Odd GLOBALS behaviour?

Or have I not set some variable? I recall something about global persistence across links but can't remember the context.
NB this is under Ubuntu using an informix db and standard 4GL

What we have is:
A ".a" library built from several 4GLs in path "<path1>/<path2>/<path3>/base_lib/". All the 4GLs in here refer to ../../globals.4gl. The makefile also refers to that globals.4gl
A program built from a single 4GL in "<path1>/<path4>/<path5>/program.4gl". The 4GL points to the same globals as the library, using "../../<path2>/globals.4gl" (as does its makefile).

The globals file defines a global variable "prog_name". When the program runs, it calls a get_general_variables() function in one of the library 4GLs which uses arg_val(0) to get the program name and populate the global.
(Set font to COURIER to see the below diagram properly)

<path1>
|
|------/<path2>/
|      |       |--globals.4gl
|      |
|      |-------/<path3>/
|                      |
|                      /<base_lib>/
|                                 |--lib_file_1.4gl
|                                 |--lib_file_2.4gl
|
|------<path4>
|       |
|       |------/<path5>/
|                      |--program_source.4gl

The program 4GL also contains a "WHENEVER ERROR CALL get_error_action"; this refers to a function in a second library 4gl (in the same library path), which is called if anything untoward happens (NB it refers to the same ../../globals.4gl)

This works on our current HP-UX host running informix 4gl.

Under the linux proof-of-concept I'm running, the prog_name variable appears to be unset in the case of an error.

I've proved this by inserting "DISPLAY prog_name" statements in each of the modules at appropriate times; it's there in the library 4GL that sets it when the get_general_variable() function is called, it's there in the program 4GL after that call, but if I force an error it is NULL in the error handler code.

Do I dimly recall that there's something I have to do to make global variables persistent in a4gl?

Malcolm Perrior
Database Administrator
T 020 8628 3618

Foresters
Foresters House,
2 Cromwell Avenue
Bromley BR2 9BF

foresters.com

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