Join statements in a line

Question

I'd like to join a few instructions in a single line in my NATURAL program. Just like this :

**before
    Statement1
    Statement2
    Statement3
 **after
    Statemen1 statement2 statement3

I know that is quite easy doing in most languages, but I'm not sure it's possible in Natural.

Answer 1

Douglas Bader, the British Flying Ace & others are quoted as saying
"Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools"

I always say:
"The only rule that's always valid is that no rules are always valid"

In programming we have a number of useful rules, one of which is:
"Every Statement on a new line"
...and it is wise to follow that adage, but there are exceptions.
Sometimes, you can actually improve the readablity of code by breaking the rule.

Here's an example (written in Natural):

define data
    local 1     DATE-FROM (D)  /* (D=Natural Date-Format)
          1     DATE-TO   (D)
end-define

    DATE-FROM := *DatX  /* System Variable = "Today"
    DATE-TO   := DATE-FROM + 1
    perform   P800-WRITE-DATE

    DATE-FROM := DATE-TO
    DATE-TO   := DATE-FROM + 2
    perform   P800-WRITE-DATE

    DATE-FROM := DATE-TO
    DATE-TO   := DATE-FROM + 3
    perform   P800-WRITE-DATE

    DATE-FROM := DATE-TO
    DATE-TO   := DATE-FROM + 4
    perform   P800-WRITE-DATE

define subroutine P800-WRITE-DATE
    write  DATE-FROM(em=DD.MM.YYYY)
           DATE-TO  (em=DD.MM.YYYY)
end-subroutine
END

Now, I would write the doing-bit of that as follows:

DATE-FROM := *DatX      DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 1    perform P800-WRITE-DATE
DATE-FROM := DATE-TO    DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 2    perform P800-WRITE-DATE
DATE-FROM := DATE-TO    DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 3    perform P800-WRITE-DATE
DATE-FROM := DATE-TO    DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 4    perform P800-WRITE-DATE

It's much easier to understand, spot typos & deliver quality.

The Output today was:

28.02.2021  01.03.2021
01.03.2021  03.03.2021
03.03.2021  06.03.2021
06.03.2021  10.03.2021

Getting back to the original question:
in Natural, you may end a Statement with a ";" but it is not necessary. The following is perfectly valid:

DATE-FROM := *DatX    ;  DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 1  ;  perform P800-WRITE-DATE;
DATE-FROM := DATE-TO  ;  DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 2  ;  perform P800-WRITE-DATE;
DATE-FROM := DATE-TO  ;  DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 3  ;  perform P800-WRITE-DATE;
DATE-FROM := DATE-TO  ;  DATE-TO := DATE-FROM + 4  ;  perform P800-WRITE-DATE;

While we're at it, another little typing-aid is the continuation character "-", originally conceived for continuing literals on the next line, but can also be used to increase readability:

define data
    local 1     DATE-A8 (a8)
end-define

    DATE-A8 := '20211231'

    DATE-A8 := '2021' - '12' - '31'

    DATE-A8 := '2021'
            -  '12'
            -  '31'
END

I hope you found that useful.