Bad or Smart? DESCEND !

[Marc_d]

Using DESCEND for read file reverse!

It's almost 5 o'clock here
Just a thought... before going home...

I looked at some DDS code written on

http://www.code400.com/viewsamples.php?lang_id=4

by JimmyOctane

And I noticed this DDS keyword on a key: DESCEND
in one of the examples.

If I use it on a key , can It then replace READP with a READ ? ( Or Vice Versa )

Is it BAD programming or Smart ?

[vikramx]

Re: Bad or Smart? DESCEND !

Well that depends on the situation, cos in order to this you would need a separate logical with the keys specified with DESCEND keyword.

If youre using an existing logical to read forward and in one case read backward then READP/READPE is a better option.

[GLS400]

Re: Bad or Smart? DESCEND !

Hi Marc:

I use it in combination with ascending.

Acct-ascending
Transaction Date-decending

Setll on acct and read
That shows the latest/previous/previous etc transaction for the account.

Works great.

Best of Luck
GLS

[tomholden]

Re: Bad or Smart? DESCEND !

it's not good or bad really. it depends on the situation. sometimes it's done just to prevent other folks coming behind you from going nuts wondering why you're reading the file backwards (if it's ascending and you need to process in descending order). as GLS mentioned there have been occasions where i've had to have multiple keys in the same LF some were needed in ascending order and other key fields in descending order. it's the same ol' use the right tool for the job