RE: Declaring an external printer file

Sounds like a very good habit to get into. 
I'm adding it to my list of good habits.

-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L <rpg400-l-bounces-+hD5IHI5Xscn3HwCXmMcX9BPR1lH4CV8@public.gmane.org> On Behalf Of Daniel Gross
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2025 12:15 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Declaring an external printer file

I constantly use ON-EXIT - it's like a "finally" clause in Java - it is ALWAYS executed - even if someone kills your job with *IMMED - the ON-EXIT gets executed - you cannot stop it. 

So closing files or cursors, releasing allocated memory, diagnostic info (e.g. to the joblog) - it's quite versatile. 

If you declare a Boolean variable, you can even see, if your procedure ended normal or not. 

  dcl-s isAbnormalEnd ind inz;
  ...
  on-exit isAbnormalEnd;
    if isAbnormalEnd;
      // procedure ended abnormally
    endif;

Nearly every procedure I write has an ON-EXIT section. 

HTH
Daniel


> Am 19.08.2025 um 18:03 schrieb Charles Wilt <[email protected]>:
> 
> ?Interesting...
> 
> Never thought of that trick...
> 
> Charles
> 
>> On Tue, Aug 19, 2025 at 9:58 AM Daniel Gross <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Greg,
>> 
>> the compiler doesn't generate I-specs for files defined in a 
>> sub-procedure.
>> 
>> So either define the file IN the sub-procedure and always use data 
>> structures for all output statements.
>> 
>> Or define the file globally with USROPN - let the compiler generate 
>> global I-specs - use the file like normal - and just only open and 
>> close it inside the procedure.
>> 
>> Either way, I recommend closing the file in the ON-EXIT section like that:
>> 
>>   on-exit;
>>     if %open(...);
>>       close ...;
>>     endif;
>> 
>> This way, the file always gets correctly closed - even if the 
>> procedure ends abnormally.
>> 
>> HTH
>> Daniel
>> 
>> 
>>> Am 19.08.2025 um 17:31 schrieb Greg Wilburn <
>> gwilburn-kuYYJ3CQfvZxq3Q2jbZZw/[email protected]>:
>>> 
>>> ?I would like to declare a printer file in a sub procedure... but I
>> can't seem to get the program to compile.
>>> If I move it to the program level, it compiles just fine.
>>> 
>>> When the DCL-F is in the sub procedure, I get RNF7274: A result data
>> structure is required for I/O operations to file MYPRTF
>>> 
>>> The goal is to only open the externally described printer file when 
>>> that
>> particular sub proc is called, and close it when the procedure is finished.
>>> 
>>> TIA
>>> Greg
>>> 
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