Reader Feedback and Insights: We Want More RPG

November 6, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Ted:

It was good to see some RPG stuff in Midrange Guru. It’s been absent lately. from my experience, there’s still more old code out there than new.

I’ve done much to modernize our old code. It’s native now. I’ve written programs to change programs–for instance, moving user messages from compile-time arrays to message subfiles–but there are still lots of indicators! Even though my files are externally defined, the old code refers to them internally. Changing that would be overwhelming.

The one nice thing, though, is that in native mode, I can increase the record length of a

Going from a True Date to a JDE Date

November 6, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Howard:

The function you wrote in the Midrange Guru article, “JD Edwards Dates, Revisited ,” does a great job of converting a JDE date to a ‘true’ date. But what about converting a true date to a JDE date? Suppose I have a true date, for example the ‘current date’ and I want to convert that to a JDE date?

— Andy

Wow, I did not even think of the reverse, and now that you brought it up I see what a gaping hole that is. I can image a lot of situations where you need to go

Use the Full-Screen Debugger with OPM Programs

November 6, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Ted:

Can I debug RPG III (also known as RPG/400) programs using the Start Debug (STRDBG) command instead of the Start Interactive Source Debugger (STRISDB) command?

— Robert

Yes, and I recommend you do so. I have not used ISDB in years. If anyone out there prefers ISDB to the system debugger, please let me know why .

When you compile the RPG program, specify OPTION(*SRCDBG) on the Create RPG Program (CRTRPGPGM) command.

When you’re ready to debug, specify OPMSRC(*YES) on the STRDBG command.

This also works for OPM COBOL and CL programs. Specify OPTION(*SRCDBG) on the Create a