On Mar 25,  4:28pm, [log in to unmask] wrote:
...
> (1) It is not possible (IMO) to cause *all* programs to "break" ...
> (2) I think that one method of access the data is *much* more common
> than any other method.
>   * Extract columns x through y from the :LISTF output into some
>     buffer.
>   * Do some "editing" on the buffer (this is the dangerous
>     part because depending on how sophisticated the "editing"
>     is you may not be able to force the program to abort). Since (in
>     this case) we are expecting a right justified number, and
>     since the MPE intrinsics for converting from ASCII to Binary
>     don't like blanks etc trim leading blanks.
>   * Pass the edited buffer to some routine to convert it to a number.
>     I think most code passes it to the BINARY or DBINARY intrinsic.
<some good arguments snipped...>

I am collecting any code fragments that parse LISTF,2 output for the EOF
LIMIT or SECTORS fields.  I will use these pieces of code to help decide
on the bset way to "break" programs or scripts that process any of the
above mentioned fields.  I agree with Scott that we cannot "break" all
cases but we will strive to break the most common scenerios.

Thanks in advance for all code fragments.

Regards,
Jeff Vance, CSY

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