Cross-Reference Your Procedures
by Bruce Guetzkow

With the advent of procedures, it has become much simpler for iSeries programmers to write reusable snippets of code. But keeping track of those snippets is a bit more involved. Since a source member can contain multiple procedures, how do you know which procedures are found in which modules and where they are used? If you have the *MODULE objects, from IBM, you have the tools to answer those questions. With the code provided in this article, you can create your own procedure cross-reference files and commands. READ MORE >

Using RPG As Your ASP Language, Part 1
by Howard F. Arner, Jr., and Holley Davis

I have a weird rule about evaluating new software that has served me well throughout my career. If I can't make the software do something useful or interesting in the first hour, it sucks. And I deduct points if I actually have to read the manual. As many of you know, I am not an RPG programmer. When I program on the iSeries, I use the C compiler. For programming client applications that talk to the iSeries, I use Visual Basic or Prolog, or I program in C. READ MORE >

Keep Your Users Informed
Hey, Ted:

Although we run an ERP package, we have plenty of homegrown programs that fill holes in the package. Most of them produce reports that the package doesn't offer us. Sometimes a user keys runtime information into a prompt screen and presses a function key to submit a request to batch. However, if the results don't come off the printer PDQ, the user may submit another request, thinking the first one was not accepted. How can we inform the user that the request was received? READ MORE >

Find Database Records with Invalid Dates
Hey, Ted:

We store dates in YYYYMMDD format in packed decimal fields in our database. This served us well when we wrote all our applications in green-screen RPG. Now that we're using other technologies, invalid dates (like all zeros, all nines, or April 31) cause us problems. Is there a way in SQL to test the validity of a date? Something similar to RPG's TEST op code with the D extender would be great. READ MORE >

  OS/400 Alert: Googlize Your Enterprise
  by Shannon O'Donnell

In a great example of the chicken coming before the egg, a software vendor, whose entire reputation has been built on the quality and accuracy of its software, is now moving into the hardware business by hardwiring its software into its new hardware. Google, the world's leading Internet search engine vendor, is now offering hardware to allow your company to move into the search engine business. Intrigued? Read on! READ MORE >

Reader Feedback and Insights

See reader feedback and insights on "Performing Numeric Bitwise Comparisons in SQL and RPG," "V5R2 Security System Value Lock," and "Admin Alert: When Management Central Server Won't Start" . . . READ MORE >

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