diff --git a/BASE36/README.MD b/BASE36/README.MD index 5e4019b..957fde3 100644 --- a/BASE36/README.MD +++ b/BASE36/README.MD @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ This is a service program that adds 1 to an alpha-numeric string. The string can be any (sensible) length but is currently set at an arbitrary max of 50 characters. -The code was originally developed to help out when a numeric key (kept in a character field) was about to hit the maximum, and the company did not want to re-structure their database. Instead, they want to use A-Z in the number, so that incrementing 899999 would give 9AAAAA. (See [midrange.com](https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201506/msg00533.html) for the thread the the other suggested solutions.) +The code was originally developed to help out when a numeric key (kept in a character field) was about to hit the maximum, and the company did not want to re-structure their database. Instead, they wanted to use A-Z in the number, so that incrementing 899999 would give 9AAAAA. (See [midrange.com](https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201506/msg00533.html) for the thread the the other suggested solutions.) I had developed a solution back in RPG III days so converting it to RPGIV was a trivial task. @@ -10,12 +10,14 @@ Another potential use might be incrementing a unique alpha numeric part number. The code is quite short and can be easily modified to change the maximum length. -It is currently set to use a BASE36 character set (A-Z and 0-9) and the raw EBCDIC code sorting sequence, where numbers are higher than characters. Changing either the character set of the sorting sequence simply requires changing two constants. - -I've been experimenting with the **free** [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) and the [Code for IBM i](https://halcyon-tech.github.io/code-for-ibmi/#/) extension to VS Code, so using that I tidied up the code, made it into a service program, made it more flexible and wrote some testing code. Lots of fun and a good learning experience using the new, totally free, D-specs... +It is currently set to use a BASE36 character set (A-Z and 0-9) and the raw EBCDIC code sorting sequence, where numbers are higher than characters. Changing either the character set or the sorting sequence simply requires changing two constants. **Note:** This is *not* a BASE36 math package. It covers just the case of adding 1 to a string. +## Development + +I've been experimenting with the **free** [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) and the [Code for IBM i](https://halcyon-tech.github.io/code-for-ibmi/#/) :+1: extension to VS Code, so using that I tidied up the code, made it into a service program, made it more flexible and wrote some testing code. Lots of fun and a good learning experience using the new, totally free, D-specs :smile: + ## SRV_BASE36 This is the service program. It contains the BASE36ADD procedure. You call it with a value and it returns the value + 1.