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Status Not under consideration
Workspace IBM i
Categories Application Development
Created by Guest
Created on Oct 23, 2019

RELATED IDEAS

Allow zero-based numbering / subscripts for arrays within RPG via compiler directive / ctl-opt

Over the past several releases, RPG has greatly enhanced its array capabilities.

Several "modern" programming languages such as C, Java, PHP & Python are indexed beginning with the zero subscript.

In allowing RPG to use zero-based numbering via a compiler (ctl-opt) directive, it will allow flexibility to both the programmer who knows languages such as RPG & COBOL - as well as those coming over from other languages, such as C, Java, PHP, Python, etc.

I'm proposing adding in a simple compiler directive (or ctl-opt) with the keyword ZERO-BASED or similar.

And since this will truly be a "modern" enhancement for RPG, if added as a "ctl-opt", only allow it to be specified as a "ctl-opt" - not as an H-spec.

This can end up being another feather in RPG's cap, showing that we have the flexibility of allowing a default base index of 1 or 0.


Use Case:

See description


Idea priority Low
  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 28, 2019

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

    There is another RFE, 137563, that requests the ability to set the origin index to zero for a specific array rather than using a CTL-OPT option to set it for all arrays in the module. If a change to the way arrays are indexed is ever made for RPG in the future, it is more likely to be an option for specific arrays than an option for all arrays in a module.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 27, 2019

    Great idea, however it will better imho. to just have that option on each array definition - simply not to confuse the original code base ( coders) .

    dcl-s myArray dim(100) indexbase(0);

    ... where indexbase is dafault(1)

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 25, 2019

    Array indexes starting at zero is one of the stupidest things these other languages have come up with. No human starts counting at zero. Zero means nothing, and 1 means you have something. Therefore if you have one array element then it's at index 1.

    Jason

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 24, 2019

    But different ways to implement it.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 24, 2019

    But different ways to implement it.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 24, 2019

    Looks like we have had the same idea.

    http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rfe/execute?use_case=viewRfe&CR_ID=137563

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 24, 2019

    Other languages would better use 1 as base index :-)

    No human starts counting at 0... it's just not natural.

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