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Conference clt::cobol

Title:VAX/DEC COBOL
Notice:Kit,doc,performance talk info-->DIR/KEY=KIT or DOC or PERF_TALK
Moderator:PACKED::BRAFFITT
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3250
Total number of notes:13077

3226.0. "CALL > 255 arguments?" by CSC32::J_HENSON (Don't get even, get ahead!) Fri Apr 11 1997 17:02

As incredible as it seems, A customer is asking if there are any plans
to increase the number of arguments that can be passed with a CALL
statement to more than 255 (or whatever the current limit it.  I
don't know Cobol).

What should I tell him?

Thanks,

Jerry
U.S. CSC
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
3226.1I'll add this to the DEC COBOL wishlistPACKED::BRAFFITTSun Apr 13 1997 15:027
>As incredible as it seems, A customer is asking if there are any plans
>to increase the number of arguments that can be passed with a CALL
>statement to more than 255 (or whatever the current limit it.  I
>don't know Cobol).

    These are no current plans to increase this limit, but I'll add this
    customer request to our wishlist.
3226.2Architectural limit on VAX (ie: will be changed when pigs fly)GIDDAY::GILLINGSa crucible of informative mistakesSun Apr 13 1997 21:1319
  Jerry,

    This limit is not imposed by COBOL, it's a VAX architectural limit on
  the CALLS and CALLG instructions. Although there would be many possible
  ways for a compiler to change the limit (simply by using a different
  convention for passing arguments), this could NOT be done without
  sacrificing compatibility between languages. On VAX compilers, 255 is a
  hard limit which I don't ever expect to see changed.

    On Alpha, there doesn't seem to be an architectural limit to the number
  of arguments passed to a routine. That being the case, the only limits are
  those imposed by the compiler (if any).

  See "OpenVMS Calling Standard" on a CD near you...

  For your customer, it should be possible to write (generate?) code which
  effectively passes more than 255 arguments by using substructures.

						John Gillings, Sydney CSC
3226.3ThanksCSC32::J_HENSONDon't get even, get ahead!Mon Apr 14 1997 09:585
Good answers.

Thanks,

Jerry