Re: J4 - presentation/discussion on "Future of the COBOL Standard"

"Rick Smith" <ricksmith@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:13tgqeq7a493a92@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "Pete Dashwood" <dashwood@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:63q361F28e93nU1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> [snip]
>
>> Er...excuse me, but I think it does. It says the size of the array 
>> DEPENDS
>> ON the count field. But it doesn't. The size of the array is always the
>> maximum possible.
>
> 2002, OCCURS clause, GR 7, in part,
> "This does not imply that the length of the subject of the entry
> is variable, but that the number of occurrences is variable."
>
> Nearly identical disclaimers appear in the LRMs I have,
> which go back forty years to ANS COBOL 68.
>

OK, so I have misunderstood that for around 40 years... :-)

See, that's what happens when you develop an "English-like" programming 
language... English speaking people, read it as English...:-)

Thanks for the clarification, Rick, although I have honestly never read
that 
in a LRM. (I don't doubt you are right, I just don't spend a lot of time 
reading LRMs unless I have a problem to resolve. As I don't normally use 
ODO, I've never had problems with it :-))

Pete.
-- 
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."