can we directly compare two alphanumeric data items

sri.mainframes · New User Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 29 Location: MUMBAI

two data items A and B

A PIC A(5) VALUE 'S123S'
B PIC A(5) VALUE 'S123S'

CAN I DIRECTLY COMPARE LIKE

IF A = B
MOVE SPACES TO B.
ELSE MOVE A TO B.

CAN ANYONE FIND OUT WEATHER THE ABOVE CODE CORRECT OR NOT . IF NOT THEN HOW CAN I COMPARE TWO DATA ITEMS WITH '=' OPERTOR

thanks in advance
sri.prince

Marso · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:03 pm

The answer to your question is yes, this is the way to do it.

BUT

you defined your areas as PIC A(5). As such, they can contain only alphabetic characters or spaces (no numbers).
Most programmers would use PIC X(5) which allows more freedom.

ALSO

The dot (.) before the ELSE should be removed.
Personnaly, I prefer to use END-IF over a final dot.
Very Important: Use indentation. Like this you can immediately see where the IF ends, when the ELSE starts and so on...

crrindia · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:21 pm

Hi Marso, I see in your sample code you have coded like shown below.

IF A = B THEN
MOVE SPACES TO B
ELSE
MOVE A TO B
END-IF[/code][/quote]

I think you have to code THEN instead of THAN. If I am wrong please excuse me. The correct code I am thinking is

IF A = B THAN
MOVE SPACES TO B
ELSE
MOVE A TO B
END-IF[/code][/quote]

Thanks!
Rat..