At 11:08 AM 98/12/31 -0500, Nick Demos wrote:
>> As for the bit about inflexibility with respect to packed digit and being
>> too big to fit in an integer, I don't understand the problem here. Is the
>> largest number possible in a packed-decimal that much greater than that
>> possible in an integer item? I don't have the answer at hand, but I would
>> be surprised if that were an issue in many cases at all.
>>
>In a word - YES
>
>Nick D.
>

Okay, so I looked it up.

According to the COBOL manual, the most digits that can be represented in a
COMP-3 (packed decimal) item is 18.

The most digits that can be represented in a COMP (integer) item is also 18.

Can you explain how a packed-decimal field is able to hold a larger value
than an integer field?
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