Strict function signature checking
IBM® Informix® 4GL (I4GL) is not very strict regarding function signature. With I4GL, you can, for example, define a function in module A that returns three values, and call that function in module B with a returning clause specifying two variables:
Module A:
FUNCTION func()
RETURN "abc", "def", "ghi"
END FUNCTION
Module B (main):
MAIN
DEFINE v1, v2 VARCHAR(100)
CALL func() RETURNING v1, v2
END MAIN
The c4gl compiler (7.32) compiles and links these modules without
error, but at execution time you get the following runtime error:
Program stopped at "main.4gl", line number 3.
FORMS statement error number -1320.
A function has not returned the correct number of values
expected by the calling function.
With Genero Business Development Language (BDL), the mistake will
be detected at link time:
$ fgllink -o prog.42x main.42m module_a.42m
ERROR(-6200): Module 'main': The function module_a.func(0,3) will be
called as func(0,2).
Similarly, I4GL does not detect an invalid number of parameters passed to a function defined in a different module:
Module A:
FUNCTION func( p )
DEFINE p INTEGER
DISPLAY p
END FUNCTION
Module B (main):
MAIN
CALL func(1,2)
END MAIN
The c4gl compiler (7.32) compiles and links these modules without
error, but at execution time, you get the following runtime error:
Program stopped at "main.4gl", line number 2.
FORMS statement error number -1318.
A parameter count mismatch has occurred between the calling
function and the called function.
When using Genero BDL, the error will be detected at link time:
$ fgllink -o prog.42x main.42m module_a.42m
ERROR(-6200): Module 'main': The function module_a.func(1,0) will be
called as func(2,0).
However, Genero BDL does not check function signatures when several
RETURN
instructions are found by the compiler. This is necessary in order to be compatible with I4GL. The
next code example compiles and runs with both I4GL and
BDL:MAIN
DEFINE v1, v2 VARCHAR(100)
CALL func(1) RETURNING v1
DISPLAY v1
CALL func(2) RETURNING v1, v2
DISPLAY v1, v2
END MAIN
FUNCTION func( n )
DEFINE n INTEGER
IF n == 1 THEN
RETURN "abc"
ELSE
RETURN "abc", "def"
END IF
END FUNCTION
However, this type of programming is not recommended.