question: public static void writeVLOld ( long data , DataOutput out ) throws IOException { if ( data < 0 ) { Assert . fail ( "Data expected to be >=0 is " + data ) ; } if ( data <= MAX_BYTE_VL ) { out . writeByte ( ( byte ) data ) ; } else if ( data <= 0x7FFF ) { out . write ( ( ( ( int ) data > > > 8 ) | 0x80 ) & 0xFF ) ; out . write ( ( ( int ) data > > > 0 ) & 0xFF ) ; } else if ( data <= Integer . MAX_VALUE ) { out . writeByte ( INT_VL ) ; out . writeInt ( ( int ) data ) ; } else { out . writeByte ( LONG_VL ) ; out . writeLong ( data ) ; } }
target:  Write a variable length long the old way (pre 7.0). Use this only in contexts where you might need to communicate with pre 7.0 members or files.