Changing a NetRexx Array to a List or vice versa

[ThSITC]

Hi there,
    *totally new topic* (sorry).

For historical reasons, I did use a *lot of classic Rexx Stems*, in
their notation stem.index1.index2 ...
in my own soft, developed over years.

Most of them, but not all, are actually using *integer indices*, but
some of them, of course,
did use the power of classic rexx Stems, actually implementing
*Associative Arrays* ;-)

Now, the issue of this topic is as follows:

Many of those are so called (in Computer Science, at least) *sparse
arrays*, i.e. *most entries are
not filled with a content*, at all.

As classic Rexx had no way to define a *structure* (as PL/I does), the
only way to introduce
a collection of structures in *Classic Rexx* has been to introduce:

-- either some blank delimited wordlists, and handle alls those strucs
by the proper functions
-- *or* to implement them as STEMS, e.g.: item_name., item_class., ...
item_xxxx, as I did.

Now, the funny thing, when converting all of my soft to NetRexx is, as
follows:

I cannot *easily* change a *sequence* (set) of associated STEMS to a
Java COLLECTION,
as, unlike PL/I, NetRexx has the brackets for arrays, and parenthesis to
other means.

What I shall really want is to have a *very easy*, and human,
methodology to switch
between former SDtems (now called Indexed Strings), Arrays, and Sets
(part of Collections)!

What do you say? Except that I'm *Crazy Uncle Tom*, of course!

Thomas.

--
Thomas Schneider, IT Consulting; http://www.thsitc.com; Vienna, Austria,
Europe

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