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

Yes, RPG can talk to Watson. No special software required, nothing to install, nothing to configure. You just need to be on V7R1, have the ability to use embedded SQL and write just a few lines of code–none of which are complicated. To see how it works, all you have to do is copy/paste the display file and RPG code in this article, compile and call.

On the off chance that you don’t know what Watson is, Watson is the IBM computer that, in 2011, competed

The SQL Procedures Language, or SQL PL, is a proprietary procedural language that IBM designed to work with the DB2 family of database management systems. I believe that it’s a good idea for anyone who works with DB2 to learn SQL PL. If you know RPG, CL, or COBOL, you’ll find it easy to learn.

SQL PL is available for all the DB2s. Knowledge of SQL PL that you acquire by working with DB2 for i applies in large part to the mainframe and LUW (Linux-Unix-Windows) versions. You can use SQL PL to create stored procedures, functions, and triggers. You

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

Google “what shall we do about” and you’ll find a lot of issues that people are concerned about. Now that RPG has gone fully free-form, the question of concern for RPG programmers is “what shall we do about MOVE and MOVEL?” Faithful reader Mark sent me a solution he used in his shop and gave me permission to pass it along in case it may be of help to you.

I can think of two ways to replace MOVE and MOVEL with free-form code. The first is to