oThat depends on whether the author was addressing compiler requirements or code maintainability. From the latter perspective, IMHO, "must" is appropriate and should apply even if PI only occurs once.
-- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of Farley, Peter x23353 <0000031df298a9da-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 1:10 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Constant Identifiers Sounds to me like the documentation writer was a bit confused. Looks to me like it should read instead: If the number 3.1416 is used in more than one place in the program, then you *should* declare it as a named constant. If it requires specific data or precision attributes at different places in the program, then you *must* declare it as a named constant. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 1:01 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Constant Identifiers On Fri, 4 Sep 2020 10:55:19 -0500, Steve Smith wrote: >I'm not a PL/I novice, if not an expert. Whatever you read, it does >not mean what you think it means. > Enterprise PL/I for z/OS Language Reference Version 5 Release 1 IBM SC27-8940-00 Datatypes and attributes. . . 17 If the number 3.1416 is used in more than one place in the program, or if it requires specific data or precision attributes, you must declare it as a named constant. Thus, the above statement can be coded as follows: dcl Pi FIXED DECIMAL (5,4) VALUE(3.1416); area = (radius**2) * Pi; Perhaps then it doesn't mean what it says. I take "must" to indicate a rule, not a suggestion. I haven't seen the rule. I haven't looked very hard. Does it apply alike to 3.1416, 2.7183, and 2? -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
