after searching old messages (found one from 2004) it looks like PICK
still doesn't allow the creation of a function in Basic ..

Is this true?

Thanks

DSig
David Tod Sigafoos

If by "Pick" you mean D3, I think that this is true. The Information
style products (Information, PI/open, UniVerse, Unidata, OpenQM, etc)
have allowed this for many years. The function is effectively a
subroutine that returns a value via a hidden first argument.

OpenQM takes it further and allows "internal functions" in just the
same way as you can have internal subroutines. There are many places
where these are useful, keeping the function encapsulated with the
program logic to which it relates and removing the need to load a
separate program image for the function itself.


Martin Phillips, Ladybridge Systems.

You can create user defined functions in C and add them to the functions
usable as %function. This, however, requires that you add the routine to D3
using addbi and then make the D3 file again. There's no provision for
creating data/basic functions.

Bob Mitchell
President
Future Software Systems, Inc.

Basically true. However, if you don't need to pass parameters "by
reference", you can do this:

Write a subroutine that has a single passing parameter. This parameter can
be anything, but there must be only one.

Extremely simple example:
sub add.function(PX)
px = px<1> + px<2>
return

Then, in you Pick Basic code, you can add a line like this:

x = oconv(A:@am:B,"call add.function")

Acts exactly like a function. The only caviat is that you can't pass a
parameter that gets changed and passed back as something other than the
answer.

I've been doing this for several years now and it works pretty well for
simple stuff. If you compile with the CS options, it barely shows up in the
debugger.

Basically, that's all Pick dictionary "calls" and triggers are, a simple
function to take a parameter and return a result.


Mark Brown

"dtsig" <dtsig (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

On Apr 19, 8:01 am, Martin Phillips <MartinPhill... (AT) ladybridge (DOT) com>
wrote:
<g> .. yes PICK is r83, oa, d3 etc

thanks .. i was afraid of that

On Apr 19, 9:05 am, bobm.fakeit.f... (AT) verizon (DOT) net wrote:
<g>

On Apr 19, 12:50 pm, "Mark Brown" <mbr... (AT) drexelmgt (DOT) com> wrote:
Thanks mark .. for me passed parameters are ignored anyway .. never
changed

On Apr 19, 1:50 pm, "Mark Brown" <mbr... (AT) drexelmgt (DOT) com> wrote:
cute workaround! (another opportunity regret...)
dave

On Apr 29, 4:02 pm, dzigray <goo... (AT) bridge2 (DOT) com> wrote:
fyi
i tried a recursion test on the above and hit a hard limit at 25:
Stack too Big or too Small @ RETIX:
000
O=Logoff / Q=Quit / <CR>=Go to debugger ? q

unfortunately, the 'Q'uit-option didn't work... and instead hung the
process.