Inline Subroutines

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# Inline Subroutines

Natural distinguishes two types of subroutines: inline subroutines which are defined directly in the program and external subroutines which are stored as separate objects outside the program (this is explained later in this tutorial).

You will now add an inline subroutine to your program which moves an asterisk (*) to the new user-defined variable named `#MARK`. This subroutine will be invoked when an employee has 20 days of leave or more.

When you have completed the exercises below, your sample application will be structured as follows:

This document contains the following exercises:

- Defining the Inline Subroutine

- Performing the Inline Subroutine

## Defining the Inline Subroutine

You will now add the subroutine to your program.

To define the subroutine

1. Insert the following below the user-defined variable `#NAME-END`:

       1 #MARK              (A1)

   This variable will be used by the subroutine. Therefore, it has to be defined first.

2. To define the subroutine, insert the following before the `END` statement:

       DEFINE SUBROUTINE MARK-SPECIAL-EMPLOYEES
         MOVE '*' TO #MARK
       END-SUBROUTINE

   When performed, this subroutine moves an asterisk (*) to `#MARK`.

   Note
   Instead of using the statement `MOVE '*' TO #MARK` it is also possible to use the following variant of the `ASSIGN` or `COMPUTE` statement: `#MARK := '*'`.

3. Modify the `DISPLAY` statement as follows:

       DISPLAY NAME 3X DEPT 3X LEAVE-DUE 3X '>=20' #MARK

   This displays a new column in your output. Its heading is ">=20". The column will contain an asterisk (*) if the corresponding employee has 20 days of leave or more.

## Performing the Inline Subroutine

Now that you have defined the inline subroutine, you can specify the corresponding code for performing it.

To perform the inline subroutine

1. Insert the following before the `DISPLAY` statement:

       IF LEAVE-DUE >= 20 THEN
         PERFORM MARK-SPECIAL-EMPLOYEES
       ELSE
         RESET #MARK
       END-IF

   When an employee is found who has 20 days of leave or more, the new subroutine named `MARK-SPECIAL-EMPLOYEES` is performed. When an employee has less than 20 days of leave, the content of `#MARK` is reset to blank.

   Your program should now look as follows:

       DEFINE DATA
       LOCAL
         1 #NAME-START        (A20)
         1 #NAME-END          (A20)
         1 #MARK              (A1)
         1 EMPLOYEES-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
           2 FULL-NAME
             3 NAME (A20)
           2 DEPT (A6)
           2 LEAVE-DATA
             3 LEAVE-DUE (N2)
       END-DEFINE
       *
       RP1. REPEAT
       *
         INPUT USING MAP 'MAP01'
       *
         IF #NAME-START = '.' THEN
           ESCAPE BOTTOM (RP1.)
         END-IF
       *
         IF #NAME-END = ' ' THEN
           MOVE #NAME-START TO #NAME-END
         END-IF
       *
         RD1. READ EMPLOYEES-VIEW BY NAME
           STARTING FROM #NAME-START
           ENDING AT #NAME-END
       *
           IF LEAVE-DUE >= 20 THEN
             PERFORM MARK-SPECIAL-EMPLOYEES
           ELSE
             RESET #MARK
           END-IF
       *
           DISPLAY NAME 3X DEPT 3X LEAVE-DUE 3X '>=20' #MARK
       *
         END-READ
       *
         IF *COUNTER (RD1.) = 0 THEN
           REINPUT 'No employees meet your criteria.'
         END-IF
       *
       END-REPEAT
       *
       DEFINE SUBROUTINE MARK-SPECIAL-EMPLOYEES
         MOVE '*' TO #MARK
       END-SUBROUTINE
       *
       END

2. Run the program.

3. In the resulting map, enter "JONES" and press ENTER.

   The list of employees should now contain the additional column.

4. Press ESC to close the output window.

5. Stow the program.

You can now proceed with the next exercises: Processing Rules and Helproutines.

### On this page

- Defining the Inline Subroutine
- Performing the Inline Subroutine