On 3 July 2017, 18:48, Glenn Knickerbocker wrote: > On 6/27/2017 2:03 PM, Rob van der Heij wrote: > > Right, string operands wasn't in z/VM 6.3 yet. But going all that way? > > pipe literal | dup 8 | spec number from -5 | cons > > It was an exercise from last summer in trying to do what the doc said > was possible: > > >> NUMBER is a convenience; the same result can be obtained by > >> incrementing a counter. > > > > How the heck do I set a nonzero initial value?
Those notes in the book are not required home work for your exam ;-) When important to set it, I'd use spec set #1:=first()?-4:#1+1 otherwise add the initial when printing spec print -5+(#1+=1) 1 As long as you realize the second one increments on the first round. > The main point of that thread was about the difference in default length > between PICTURE and NUMBER that still trips me up every time. I'm afraid I never noticed, but the book says so indeed. No idea why, but good thing we have fittings to go from cast iron pipes to plastic. There has been too much water through the pipes to change it now. Sir Rob the Plumber
