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vihv · Beginner Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 11 Topics: 4

Hi guys, I have a variable pic x(1000), i'm trying to find how many bytes of that area are populated with data, the "length of" command gives me the length of the whole area, do you know any way of knowing the size of the data stored in that area.

I dont want to loop from 1000 to 0 to find out the actual length of the data.

any ideas....thanks

eg. ws-customer-name pic x(1000).

move "jhon" to ws-customer-name

In this example ws-customer-name size is 4.

jsharon1248 · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:41 am Post subject:

If you're populating the field, use a STRING statement with the DELIMITED BY and WITH POINTER clauses. The pointer will tell you how many characters you're moving. If you're looking for the length of a field that's already populated, I think your best bet would be the loop.

CICS Guy · Intermediate Joined: 30 Apr 2007 Posts: 292 Topics: 3

CraigG · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:42 pm Post subject:

COBOL doesn't deal with strings, it deals with fields. If you don't like that then use C or some other language.

slade · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:45 am Post subject:

Hi Vhiv,

You might try something like this:

Terry_Heinze · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:56 am Post subject:

I use slade's method, but don't forget to initialize L before your inspect statement.
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....Terry

CraigG · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:10 am Post subject:

Terry_Heinze · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:28 am Post subject:

Either method will work. I guess I prefer the inspect/compute option since it's fewer statements and gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with a function. If this had to be done repeatedly throughout the execution of a program, I'd benchmark the two methods to see if there was any significant performance issues.
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....Terry

Terry_Heinze · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:34 am Post subject:

I'd edit my post to correct the grammar, but can't find the "edit" referred to in FAQ. Sad

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....Terry

jsharon1248 · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:57 am Post subject:

CraigG,

CICS Guy · Intermediate Joined: 30 Apr 2007 Posts: 292 Topics: 3

Terry_Heinze · Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 9:06 am Post subject:

A better choice of words might have been, "COBOL doesn't handle strings as nicely as some other languages. Reference modification was a big improvement in string handling." Smile

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....Terry

vihv · Beginner Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 11 Topics: 4

well, I found a cobol function to do it:

CraigG · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:52 pm Post subject:

Nic Clouston · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:00 pm Post subject:

well - you were told it by slade on Oct 4thy
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