Old UniBasic techniques

I have been converting code from R83 to Prime Information, Advance Pick to Unidata, Sequoia Pick to Unidata, D3 to Universe, and even Unidata to Universe, I have seen some really awful code and very morbid. Of course, you are thinking some of the latest Basic commands that I use daily in Universe did not exist in R83 so those programmers did the best they could. While I do not disagree, I am looking at code from customers in 2023 that should have been updated sometime in the last 20 years or at least in the last 10 years.

I have detailed below my comments with what I found and what I think it should be. I will ignore for the time being GOTO, GOSUB, and ON RESPONSE, for example. I would love to see what you have found as well because it just makes me LOL when I see it.

* Using COUNT instead of DCOUNT
     MY.ARRAY = 5:@FM:7:@FM:8
     MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1
* Should be 
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)

* Not knowing about WHILE in a LOOP statement
     EXECUTE 'SELECT VOC'
     EOF = 0
     LOOP READNEXT ID ELSE EOF = 1
        IF EOF THEN EXIT
     REPEAT
* Should be
     LOOP WHILE READNEXT ID
     REPEAT

* Parsing though data instead of CHANGE command
     MY.DATA = "Welch, Bob;McVie John;Buckingham, Lindsey"
     MY.LEN = LEN(MY.DATA)
     FOR X = 1 TO MY.LEN
        IF MY.DATA[X,1] = ';' THEN MY.DATA[X,1] = @FM
     NEXT X
* Should be
     MY.DATA = CHANGE(MY.DATA,";",@FM)

* Not using case
     MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     IF MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord' THEN
     END
     IF MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport' THEN
     END
* Should be
     BEGIN CASE
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord'
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     END CASE

* Testing for Universe or Unidata
     UNIVERSE = @FALSE
     OPEN '&PH&' TO DUMMY ELSE UNIVERSE = @TRUE
* Should be
     IF SYSTEM(9010) = "UV" THEN UNIVERSE = @TRUE

* Finding a JSON value
     JSON = \\{"IdCode":"2","Description":"Route Not Run","DefaultValue":"0"}\\
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\","\\,\\"\\:@FM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\":"\\,\\"\\:@VM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CONVERT(\\{"]\\,"",JSON)
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(JSON,@FM)
     FOR X = 1 TO MAX.FM
        IF JSON

------------------------------
Doug Averch
Owner
U2 Logic
------------------------------

Your up-to-dates are fine, but just for giggles in testing for universe, how about

equ isUV to (system(9010)="UV)

if isUV then . . .

------------------------------
Phillip Potter
V.P. R&D
Data Management Associates Inc DMA
Cincinnati OH US
------------------------------

Your up-to-dates are fine, but just for giggles in testing for universe, how about

equ isUV to (system(9010)="UV)

if isUV then . . .

------------------------------
Phillip Potter
V.P. R&D
Data Management Associates Inc DMA
Cincinnati OH US
------------------------------

I had an error in this code:

OPEN '&PH&' TO DUMMY THEN UNIVERSE = @TRUE

------------------------------
Doug Averch
Owner
U2 Logic
------------------------------

I have been converting code from R83 to Prime Information, Advance Pick to Unidata, Sequoia Pick to Unidata, D3 to Universe, and even Unidata to Universe, I have seen some really awful code and very morbid. Of course, you are thinking some of the latest Basic commands that I use daily in Universe did not exist in R83 so those programmers did the best they could. While I do not disagree, I am looking at code from customers in 2023 that should have been updated sometime in the last 20 years or at least in the last 10 years.

I have detailed below my comments with what I found and what I think it should be. I will ignore for the time being GOTO, GOSUB, and ON RESPONSE, for example. I would love to see what you have found as well because it just makes me LOL when I see it.

* Using COUNT instead of DCOUNT
     MY.ARRAY = 5:@FM:7:@FM:8
     MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1
* Should be 
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)

* Not knowing about WHILE in a LOOP statement
     EXECUTE 'SELECT VOC'
     EOF = 0
     LOOP READNEXT ID ELSE EOF = 1
        IF EOF THEN EXIT
     REPEAT
* Should be
     LOOP WHILE READNEXT ID
     REPEAT

* Parsing though data instead of CHANGE command
     MY.DATA = "Welch, Bob;McVie John;Buckingham, Lindsey"
     MY.LEN = LEN(MY.DATA)
     FOR X = 1 TO MY.LEN
        IF MY.DATA[X,1] = ';' THEN MY.DATA[X,1] = @FM
     NEXT X
* Should be
     MY.DATA = CHANGE(MY.DATA,";",@FM)

* Not using case
     MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     IF MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord' THEN
     END
     IF MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport' THEN
     END
* Should be
     BEGIN CASE
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord'
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     END CASE

* Testing for Universe or Unidata
     UNIVERSE = @FALSE
     OPEN '&PH&' TO DUMMY ELSE UNIVERSE = @TRUE
* Should be
     IF SYSTEM(9010) = "UV" THEN UNIVERSE = @TRUE

* Finding a JSON value
     JSON = \\{"IdCode":"2","Description":"Route Not Run","DefaultValue":"0"}\\
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\","\\,\\"\\:@FM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\":"\\,\\"\\:@VM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CONVERT(\\{"]\\,"",JSON)
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(JSON,@FM)
     FOR X = 1 TO MAX.FM
        IF JSON

------------------------------
Doug Averch
Owner
U2 Logic
------------------------------

I am that old, that I remember Pick BASIC systems that did not have DCOUNT

And I remeber when DCOUNT came out and everyone was like, finally.

------------------------------
Will Johnson
Systems Analyst
Rocket Forum Shared Account
------------------------------

I have been converting code from R83 to Prime Information, Advance Pick to Unidata, Sequoia Pick to Unidata, D3 to Universe, and even Unidata to Universe, I have seen some really awful code and very morbid. Of course, you are thinking some of the latest Basic commands that I use daily in Universe did not exist in R83 so those programmers did the best they could. While I do not disagree, I am looking at code from customers in 2023 that should have been updated sometime in the last 20 years or at least in the last 10 years.

I have detailed below my comments with what I found and what I think it should be. I will ignore for the time being GOTO, GOSUB, and ON RESPONSE, for example. I would love to see what you have found as well because it just makes me LOL when I see it.

* Using COUNT instead of DCOUNT
     MY.ARRAY = 5:@FM:7:@FM:8
     MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1
* Should be 
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)

* Not knowing about WHILE in a LOOP statement
     EXECUTE 'SELECT VOC'
     EOF = 0
     LOOP READNEXT ID ELSE EOF = 1
        IF EOF THEN EXIT
     REPEAT
* Should be
     LOOP WHILE READNEXT ID
     REPEAT

* Parsing though data instead of CHANGE command
     MY.DATA = "Welch, Bob;McVie John;Buckingham, Lindsey"
     MY.LEN = LEN(MY.DATA)
     FOR X = 1 TO MY.LEN
        IF MY.DATA[X,1] = ';' THEN MY.DATA[X,1] = @FM
     NEXT X
* Should be
     MY.DATA = CHANGE(MY.DATA,";",@FM)

* Not using case
     MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     IF MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord' THEN
     END
     IF MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport' THEN
     END
* Should be
     BEGIN CASE
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord'
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     END CASE

* Testing for Universe or Unidata
     UNIVERSE = @FALSE
     OPEN '&PH&' TO DUMMY ELSE UNIVERSE = @TRUE
* Should be
     IF SYSTEM(9010) = "UV" THEN UNIVERSE = @TRUE

* Finding a JSON value
     JSON = \\{"IdCode":"2","Description":"Route Not Run","DefaultValue":"0"}\\
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\","\\,\\"\\:@FM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\":"\\,\\"\\:@VM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CONVERT(\\{"]\\,"",JSON)
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(JSON,@FM)
     FOR X = 1 TO MAX.FM
        IF JSON

------------------------------
Doug Averch
Owner
U2 Logic
------------------------------

I recall before PERFORM or EXECUTE and having to write COMMON data to a work file and re-entrant program logic before using PROCWRITE and CHAIN to a PROC to (effectively) substitute for EXECUTE. Once the PROC had done what was needed (typically using a SELECT or another program) it would run the original program which would use PROCREAD to pick up arguments for a re-entry point, the program would re-open files and READ and load COMMON before jumping to a different label depending upon the re-entry point provided by the PROC.

For what ot is worth - I can remember (for Company policy reasons - don't ask), we wrote and used a fully-functional PL system using only PQN proc.

Of the fun...

JJ

------------------------------
John Jenkins
Thame, Oxfordshire
------------------------------

I am that old, that I remember Pick BASIC systems that did not have DCOUNT

And I remeber when DCOUNT came out and everyone was like, finally.

------------------------------
Will Johnson
Systems Analyst
Rocket Forum Shared Account
------------------------------

Just a quick note, I noted in Dougs example he was using MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1 as a replacement for DCOUNT, this works fine if MY.ARRAY is not empty. The full logic to use COUNT as a replacement for DCOUNT is COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM) + (MY.ARRAY NE "")

------------------------------
Jonathan Smith
UniData ATS
Rocket Support
------------------------------

Just a quick note, I noted in Dougs example he was using MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1 as a replacement for DCOUNT, this works fine if MY.ARRAY is not empty. The full logic to use COUNT as a replacement for DCOUNT is COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM) + (MY.ARRAY NE "")

------------------------------
Jonathan Smith
UniData ATS
Rocket Support
------------------------------

Jonathan

Nice: many is the time I have seen that one, though more commonly as the far less elegant

IF COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)=0 THEN

MAX.FM=1

END ELSE

MAX.FM=COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)

END

Boolean tests can be great helpers, though z=x=y does seem to confuse some.

JJ

------------------------------
John Jenkins
Thame, Oxfordshire
------------------------------

I have been converting code from R83 to Prime Information, Advance Pick to Unidata, Sequoia Pick to Unidata, D3 to Universe, and even Unidata to Universe, I have seen some really awful code and very morbid. Of course, you are thinking some of the latest Basic commands that I use daily in Universe did not exist in R83 so those programmers did the best they could. While I do not disagree, I am looking at code from customers in 2023 that should have been updated sometime in the last 20 years or at least in the last 10 years.

I have detailed below my comments with what I found and what I think it should be. I will ignore for the time being GOTO, GOSUB, and ON RESPONSE, for example. I would love to see what you have found as well because it just makes me LOL when I see it.

* Using COUNT instead of DCOUNT
     MY.ARRAY = 5:@FM:7:@FM:8
     MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1
* Should be 
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)

* Not knowing about WHILE in a LOOP statement
     EXECUTE 'SELECT VOC'
     EOF = 0
     LOOP READNEXT ID ELSE EOF = 1
        IF EOF THEN EXIT
     REPEAT
* Should be
     LOOP WHILE READNEXT ID
     REPEAT

* Parsing though data instead of CHANGE command
     MY.DATA = "Welch, Bob;McVie John;Buckingham, Lindsey"
     MY.LEN = LEN(MY.DATA)
     FOR X = 1 TO MY.LEN
        IF MY.DATA[X,1] = ';' THEN MY.DATA[X,1] = @FM
     NEXT X
* Should be
     MY.DATA = CHANGE(MY.DATA,";",@FM)

* Not using case
     MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     IF MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord' THEN
     END
     IF MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport' THEN
     END
* Should be
     BEGIN CASE
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord'
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     END CASE

* Testing for Universe or Unidata
     UNIVERSE = @FALSE
     OPEN '&PH&' TO DUMMY ELSE UNIVERSE = @TRUE
* Should be
     IF SYSTEM(9010) = "UV" THEN UNIVERSE = @TRUE

* Finding a JSON value
     JSON = \\{"IdCode":"2","Description":"Route Not Run","DefaultValue":"0"}\\
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\","\\,\\"\\:@FM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\":"\\,\\"\\:@VM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CONVERT(\\{"]\\,"",JSON)
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(JSON,@FM)
     FOR X = 1 TO MAX.FM
        IF JSON

------------------------------
Doug Averch
Owner
U2 Logic
------------------------------

Not strictly old BASIC techniques but I do have to pull PROC and NEW PROC into the fold as candidates, not least of all as I was once part of team that wrote a full PL system in PROC for internal political reasons (if you really want to know why then feel free to PM me).

I recall an item search procedure that looked for a specific record ID in any file on the system that was written in PROC that later appeared in one of the MV vendors SYSPROG account as supplied code (though I am sure it was independently developed, including the identical spelling mistake in the comments ;-' )

While I don't have the original code it used PROC file buffers and also PROC subscripting. It is still heavily underrated IMO.

Regards,

JJ

------------------------------
John Jenkins
Thame, Oxfordshire
------------------------------

I have been converting code from R83 to Prime Information, Advance Pick to Unidata, Sequoia Pick to Unidata, D3 to Universe, and even Unidata to Universe, I have seen some really awful code and very morbid. Of course, you are thinking some of the latest Basic commands that I use daily in Universe did not exist in R83 so those programmers did the best they could. While I do not disagree, I am looking at code from customers in 2023 that should have been updated sometime in the last 20 years or at least in the last 10 years.

I have detailed below my comments with what I found and what I think it should be. I will ignore for the time being GOTO, GOSUB, and ON RESPONSE, for example. I would love to see what you have found as well because it just makes me LOL when I see it.

* Using COUNT instead of DCOUNT
     MY.ARRAY = 5:@FM:7:@FM:8
     MAX.FM = COUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)+ 1
* Should be 
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(MY.ARRAY,@FM)

* Not knowing about WHILE in a LOOP statement
     EXECUTE 'SELECT VOC'
     EOF = 0
     LOOP READNEXT ID ELSE EOF = 1
        IF EOF THEN EXIT
     REPEAT
* Should be
     LOOP WHILE READNEXT ID
     REPEAT

* Parsing though data instead of CHANGE command
     MY.DATA = "Welch, Bob;McVie John;Buckingham, Lindsey"
     MY.LEN = LEN(MY.DATA)
     FOR X = 1 TO MY.LEN
        IF MY.DATA[X,1] = ';' THEN MY.DATA[X,1] = @FM
     NEXT X
* Should be
     MY.DATA = CHANGE(MY.DATA,";",@FM)

* Not using case
     MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     IF MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord' THEN
     END
     IF MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport' THEN
     END
* Should be
     BEGIN CASE
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'UpdateRecord'
        CASE MY.METHOD = 'CreateReport'
     END CASE

* Testing for Universe or Unidata
     UNIVERSE = @FALSE
     OPEN '&PH&' TO DUMMY ELSE UNIVERSE = @TRUE
* Should be
     IF SYSTEM(9010) = "UV" THEN UNIVERSE = @TRUE

* Finding a JSON value
     JSON = \\{"IdCode":"2","Description":"Route Not Run","DefaultValue":"0"}\\
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\","\\,\\"\\:@FM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CHANGE(JSON,\\":"\\,\\"\\:@VM:\\"\\)
     JSON = CONVERT(\\{"]\\,"",JSON)
     MAX.FM = DCOUNT(JSON,@FM)
     FOR X = 1 TO MAX.FM
        IF JSON

------------------------------
Doug Averch
Owner
U2 Logic
------------------------------

I am glad all the examples in this thread are using the @ variable and not the CHAR function ( i.e. @FM and not CHAR(254)), which I have seen a lot over the years.

While the CHAR(254) works, it can cause problems if/when you switch the codepage/language group to something that requires changing the marks characters.

------------------------------
Mike Rajkowski
MultiValue Product Evangelist
Rocket Internal - All Brands
DENVER CO US
------------------------------

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