PL/I was robbed of FIXEDOVERFLOW for binary fixed values. It is still available for PL/I decimal fixed, i.e., packed decimal values.
The LE does in fact make a facility available for executing what is in efffect an arbitrary SPM instruction; but it is documented so poorly---It has been all but hidden---that it is difficult to use. When binary FIXEDOVERFLOW is important I now do the arithmetic in an assembly-language subroutine. This a is a pity, a disagreeable consequence of the fact that much PL/I implementation machinery is now shared with C; but it must be conceded that there have been benefits too, e.g., for select groups that are exact functional equivalents of licit C switch statements, which are now better optimized than they once were. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA
