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Status Not under consideration
Workspace PL/I Compilers
Created by Guest
Created on Sep 19, 2013

RELATED IDEAS

New EPLI INDEX-like builtin

For ad-hoc lookups it is possible to store data, padded with suitable non-occuring fillers in a VAR CHAR variable. Checking if the data is present can subsequently be done using INDEX(haystack, needle) / POS(needle, haystack)

However, both of the above will do a linear search through "haystack".

Assuming that there is a need to look up a 4-character needle "BAD_" in the haystack and the filler is '@', and the haystack contains 'AAA _@AQ__@BCD_@QWER@BAD_@', the current INDEX builtin do a scan starting at every position of the haystack, although the presence on non-occuring '@' fillers would allow the scan to start only at positions 1, 6, 11 etc, in a similar vein to the fact that incrementing typed pointers increments them with the size of the underlying type.

Note that the use of a non-occuring filler will remove the need to check that the value returned by INDEX/POS needs to be checked for a proper multiple plus 1 of the size of the needle! It is required to prevent false matches of needles on consecutive earlier stored needles in the haystack, i.e. a haystack containing "AAABBB" with a needle "ABB".

Idea priority Low
  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 19, 2015

    while this might be a useful function, it could be written by a user with existing PL/I language. Moreover, there are many more pressing requirements, and hence since we are not likely to do this in the near future, it is fairer in terms of setting expectations for this to be rejected

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Sep 14, 2015

    Due to processing by IBM, this request was reassigned to have the following updated attributes:
    Brand - Servers and Systems Software
    Product family - Programming Languages
    Product - PL/I Compilers

    For recording keeping, the previous attributes were:
    Brand - Rational
    Product family - Design & development
    Product - PL/I Compilers

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     May 20, 2014

    Rather than creating a new builtin, as suggested initially, another option would be to enhance the existing INDEX() builtin with a fourth parameter (that defaults to 1) that tells the builtin that the search should use discrete intervals of "x" characters, i.e.

    index(haystack, needle,1,4)

    would only compare needle to haystack at the discrete locations of 1, 5, 9 etc, in essence doing nothing more than a

    match = '0'b;
    do i = 1 by 4 to length(haystack) until(match);
    match = (substr(haystack, i, 4) = needle);
    end;

    Easy to program in normal PL/I, but as a builtin the resulting code would quite likely rather more efficient.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |     Oct 10, 2013

    this could have benefit in some situations

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