Re: Informix messages in 4GL

Steinar@balder.no (Steinar Overbeck Cook) writes: >> Query: Is there any implementation scheme usable in I4GL or RDS? I.E., is >> there any way to get to this function via >> undocumented-yet-still-"standard" > 4GL statements? Would be nice, but . >> . . *sigh.* > Chapter 5 of the Ref. manual Vol 1, explains the ERR_GET function: > LET errtext = err_get(status) Thanks, Steinar, but I guess I didn't say clearly what I wanted to say. The ERR_GET function is fine for most things, but I want to get to *more* of the Informix error message information than what RDS normally lets you get to, i.e., the "secondary" parts of the error text that you can't get to via err_get(). (Happens when, for example, you get both a SQL error and an ISAM error at the same time.) I'm sure that there is a documented way of doing this, but I haven't pieced together the puzzle yet. One of the reasons why is, when I try to follow the directions in the 4GL manual for setting up a record to hold SQLCA.*, I end up with error messages. Why? Because, apparently, Informix has changed some field sizes as part of the upgrade to 4.00.UD4 and these changes aren't documented. As a result, I can't define a record to hold all of the SQLCA.* data. Another thing - did you notice that Informix didn't bother to give an example DEFINE statement for their example variable "errtext"? Nowhere in the documentation was I able to obtain the size of "errtext" (through trial and error, we have set its maximum size, without substitutions, at 242 characters; to be safe, we routinely use CHAR(300), to allow for substitutions of "%s" and "%d".). Why did I bother? I hate using arbitrary limits such as "CHAR(999)". Does anyone else detect something malodorous issuing from those blue binders? As Bill the Cat might say: "Ackth! Pffft!" Yes, I'm doing a little "bashing", but let me add that I am a true believer in Informix's 4GL. In spite of the bugs, the shortcomings, and the "undocumented features", I am in love with the language. I find it to have a lot of promise; one day, it will be truly elegant (if the company continues to fix it). Bill Williams ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Milnet (Internet) address: bwilliams@aqlan.ssc.af.mil --------------------------- D I S C L A I M E R ------------------------------ The opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of the US Air Force, the Department of Defense, the US Government, or anyone else but ME. So there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A 4GL "CUTTING EDGE" TECHNOLOGY SITE: AT&T 3B2 WITH ONLINE (*GASP!*) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------