Note: The code accompanying this article is available for download here.

I read your article, Another IFS Interface, and I agree with you that IBM‘s green-screen solutions leave a lot to be desired. I got so fed up with WRKLNK, and the even more obtuse WRKFLR, that I wrote my own solution. It’s nothing fancy, but it is a lot better than what exists. It’s a green-screen solution written in RPG.

I modeled it after POP, one of my favorite tools, from the System/36 days. The idea, like POP of old, is that if there is something

I’m sure no reader of this august publication likes decimal data errors. One single such error can ruin an entire day. The wise programmer uses tools and techniques to keep invalid numeric data from becoming a problem. One such tool that you can use to find and fix invalid data is SQL.

Assume that a physical file has a customer account number stored as seven digits packed decimal, with no decimal positions. Suppose there are one or more blank records in the physical file. You query the file by customer number, like this:

select * from baddata
where customerid = 

If you’re acquiring a new Power systems machine in 2014, you may be preparing your capital budget right now. However, there’s more to purchasing a Power system running IBM i (Power i) than just a good purchase price. This week, I’ll look at some other expenses you may encounter when buying new hardware, and what you can do to budget correctly and minimize those costs.

Budget For Operating Expenses, As Well As Capital

A frequent Power i purchasing mistake is that companies sometimes make sure they have enough capital budget for new or upgraded machines, but they forget to budget