The big problem with the old COND= operand (IMHO) is that it works backwards from normal logic. It was really hard for me to integrate into my hard head that you are specifying the COND for *not* executing the step. Add a NE, and my brain melts down.
// IF is an improvement, but it implies that JCL is a procedural language; and it is not. See previous discussions of // SET. sas On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 4:13 PM, John McKown <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 2:32 PM, Greg Dyck <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On 2/22/2017 2:19 PM, John McKown wrote: > > > >> But I agree that // ELSIF or // ELSEIF would be superior. DEFAULT / > >> OTHERWISE is simply after the last ELSE. Perhaps instead of // IF, IBM > >> should have have // CASE? > >> > > > > Ahhh, but will your company *pay* IBM more $$ for z/OS if this > > functionality were provided? > > > > [reverting to old fart mode] Ahhh, but if IBM hadn't locked up the source > (aka OCO), then the advanced users wouldn't _have_ to pay IBM for the > functionality because they could add it themselves! Or at least better > understand why it is not possible beyond "it costs too much" or "it is too > difficult" (aka "IBM doesn't think it will pay off in terms of income.") > Like most here, I remember that many of the initial enhancements to MVT & > MVS were from outside of IBM. > > > > > > > I wasn't on the team that implemented this support, but I know that when > > new function gets implemented there must be a balance between what is > > possible, what was asked for, what doing it will cost, and what else must > > be done. I'm sure it is no different where you work. > > > > Very true! The basic, and reasonable, mantra for _all_ capitalistic > companies is "Don't do it if it won't result in greater profitability." > Which is why _I_ am a member of the FSF and, on my personal machines, use > GNU/Linux software. __MOST__ of which is open source (GPL or MIT licensed). > If I really, really, want it (and have the talent), I can "fork" a software > project and change it. I can even return my changes to the original > developers. If they want it, then they can use it. If they don't want it, > and I'm really sold on it, I simply put my version up on GitHub and > publicize it. Let the users decide. Case in point: LibreOffice vs > OpenOffice - though they seem to be rejoining now that OpenOffice is an > Apache foundation project and not Oracle. Also the MariaDB fork of MySQL - > again caused by Oracle as I understand it. > > > > > > > Given the limited definition for conditional execution that was done 50 > > years ago, I think this support is a big step up. > > > > Total agreement on this point. Gil's desire is reasonable, but costly at > this point. For me, the IBM implementation is definitely appreciated. I can > actually figure out // IF whereas the old COND= on the EXEC would give me > headaches ... literally. > > > > > > > Regards, > > Greg > > > > > > -- > "Irrigation of the land with seawater desalinated by fusion power is > ancient. It's called 'rain'." -- Michael McClary, in alt.fusion > > Maranatha! <>< > John McKown > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > -- sas ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
