On Wed, 16 May 2018 05:43:39 -0500, Jantje.  wrote:

>On Tue, 15 May 2018 08:37:36 -0500, Paul Gilmartin wrote:
>
>>I believe the only comparisons supported by IF are to a result, such as a 
>>return
>>code, of a previous step.
>
>All examples given do indeed lead one to believe that, but the actual 
>documentation does not specify such a requirement. It does say that the parts 
>to be compared in the expression must be numeric.
> 
I don't see where you find "must be numeric" although it makes sense.  Can you
supply more context?

>https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SSLTBW_2.1.0/com.ibm.zos.v2r1.ieab600/relationexp.htm
> says:
><quote>
>A relational-expression consists of:
>Comparison operators
>Logical operators
>NOT (¬) operators
>Relational-expression keywords
>Numeric values
></quote>
>
>I did the test, comparing a symbol (that has a numeric value assigned to it) 
>to a constant numeric value and it works just fine. No RC in my test.
>
In: z/OS IBM  MVS JCL Reference  Version 2 Release 3  SA23-1385-30
  Chapter 18. IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF statement construct
    Description
      Relational-expression field
        Comparison operators
          Use comparison operators in a relational-expression to
          compare a keyword with a numeric value. The comparison
          results in a true or false condition.

... does not say a numeric value may be compared to another numeric
value.  (But it doesn't explicitly prohibit it.)  I'll submit an RCF.  It also
doesn't specify the order of the operands.  Are "4 = RC" and "RC = 4"
both valid?

        Relational-expression keywords
          The following keywords are the only keywords supported by 
          IBM and recommended for use in relational-expressions. 
          Any other keywords, even if accepted by the system, are 
          not intended or supported keywords.

... lists several keywords.  "numeric value" is not listed as a keyword.
The "even if accepted" clause is a cowardly excuse for not supplying
proper warnings on use of unsupported constructs.  But Peter Relson has
said that such constructs are reserved for present or future use within
IBM.  I can't respect that.

-- gil

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Reply via email to