Data areas are as handy as pockets. Maybe that’s because they are like pockets in that you can stuff things into them. RPG, like other iSeries programming languages, can read and modify data areas. In fact, RPG allows for two different data area I/O methods, and one of them has a “feature” that could give you a nasty surprise!

If you want an RPG program to read and/or change a data area, you have two options. You can let the RPG cycle handle the input and output operations, or you can control the I/O by hand. The easier method is

Do you know of any way to filter the object list shown by PDM based on object ownership or other attributes like last used date? I have looked through the documentation, but I can’t find an API or exit program to select PDM records. Instead, I write one-time programs that read output from the Display Object Description (DSPOBJD) or Display File Description (DSPFD) commands and then execute a command. Is there a scripting tool I can use to run commands on objects that allows for more flexible object selection?

–Susan

I can’t tell you how to filter the object list

In a recent column, I stated that since the Change Object Owner command (CHGOBJOWN) did not have an *ALL function, there was no easy way to change object ownership for every single object in a library without writing a program to do the job. I was wrong in that assumption, and several readers wrote in to show me two different ways to reach that goal. So let’s look at what they shared and how it makes an administrator’s job easier.

The Challenge Is Met. . . Twice!

As laid out last time, the challenge was to find a way to