Re: IDS tools 7.20.UE2 BUG question
Lipsync wrote: > I was told by one of the buddy that Informix tools version 7.20.UE2 > for AIX 4.3 had a issue with CLIPPED function. he is saying that it > removes all blank spaces but leaving 1 space. i would appriciate quick > responce. What response do you want? I4GL 7.20.UE2 is well out of date (three main versions behind current). It is conceivable that it has such a bug; I don't recall whether it does or does not. If it does, the fix is going to be to upgrade - you won't be likely to get a fix in that version. It isn't entirely clear what CLIPPED should do with an all blank string - there are arguments for an empty string (functionally NULL) and for a string with one blank (because it shouldn't be NULL). -- Jonathan Leffler #include <disclaimer.h> Email: jleffler@earthlink.net, jleffler@us.ibm.com Guardian of DBD::Informix v2003.04 -- http://dbi.perl.org/
Jonathan Leffler <jleffler@earthlink.net> writes: > What response do you want? I4GL 7.20.UE2 is well out of date (three > main versions behind current). It is conceivable that it has such a > bug; I don't recall whether it does or does not. If it does, the fix > is going to be to upgrade - you won't be likely to get a fix in that > version. It isn't entirely clear what CLIPPED should do with an all > blank string - there are arguments for an empty string (functionally > NULL) and for a string with one blank (because it shouldn't be NULL). Now you did it! You hit my hot button again!! <rant> It *would* be clear if 4gl was fixed such that a zero-length string isn't also NULL (then CLIPPED only returns NULL if it's handed a NULL). SQL knows that a zero-length string isn't NULL, so why shouldn't 4GL do the same? Having two different representations for string NULL only in 4GL is MINDNUMBINGLY STUPID. If some customers with ancient/legacy programs (who haven't lost their source after 20 years) still need it, then make it a command-line option. You can save the "zero-length string is NULL/one-blank is Empty String" rule for load/unload. </rant> -- Forte International, P.O. Box 1412, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-1412 Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> Phone: (760) 499-9142 President, CEO Fax: (760) 499-9152 My GPG fingerprint: C3AF 4BE9 BEA6 F1C2 B084 4A88 8851 E6C8 69E3 B00B