Sounds to me like the documentation writer was a bit confused. Looks to me
like it should read instead:
If the number 3.1416 is used in more than one place in the program, then you
*should* declare it as a named constant.
If it requires specific data or precision attributes at different places in the
program, then you *must* declare it as a named constant.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of
Paul Gilmartin
Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 1:01 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: Constant Identifiers
On Fri, 4 Sep 2020 10:55:19 -0500, Steve Smith wrote:
>I'm not a PL/I novice, if not an expert. Whatever you read, it does
>not mean what you think it means.
>
Enterprise PL/I for z/OS Language Reference Version 5 Release 1 IBM
SC27-8940-00 Datatypes and attributes. . . 17
If the number 3.1416 is used in more than one place in the program,
or if it requires specific data or precision attributes, you must declare
it as a named constant. Thus, the above statement can be coded
as follows:
dcl Pi FIXED DECIMAL (5,4) VALUE(3.1416);
area = (radius**2) * Pi;
Perhaps then it doesn't mean what it says. I take "must" to indicate a rule,
not a suggestion. I haven't seen the rule. I haven't looked very hard. Does
it apply alike to 3.1416, 2.7183, and 2?
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