General Considerations
- When coding a module with multiple procedures, you will want to make use of /COPY files, primarily to contain any prototypes that your application may require. If you are creating a service program, you will need to provide both the service program and the prototypes, if any.
- Maintenance of the application means ensuring that each component is at
the most current level and that any changes do not affect the different pieces.
You may want to consider using a tool such as Application Development Manager to maintain your applications.
For example, suppose that another programmer makes a change to the /COPY file that contains the prototypes. When you request a rebuild of your application, any module or program that makes use of the /COPY file will be recompiled automatically. You will find out quickly if the changes to the /COPY file affect the calls or procedure interfaces in your application. If there are compilation errors, you can then decide whether to accept the change to prototypes to avoid these errors, or whether to change the call interface.