Procedure Definition Language Concepts and Language Elements › PDL Language Elements › Group › Restrictions on nonalpha groups

Restrictions on nonalpha groups

The use of some non‑alpha groups is restricted because they contain internal, non‑displaying fields CA Ideal uses. The restricted groups are:

• Groups that were passed as dynamic parameters
• Groups containing subordinate variable length fields
• Groups containing subordinate nullable fields
• Panel groups
• Groups containing SQL DATE, TIME and TIMESTAMP fields

You cannot use restricted groups in the following contexts, although other non‑alpha groups can:

• As source operands in SET/MOVE statements that move a value to an elementary numeric or alphanumeric field.
• As operands in simple relations in conditional expressions.
• As identical match parameters on CALL statements.

When you use non‑restricted groups in these contexts, the non‑alpha group is treated as an alphanumeric field whose length is the size of the group. Subordinate fields are not converted. The hexadecimal contents are moved or compared.