>I seem to remember something said about an extension to packed=20 >decimal and new instructions. I've been looking at a recent=20 >z/Arch PoOP in pdf (IBM web site), and I can't seem to find what=20 >I hazily remember from a few years ago.=C2=A0 Perhaps it is in a=20 >different publication. > .Could someone point me in the right direction, even if that is,=20 >you must have been dreaming. > >The issue is, how can COBOL handle larger packed decimal numbers=20 >than PACK/UNPACK can handle? > >I see this being a question that is going to get asked on a=20 >project I'm on.... And I can see special macros having to be=20 >developed for this....
The IBM z/OS COBOL compiler handled long numbers with packed-decimal instructions for years by using library routines that would process parts of the data nad then combine the results. Modern COBOL compilers on modern hardware (IE: customers who have z14 or later as DR machines) can compile with ARCH(12) which tells the compiler that we can use Vedtor Packed Decimal instructions, that can not only process many digits, but can process pacekd-decimal arithmetic with up to 90% less CPU usage than traditional packed- decimal instructions! In any case, I think the answer is to use a newer COBOL compiler :-) Cheers, TomR >> COBOL is the Language of the Future! << ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
