Please don't make an assumption that I don't read any RTFM's. No-one knows everything about every element of MV. I choose to not utilize COMMONs. I'm sure there are other elements that others choose not to engage.
I take a chance when I declare any position I may hold to get flamed. Please don't make these assumptions. Ask first either in public or off-line. A Little Disappointed Mark Johnson ----- Original Message ----- From: "gerry-u2ug" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 6:22 PM Subject: RE: [U2] RE: Named Common > and in all that time you never bothered to even browse through a current mv basic manual ? > > I have to reiterate Charles' WOW ! > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mark Johnson > Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 02:57 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [U2] RE: Named Common > > > I started in MV when Jimmy and Billy were in the White House. I actually > worked for Microdata. > > My app exposure during these last 5 presidents has been many, many, many, > many home grown systems, Results, Primac, Infoquest, Screen-Gen, > Data/Master, IDS, SHIMS, SAS, ABM, TPH and probably one or more that I can't > think of now. > > I had around 8 clients at 1 time running a VAR supported app using SB+. I > was specifically told to keep my hands off of SB+ and only do supplemental > report programming on the data records. Thus, I never really learned SB+. > > Zero Jbase, Zero Open Insight, Point 5 Revelation, Zero Eclipse or other > 4GL MV's. > > And in all this mess the NAMED COMMON had never occurred. If it was in SB+, > then it flew past me. > > I got a bad taste in my mouth for COMMONs as many times they are mis-used. A > lot of the code was pre-INCLUDE so each program had its own copy of the > COMMON block and it was a pain to synchronize. Plus, many of these > programs had the original 32K record limit so they could have a 500 > character COMMON line with no spaces, just commas. My eyes got a little > blurry. > > In a contemporary fashion, the only use of COMMON I see now is in TPH with > its "COMMON cancel" that just passes one variable around. It's a little > frustrating to CALL a TPH sub and forget to put the COMMON in the calling > program. > > As mentioned earlier, If I were to go the COMMON route, I would have one > COMMON block in an INCLUDE and register everything there and globally > compile as necessary. Perhaps this is the beginning of NAMED COMMON. > > Perhaps I am in a distinct situation whereby I support around 15 typically > legacy clients in all of the flavors and programming. Thus, I don't have the > lattitude to goto the beginning and take advantage of implementing a NAMED > COMMON for its benefits. Plus, my clients tend to be 60 licenses or less so > these 500+ user shops may have greater needs for this kind of optimizing. > > If this makes me a limited programmer, then so be it. I cannot get ahead of > my clients and I cannot rationalize the time/expense to learn new skillsets > before my clients need them. I would love to learn SB+, JBase or Open > Insight but I am so busy now with standard MV code. Plus, if I were to find > the time, I would probably develop skills outside of MV. No flames please. > > Thanks. > Mark Johnson > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Stevenson, Charles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 12:09 PM > Subject: RE: [U2] RE: Named Common > > > > > On another note, I've yet to come across any apps that use > > > the NAMED COMMON concept. Is that a recent addition to the MV > > > world or just not that popular. > > > > > > Thanks in advance. > > > Mark Johnson > > > > wow. > > > > [Pause. It slowly sinks in.] > > > > WOW!!! > > > > Named (aka labelled) common has been common on aps with Pr1me roots for > > about two and a half DECADES; e.g., a quarter of a CENTURY; e.g., > > longer than a few of our list members have been ALIVE. Since at least > > the Carter administration. > > > > I *think* various other MVs quickly adopted it in the 80s. I ported an > > ap from Prime to Ultimate in about 1982 and I don't recall that labelled > > common was an issue. > > I suppose there are exceptions, but labelled is generally more useful > > and safer than unlabelled common. > > > > That said, it is a new concept to the programmers where I am now, too. > > It is a Pick-heritage ap, and it's been an uphill battle to get them to > > move past where you are, Mark. Very frustrating. I commend you for > > learning new tricks. > > > > cds > > ------- > > u2-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Stevenson, Charles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 12:09 PM > Subject: RE: [U2] RE: Named Common > > > > > On another note, I've yet to come across any apps that use > > > the NAMED COMMON concept. Is that a recent addition to the MV > > > world or just not that popular. > > > > > > Thanks in advance. > > > Mark Johnson > > > > wow. > > > > [Pause. It slowly sinks in.] > > > > WOW!!! > > > > Named (aka labelled) common has been common on aps with Pr1me roots for > > about two and a half DECADES; e.g., a quarter of a CENTURY; e.g., > > longer than a few of our list members have been ALIVE. Since at least > > the Carter administration. > > > > I *think* various other MVs quickly adopted it in the 80s. I ported an > > ap from Prime to Ultimate in about 1982 and I don't recall that labelled > > common was an issue. > > I suppose there are exceptions, but labelled is generally more useful > > and safer than unlabelled common. > > > > That said, it is a new concept to the programmers where I am now, too. > > It is a Pick-heritage ap, and it's been an uphill battle to get them to > > move past where you are, Mark. Very frustrating. I commend you for > > learning new tricks. > > > > cds > > ------- > > u2-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ > ------- > u2-users mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ > ------- > u2-users mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ ------- u2-users mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
