Re: Setting database at runtime with 4GL

In article <3g0pr8$an9@cssun.mathcs.emory.edu>, alan@po.den.mmc.com (Alan Popiel) wrote: > Now the advice: > You only need the declarative DATABASE statement in your 4GL source if you > use the syntax "DEFINE program_something LIKE db_something". ... <snip> > ... In general, I recommend against using the declarative form. *Why* do you recommend against DEFINEing LIKE database items? I've found it to be utterly invaluable when a new client decides they need to (say) hold quantities to 3 decimal places, or support 20 character product codes, or whatever other requirement they have. Simply recompiling the source (and maybe editing some forms) is *much* nicer than having to search your code for all declarations of variables that are used to hold the changed data. Regards, Kerry S --------------------------------------,------------------------------------- Kerry Sainsbury, kerry@kcbbs.gen.nz | THE INFORMIX FAQ Quanta Systems, Auckland, New Zealand | kcbbs.gen.nz:/informix/* | mathcs.emory.edu:/pub/informix/faq/* +64 9 377-4473 (work) 276-5546 (home) | http://www.garpac.com/informix.html