The FLOAT
w.d informat is useful in operating environments
where a float value is not the same as a truncated double.
On the IBM mainframe
systems, a four-byte floating-point number is the same as a truncated
eight-byte floating-point number. However, in operating environments
that use the IEEE floating-point standard, such as the IBM PC-based
operating environments and most UNIX platforms, a four-byte floating-point
number is not the same as a truncated double. Therefore, the RB4.
informat does not produce the same results as FLOAT4. Floating-point
representations other than IEEE might have this same characteristic.
Values read with FLOAT4. typically come from some other external
program that is running in your operating environment.