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Programming, AS400, IBM i, RPG
So, we had a file coming in from an external partner today – containing a date in Julian Format. Or what I initially thought to be Julian format. Many applications (especially mainframe systems) store dates in the Julian format. Julian dates (abbreviated JD) are simply a continuous count of days and fractions since noon Universal …
I found this excellent article by Birgitta Hauser, Software and Database Engineer, Toolmaker Advanced Efficiency GmbH. It covers the basic concepts you will need to consider if you want to “Replace IBM i Native File Access with SQL” Just in case it vanishes I’m going to reproduce it here: If you are considering SQL and …
Washington DC – President Trump announced his government is launching a special software advisory group – “Not long ago we all went through the Year 2000 crisis. If you were in the computer and software industry you recall the many headaches in converting and changing databases and software so the Year 2000 would be a …
Indicators Suck! So, lets look at two simple alternatives to make your RPG code more readable and easier to understand and modify. (1) RPG Named Indicators When is an RPG indicator more than just a number? We can use a named data structure to overlay over the top of all the indicators used in the program. …
IBM i, Programming, RPG, SQL
AKA – Why does this compile fail using SQLRPGLE and QUALIFIED data structures? Sometimes I find a problem and scratch my head and just cannot figure it out. I swear a lot. Then I discover the solution by climbing out of my little box, turning my head at a funny angle, squinting and thinking a …
If you are an RPG Programmer thern you can quite easily add C# to the list of progamming languages you have in your brainbox. It’s a very similar syntax. Checkout the latest C# For RPGers TechTip and check out the similarities between C# and RPG loops: http://www.mcpressonline.com/programming/programming-other/c-for-rpgers-taking-c-loops-for-a-spin The missing piece to the basic C# language …
Nice Subprocedures with RPG ON-EXIT IBM is adding all kinds of new tweaks to RPG with each new release of IBM i. RPG ON-EXIT is a great example of a neat tweak to the RPG programming language. Last year, IBM quietly introduced a rather neat new function called “ON-EXIT” to our sub procedures in RPG. …
I read this excellent article on IBM Systems Magazine website. From two of my favorite IBM i Guru’s Jon Paris and Susan Ganter: This month we’re beginning a series on modern RPG fundamentals. So many changes have taken place in the language over the years that, increasingly, we find that students in our classes are …
IBM i, AS400, iSeries, Programming, RPG
A simple RPG ILE Trigger Program This morning, an old programming chum of mine was chatting to me about writing a program, that would be called every time anything was updated in a given file (table) on the system. This action is very simple in the IBM-i world, using a technique called FILE TRIGGERS. What …
Change Case in RPG Changing SENTENCE CASE didnt used to be something that the grey haired AS400 and iSERIES programmers ever worried about. Back in the pre-internet days, most data entry was in UPPERCASE, plugged into giant green on black terminals by people wearing 1970’s flares and thick glass spectacles. But now it’s a new …
IBM i, AS400, iSeries, Programming, RPG
RPG Example to remove Letters from Telephone Number Just working on a project to create an American IRS 1099 Extract File. Lots of field data management rules in the file thats going to be sent to the IRS. One of them is that all telephone number fields must be numeric only left adjusted. Of course, …
Modern ILE RPG now (finally) supports “fully free form” RPG Source code This means, we can write RPG code from column 1 to the end of the line — just like other languages. No more jumping to character 10 to get passed the old reserved (H,F,D,I,C,O) specification column. You must code **FREE in column 1 …
