I dont care if nobody else thinks so, I still say ILE is a good idea. It makes a lot of sense to build software from components, insofar as it is practical to do so.
A lot of programmers dont see it my way. When presented with a problem to solve, they insist upon solving it themselves. It doesnt seem to occur to them that somebody else may have already solved it. I wonder how many programmers have solved the problem of making a computer calculate federal income tax? Or, to use the language of bean counters, how many dollars have been spent programming computers to calculate federal income tax, and how could that money have been spent instead?
Fortunately, those days are numbered. Golden State Software Systems, Inc. (GSSSI) has developed a package of RPG IV subprocedures that can be called from ILE programs written in RPG, COBOL, and C. On second thought, has developed is not an appropriate way to say that, because it sounds as if theyre finished. Why, theyre just getting started. GSSSI calls its package Function Junction. Catchy, isnt it? I think so.
A Class Act
Function Junction is divided into classes of related functions. For example, the string- handling class includes functions to justify, parse, and translate character data, among other things. Other classes are dates, numbers, statistics, finance, medical, navigation, and conversions of units of measurement. See Figure 1 for a list of the functions that were available at press time. For a current list, see the Function Junction Web page at www.gsssi.com/home.html. Dont be surprised if the list has grown. GSSSI continues to enhance Function Junction. It has a long list of ideas, and customers have given it even more ideas, so itll be busy for a while.
Function Junction is like an encyclopedia in a several ways. First, few people read every entry in an encyclopedia. When you license Function Junction, you get it all. Never mind that youll never have to calculate the secant of an angle in radians.
Second, an article in an encyclopedia typically has more information about a subject than a person is looking for. Youll find that the routines in Function Junction are capable of handling more than your demands. For instance, some of the routines can handle distances in various units of measure, including furlongs. You may only need miles or kilometers.
Third, few people could predict what articles will be read in an encyclopedia. Its nice that an encyclopedia has all the information you need, even though you didnt know in advance youd need it. So its not unthinkable that Function Junction could have a routine that you could someday use yet have not have foreseen a need for.
Easy to Use
Function Junction is easy to use. Suppose you need to convert a string of hexadecimal digits into characters? You will need to remember three things.
1. Use the /COPY directive to include the necessary function prototypes:
D/COPY INCLUDE,STR
2. Use the function typically found in an EVAL, a DOx, or an IF statement:
C EVAL CharString = Str_Chr(HexString)
In this case, if HexString has the six-byte value C1D2F8, the Str_Chr function will store a result of AK8 in CharString.
3. Specify the appropriate service program in the CRTPGM command:
CRTPGM PGM(xxx) +
MODULE(xxx) +
BNDSRVPGM(STR) +
ACTGRP(*NEW)
In this example, the string conversion functions are in service program STR. It couldnt be any easier.
Never Out-of-date
Function Junction is licensed on a subscription basis. You pay an initial fee for a license, then an annual fee for two updates a year, which are currently sent out in May and November. If GSSSI incorporates a function that you have suggested, you will receive a copy of that function as soon as its available.
When I first began programming computers, every little shop had its own programmers, who wrote everything from scratch. Those days are gone. The future is in reusable code, not the reinvention of the wheel, mainly because using someone elses packaged code is a lot less expensive than writing custom software. This is what ILE and Function Junction are all about.
Function Junction Price: Available upon request Golden State Software Systems, Inc. 4405 Manchester Ave., Suite 104 Encinitas, CA 92024-4940 Tel: 760-943-9993 Email:
STRING CLASS
Translate ASCII to EBCDIC
Format name and address
Build or maintain a delimited string
Convert hexadecimal representation to character
Case insensitive string compare
Manipulate upper and lower case
Translate EBCDIC to ASCII
Expand a string
Find and replace characters
Convert character to hexadecimal representation
Justify a string
Parse a string into fixed length substrings
Parse a delimited string
Right justify with zero fill
DATE CLASS
Calculate age
Calculate full age
Date validity check
Calculate day of the week
Calculate day number of the week
Convert date to iso
Format date in iso 8601 week notation
Convert lilian date to iso date
Calculate lilian date
Convert iso 8601 week notation to iso date
Format date in words
NUMBERS CLASS
Converts number bases
Prime factors
Factorial
Fibonacci sequence
Greatest common factor
Least common multiple
Next prime number
Random number generator
Roman numerals
Sum of the digits
Sum of the integers
Converts numbers to words
STATISTICS CLASS
Count values
Geometric mean
Harmonic mean
Kurtosis
Nth largest value
Maximum value
Mode
Median
Minimum value
Arithmetic mean
Normalize a value
Percentile
Percent rank
Ascending rank
Descending rank
Standard deviation
Sample standard deviation
Distribution skew
Sum of the values
Sum of the squares of the values
Sum of the sum of the squares of two sets
Sum of the differences of the squares of two sets
Sum of the sums squared of two sets
Sum of the differences squared of two sets
Sum of the products of two sets
Sum of the products squared of two sets
Nth smallest value
Sum of the negative values
Sum of the positive values
Trimmed mean
Variance
Sample variance
Weighted mean
CONVERSION CLASS
Convert astronomical distances
Convert angles
Convert areas
Convert densities
Convert linear distances
Convert forces
Convert forces advanced
Convert kitchen measures
Convert pressures
Convert power
Convert speeds or velocities
Convert time
Convert temperatures
Convert torques
Convert typography units
Convert volumes
Convert weight or mass
Convert work/energy
TRIGONOMETRIC CLASS
Arc cosine of an angle
Hyperbolic arc cosine of an angle
Arc cotangent of an angle
Hyperbolic arc cotangent of an angle
Arc cosecant of an angle
Hyperbolic arc cosecant of an angle
Arc secant of an angle
Hyperbolic arc secant of an angle
Arc sine of an angle
Hyperbolic arc sine of an angle
Arc tangent of an angle
Hyperbolic arc tangent of an angle
Cosine of an angle
Hyperbolic cosine of an angle
Cotangent of an angle
Hyperbolic cotangent of an angle
Cosecant of an angle
Hyperbolic cosecant of an angle
Secant of an angle
Hyperbolic secant of an angle
Sine of an angle
Hyperbolic sine of an angle
Tangent of an angle
Hyperbolic tangent of an angle
FINANCE CLASS
Average collection period
Regular annuity
Annuity due
Compound interest calculations
Current ratio
Debt ratio
Economic order quantity
Inventory turnover ratio
Net profit margin
Price earnings ratio
Payout ratio
Quick ratio (aka acid test)
Return on assets
Return on equity
Receivable turnover
Simple interest calculations
MEDICAL CLASS
Calculates body mass index
Calculates body surface area
Calculates ideal body weight
Calculates lean body weight
Calculates total body water
NAVIGATION CLASS
Great circle distance (shortest distance)
Great circle route initial true course Figure 1: Function Junction had a long list of subprocedures at press time
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