Jul 5, 2018

    While I support the ability to have dynamically sized arrays I don't think this limited implementation would be worth the effort. You have to go into the code to add the new element(s) - is it that hard to update the dim statement?

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