PL/I has long supported such constructs as declare CVTPP pointer static initial(16); declare p pointer, cvtp pointer based(CVTPP) ; p = cvtp ; which sets p to point to the CVT, after which . . . Identical constructs---I forbear to illustrate them lest they corrupt the young and innocent---are now available in COBOL; they are already much used; and objection to their use on the ground that they are inappropriate to 'business applications' puts me in mind of Gibbon's assurance that the English-language content of his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was entirely suitable for a maiden's eyes, all salacious content having been relegated to "the decent obscurity of a learned language".
John Gilmore ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
