PL/I Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Archive-name: computer-lang/pli-faq
Posting-Frequency: three-monthly (Jan Apr Jul Oct)
Last-Modified: 29 September 2003
Version: 1.32

FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

(Q1) What is PL/I?

PL/I is a general-purpose programming language, which
is used for solving problems in a variety of fields
such as commerce, science (including mathematics,
physics, chemistry), engineering (including civil, electrical,
aeronautics), medicine and so on. It can be used for
system programming, and the facilitites are such that
it is rarely if ever necessary to resort to machine-language
or assembly-language programming to solve problems.

PL/I has outstanding facilities for commercial and business use.
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It has more power than Pascal, Fortran 95, BASIC, C, and
COBOL, and has comparable facilities to Ada.
The main areas where PL/I is superior include interrupt
handling, the built-in debugging aids, the macro
processor facilities, string-handling, and input-output
(see below).
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The language has good documenting and self-documenting
facilities; programs are easy to read and to understand.
It bears some resemblance to Fortran and BASIC.
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The language is suitable for beginners, as well as for
anyone wanting to become a professional.
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There's a summary of what you'll find in PL/I at:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pliwhat.htm
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or a slightly truncated version at:
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http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ad/pli/about.htm
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(Q2) On what systems is it available?
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PL/I is available on at least the following systems:
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IBM PC and compatibles (80x86).
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* IBM VisualAge PL/I: is available in 2 versions:
Professional Edition } Details at the bottom of this posting
Personal Edition }
accompanied by the
live editor LPEX
---available from IBM
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* Liant Open PL/I, for Intel running Windows XP, 2000, Me/98.
Comes with Codewatch, Liant's powerful GIU source code debugger.
---available from Liant Software Corporation,
8911 N Capital of Texas Hwy 354 Waverley Street
Austin, Texas 78759-7267 Framingham, MA 01702
USA USA
Toll free: 1-800-349-9222
Tel: (512) 343-1010 (508) 416-1614 Direct
Fax: (512) 343-9487 or
Tel: (800) 818-4754 X1614 (USA Only)
Fax: (508) 278-3841
(their PL/I generally is available on Unix-based systems)
See http://www.liant.com/products/pl1
for a full range of PL/I products.
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* Windows NT -- available from IBM as VisualAge PL/I Professional
and Personal editions, with the live parsing editor LPEX.
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* Liant Open PL/I for Redhat Linux (Intel).
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* Solaris ix (Intel)
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IBM AS/400
--- available from IBM.
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IBM mainframes
--- The followng versions are available from IBM:
IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS and OS/390
provides access to DB2, CICS, IMS, and other data and
transactions systems.
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* VisualAge PL/I for OS/390
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* PL/I for MVS & VM
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* PL/I for VSE
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* PL/I for VSE/ESA is for MVS & VM
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* IBM OS/390 (IBM z/OS) available as Enterprise PL/I.
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HP 9000 HP-UX
--- available from Liant Software Corporation.
Comes with Codewatch, Liant's powerful GIU source code debugger.
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UNIX.
Older versions of Liant Open PL/I exist for Unix variants,
sold off-the-shelf with limited support. Users can
inquire at http://www.liant.com
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SPARC Solaris 2.x
--- available from Liant Software Corporation.
Comes with Codewatch, Liant's powerful GIU source code debugger.
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IBM RS/6000 AIX
--- available from Liant Software Corporation (address above);
Comes with Codewatch, Liant's powerful GIU source
code debugger.
--- also available from IBM as Enterprise PL/I.
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Data General AViiON with DG-UX
--- available from Liant Software Corporation
Comes with Codewatch, Liant's powerful GIU source
code debugger.
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Compaq (formerly Digital Equipment Corporation) on Open VMS and Alpha
AXP systems (Tru64 Unix)
---The compilers from Kednos Corporation for these systems are
called "PL/I for Open VMS" and "PL/I for Tru64 Unix"
respectively. They took over support for PL/I from UniPrise.
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Take a look at Kednos' web page: http://www.kednos.com
for manuals and compilers.
For infomation, contact tom@kednos.com
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Stratus Computer, Inc. under VOS on all their systems except AX/R-S.
--- available from Stratus Computer, Inc.
55 Fairbanks Boulevard,
Marlboro, Massachusetts 01752.
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Wang/Getronics systems. Recent updates make the compiler Y2K compliant.
--- available from Wang Laboratories, Billerica, Mass.
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Fujitsu-Siemens BS2000 system.
--- visit them at:
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/servers/pl1/pl1_us.htm
where you can download a specification brochure in PDF format.
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(Q3) How can I try out PL/I?
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Why not try out one of the demo copies at:
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ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/pli/demos/
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There's also the original Digital Research PL/I for DOS at:
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http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~cfs/cpm
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It's a subset of PL/I, of course, because it had to fit
in 64K originally (I think). There's the original manual too,
in MS Word 6 format, but as it's been scanned, it is incomplete.
Without an actual manual, I've taken it about as far as I can.
The PL/I Reference Manual is in Microsoft Word 6 format, zipped at:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/ref-w6.zip
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If that mirror site is down, you could try to link to the main site at:
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http://cdl.uta.edu/cpm/cpm.html
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but as there have been problems connecting to it, don't count on it.
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Find the PCDOS section, and then check out DOWNLOADS.
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Be sure to download the utilities (including the linker)
as well as the compiler and sample codes.
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You'll also need the compiler flags to use it, at:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/options.txt
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It you want the CP/M-86 PL/I compiler, go to the same site
as mentioned above, and go to the PCDOS section, check out
DOWNLOADS, and the CP/M-86 section.
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To order the compiler from IBM, go to:
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http://www.direct.ibm.com/
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Select "Software", then select "Application Development". (see also
the end of this posting.)
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On the VMS platform, either VAX or Alpha --
For personal use, the Kednos PL/I compiler
and documentation may be downloaded free from http://www.kednos.com .
To run the free version, you will need a
Hobbyist license, which may be obtained by following the links
at http://www.kednos.com .
If you don't have VMS, you can run the CHARON VAX emulator on W2K.
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(Q4) What do the compilers provide?</H3>
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All compilers provide enhanced versions of the ANSI standard
(the IBM AS/400 adheres to SAA rules, and DR PL/I implements
the subset G). There's a
summary of what you'll find in PL/I at:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pliwhat.htm
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Example PL/I source code, to implement the new built-in functions
(on non-OS/2, non-IBM-Windows and non-AIX systems and non-VisualAge
compilers on OS/390 machines) for:
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The SEARCH built-in function:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/search.htm
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The SEARCHR built-in function at:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/searchr.htm
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and the VERIFY (3 argument version) and VERIFYR built-in functions at:
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/verify.htm
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(these are in plain text form).
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Further PL/I examples of a tutorial nature are at
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/shell.htm
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(an insertion sort), and a
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/lists.htm
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(a linked list creation procedure (under construction)).
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In each case, click on the keywords for an explanation.
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In the cases of IBM Enterprise PL/I (formerly VisualAge),
PL/I set for AIX, PL/I for Windows NT, OS/390 and OS/2,
some important new language features are
provided and include:
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(a) strongly-typed list processing in which the pointers
(handles) are bound to the structures with which they
are linked;
(b) ordinals;
(c) user-defined types;
(d) Unsigned integer type;
(e) New DO loop options that cause the loop to
terminate without overrunning the limit (specifically
for ordinals and unsigned integers); and
(f) A much-enhanced macro-processor.
(g) Initial support for wide character set, enabling such files to be
read and written. A number of new built-in functions for
wide characters is provided.
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(this is not an exhaustive list)
There are also some 120 new built-in functions, including
extra-special DATE/TIME functions, string-handling
functions, housekeeping functions (e.g.,
where-am-I-called-from?), and ordinal functions
(including a function to supply the name of an ordinal!).
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(Q5) What textbooks are available?
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Some of the best include:
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R.A. Barnes, PL/I for Programmers, North-Holland, 1979.
J.K. Hughes, PL/I Structured Programming, 3rd Ed., Wiley, 1986.
G.F. Groner, PL/I Programming in Technological Applications,
Books on Demand, Ann Arbor, MI, 1971.
M.E. Anderson, PL/I for Programmers, Prentice-Hall, 1973.
D.R. Stoutemyer, PL/I Programming for Engineering & Science,
Prentice-Hall, 1971.
R. Reddy & C. Ziegler, PL/I: Structured Programming and
Problem Solving, West, 1986, ISBN 0-314-93915-6.
Check out the Table of Contents:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/reddy.txt
E. Sturm, Das neue PL/I (fur PC, Workstations and Mainframe
(in German language), 5th Ed.,
Vieweg-Verlag (2002)
ISBN: 3-528-44792-9.
See the table of contents at:
http://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIV/Mitar...hardSturm.html
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R. A. Vowels, http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/PLI-BOOK.HTM
Introduction to PL/I, Algorithms, and
Structured Programming, 3rd revised Ed., 1998, ISBN
0-9596384-9-0. 600+ pages, A4 size.
See a list of the main algorithms at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/algor-p.htm
Comes with a disc containing all the programs,
procedures, and functions from the book. The
disc was first published in October 1996, and
was last updated in April 2001.
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The following are good PL/I reference manuals. (The
new facilities of PL/I for OS/2 are highlighted. Therefore
you can use these manuals as references on either mainframe or
PC system.)
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IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Language Reference, 1994 edition
IBM, PL/I for OS/2: Built-in Functions, 1994 edition
IBM, VisualAge PL/I Language Reference, Version 2.1, 1998 edition.
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(Q6) Is there a newsletter?
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Yes.
The December 2002 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pli-n6.htm
The August 2002 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pli-n5.htm
The November 2001 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pli-n4.htm
The June 2001 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pli-n3.htm
The September 2000 issue of "The PL/I Newsletter" may be viewed at:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pli-n2.htm
You may download the July 2000 issue from:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/pli-n1.doc
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(Q7) Is there a home page?
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There are at least eight of interest:
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ad/pli
IBM's PL/I Home page. Click on the
"about" button for the "What is PL/I" page.
Click on the "Library" button for PL/I Reference
Manuals for various IBM platforms.
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http://www-4.ibm.com/software/ad/pli/about.htm
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What is PL/I ? </A> gives you an overview of PL/I.
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http://www.liant.com Liant Software Corporation
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(then click on the LPI button)
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http://www.dec.com/home.html Digital
(then select OpenVMS ..., or you may find the direct
link quicker ->
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http://www.kednos.com Kednos
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http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Languages/
Yahoo's Language directory </A>
Or if you prefer, you can start on
http://www.yahoo.com/
Yahoo's main directory and take
it from there. When the Languages display comes up, go beneath the
main list, where you'll find PL/I. Click on that, and then you can
go to different sites.
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http://home.nycap.rr.com/pflass/pli.htm
Peter Flass's PL/I home page.
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http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/why_not.htm
Why not use PL/I </A>?
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Other possible sites are as follows: