> -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List <ASSEMBLER- > [email protected]> On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin > Sent: 04 September 2020 14:33 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Deep cuts > > On 2020-09-04, at 07:23:49, Gary Weinhold wrote: > > > > Even if they'd had the foresight to use a different way to indicate > > the end of a parameter list, I don't think they were consciously > > seeing not changing the extenal architecture of the hardware for 40 years. > > > Terminatingthe argument list with a null pointer would have allowed > extension to 32 or 64 bits and supported an empty argument list, not possible > with CALL -VL. But storage was too expensive a half century ago to add 4 > bytes to each CALL. > > What does JCL generate for an EXEC with no PARM? > > -- gil
I seem to remember that this convention was also used In VM/CMS for some variable length lists. Dave
