Searching for strings in source files, using RPG

In my previous post, Searching for strings in source files, I included a sample program written in CL. The day it was published I received a message asking me: "Could that all be written in RPGLE instead of CL?"

The answer is: of course it can be. I thought this would be a good excuse to show how I could write a RPGLE program to do this, which would include subjects I have written about before. The RPGLE program will function in the same way the CL one does. The program is passed three parameters:

Searching for strings in source files

I was recently asked how it is possible to search all the source members in QCLSRC to find which program called a particular Cobol program. I am sure most of you reading this will immediately shout "Find string PDM!", and you are right.

I thought that this would be a good excuse to explain the Find String PDM command, FNDSTRPDM, to those who are not familiar with it. And I will then give an example CL program to show of how I could search one or all of the source files in a library, which is really a reminder of things I have written about before: SQL, do loop, subroutine, changing name of spool files.

Is IBM i 7.3 already out?

I was looking for the latest PTFs for IBM i 7.2 TR3 when I found SE6395 for the RPG compiler. What caught my attention was not the fact that this was an APAR for fully free RPG, it was the releases, see below.

Click on image to see larger version

Does this mean that there are already PowerSystems servers running IBM i release 7.3 out there? Perhaps there are a few out there in the user community testing a new release. It begs the question: could this mean that a new release is imminent? We will just have to wait and see what 2016 brings.

You can see the page for this APAR on the IBM web site here.

Almost everything you wanted to know about files and tables

When looking through my previous posts I realized I had not written about one of what I consider to be one of the most useful SQL Views, SYSTABLES. I have come to use this View any time I need to retrieve information about files or tables in my IBM i environment, I say that as it does not include the files in the IFS. It is not a new View, it has been around for many years and releases. I find that by using SYSTABLES I can get information a lot quicker than I can using the Display Object Description command, DSPOBJD. When I join SYSTABLES with the View SYSTABLESTAT I have found that I rarely use DSPBOJD any more.

SYSTABLES is found in the library QSYS2, and it contains a row for each table, physical file, view, alias, and logical file. I am not going to list all of its columns as IBM does a good job of it here. I am going to mainly use the short names in my examples to save space in the code below. The columns I have most useful are:

Output queue entries information via SQL

When I heard what was coming in IBM i 7.2 TR3 and 7.1 TR11 I was excited to learn that two of the new introductions would be a SQL View and SQL Table Function to list spool files in output queues. Retention of spool files has always been a contentious issue in all the IBM i shops I have worked. The task of managing spool files is a thankless task, but without it I am always surprised how much disk space is lost to spool files after a few months.

I always wanted a quick and easy way to identify the following information about spool files:

• How old is the spool file?
• How big is it?
• Who generated it?
• What job generated it?

Trying fully free RPG

Thanks to the guys at RZKH.DE I was able to try the new fully free RPG this weekend. The latest Technology Refreshes to IBM i 7.2, TR3, and 7.1, TR11, finally brought what can only be described a completely free RPG. Even though "all free" RPG that came in IBM i 7.1 TR7, it was still restricted to be used between the eighth and 80th columns. With these TRs it is no limited by any column restrictions, and I can use any position from the first to the last of the source member.

I thought it would be a good idea for me to share my first impressions of what I have found using "fully free" RPG, covering what I think is good and not so good.