Re: [Tiny-cobol-users] A problem with EVALUATE

[John R. C. <jo...@we...>]

On Friday 19 August 2005 04:27 pm, Jim Morcombe wrote:
> John
>
> You must realise,Little Grasshopper, that the Cobol  EVALUATE is a
> statement of unimaginable power that outstrips the wimpy little case
> statements and switch seen in other languages.
>
> The EVALUATE TRUE form is one of many that are available under Cobol 85
> that many people are not aware of.

Including many authors of $85 textbooks. In any case I leave it
to you to debug his code. EVALUATE is neat, but unnecessary, 
like most of the added features of COB 85. COB 85 is for the
most part harmless (I do not miss ALTER) but it does bog down
the compiler writer with more features to implement and the
programmer with more arcane forms to understand when reading
someone else's code. 

I think I will write a book called "Simple COBOL" that will deal
with the necessary subset, not the expanding universe of new
forms and new incompatibilities. Or as my father used to say,
"things left off the automobile don't ever break down."

John C.