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Status Not under consideration
Workspace IBM i
Categories Languages - RPG
Created by Guest
Created on Sep 29, 2021

RELATED IDEAS

Easier Access to Returned Data Structures

As far as I know, for procedures that return a data structure you always have to declare an auxiliary data structure to that the returned value has to be assigned.

It would be a great help to be able to directly access the subfields of the returned data structure.

With a single field returned you can do this:
if myproc(parm) > 0;

You should also be able to do things like this when a procedure returns a data structure. It would make the use of return data structures much easier:
if myproc(parm).x > 0;


Use Case:

Example Procedure:
dcl pi getCoordinates() likesds(coordinates_t);
parm int(10);
end-dcl;

In my copy file:
dcl-ds coordinates_t template;
x int(10);
y int(10);
end-ds;

In the caller you could do this:
if getCoordinates(objectnr).y > 100;
dsply 'you're flying too high!';
endif;

Instead of:
dcl-ds wrk_coordinates likeds(coordinates_t);
wrk_coordinates = getCoordinates(objectnr).y;
if wrk_coordinates.y > 100;
dsply 'you're flying too high!';
endif;


Idea priority Low
  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Nov 30, 2021

    IBM does not intend to provide a solution to this request at this time, so it is being closed.

    This team has quite a long list of higher priority requirements, so this request is not likely to be implemented anytime soon.

    In cases where the RPG programmer does not have the ability to add additional procedures to the service program providing the procedure that returns a data structure, the RPG programmer could do one of the following:

    1. Create a wrapper module with additional procedures to return individual subfields of the returned data structure.

    2. Request that the owner of the procedure provide additional procedures with more granular information.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Nov 18, 2021

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

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 1, 2021

    Thanks for the comment. Of course, if you need 10 fields you should still store the result in a data structure.
    The problem should not be so different from using procedures that return one field.

    I would also feel tempted to re-code the following code with a one-field return value:
    if getCurrentTemperature() > 0;
    dsply getCurrentTemperature();
    elseif getCurrentTemperature() > 10;
    // blabla
    endif;

    In web APIs you often receive huge data structures, e.g. if you call a web service to get weather data, you might want to only use the temperature in your program. So getWeatherDataFromApi(date:time).temperature would make sense to me.

    In another program I would use getWeatherDataFromApi(date:time).weatherWarning, and in the third I would store the returned data structure in a field to output all of the data.

    Or I might want to use just a sub data structure:
    Program A: MyWeatherDS = getWeatherDataFromApi().currentWeatherDataStructure;
    Program B: MyWeatherDS = getWeatherDataFromApi().tomorrowsWeatherDataStructure;

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Sep 30, 2021

    So, if there are 10 fields to check, the procedure is going to be called 10 times? Or is the system going to check to see if input parameters have changed to decide to actually perform the call (more overhead)? What if the procedure is not deterministic? I see potential for really bad performance or undesired results with this idea.

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