When I write CL, I long for some of the ease-of-use features IBM added over the last 10 years to RPG IV. Simple things like %XLATE or %SCAN or %EDITC would be nice.

For example, a client of mine had a CL program that required several parameters, one of which was a user ID. However, the non-IBM i platform on which that information was entered did not automatically convert lowercase letters to all uppercase. When the program would try to verify the user profile, it would almost always fail.

Initially my client wanted to use one of the legacy APIs

Is it possible to use a single SQL statement to assign an ascending sequence number to a column in a table? I’d like the sequence number to start at 10 and increment by 10 as every row is updated so that the number column in the updated rows would be 10, 20, 30, etc.

–Doug

I know a way, Doug. However, let me say up front that I’ve only played with this. That is, I’ve never used it in a production environment. I can’t speak to how practical it might be or what you might need to watch out for.

Taking down an IBM i system for planned system maintenance involves more than just performing the maintenance itself. To keep processing running without issue, you need to ensure that the machine ends cleanly before maintenance begins and that it restarts smoothly after maintenance completes. To that end, here’s a starter checklist for how to take down and restart an IBM i machine during planned system maintenance.

The Phases Of System Maintenance

When planning IBM i system maintenance, it’s helpful to divide the maintenance up into three sets of tasks that you must successfully complete. These task sets are:

• Pre-maintenance tasks