IBM i fans only - tips and tricks to start RPG free format programming with simple examples

A colleague of mine left me a real treasure trove of queries, accumulated over many years of work. It’s an endless list: over 1000 queries, all well cataloged and described. Recently, I needed to find a query related to customer orders. Knowing that the order file is called OTORD, the customer file CLCLI, and the sample file CMCMP, I started opening the most likely queries. The process was long and frustrating: Open Query > Specify file selections > View the files used > Close Query. Stressful, right?   So, I thought I’d let our trusty IBM i do some work for me. I created a procedure to retrieve the list of files used by all the queries in a specific library, with the ability to add some filters to answer more specific questions. For example:   Which queries use the files OTORD00F, CLCLI00F, and CMCMP00F?   The result? A clean and well-organized subfile: Don't forget to set the screen to 132 columns! The source code follows: FQRCL    ...

In RPG, we often need to manage strings, split them into substrings, and manipulate them efficiently. The %SPLIT BIF is a powerful and useful tool to handle this task.   But what exactly is %SPLIT? 🤔   %SPLIT divides a string into multiple parts using a specified delimiter. It can return an array of values based on the delimiter you choose, making it easier to handle complex data or composite strings.   Here’s a practical code example to understand it better:     **FREE Dcl-s stringa    Varchar(100) Inz('apple,banana,orange'); Dcl-s array      Varchar(20) Dim(10); Dcl-s delimiter Varchar(1) Inz(','); Dcl-s i          Int(10); // Index for the loop // ***************************************************** // PGM start // ***************************************************** array = %Split(stringa : delimiter); *inlr = *on; For i = 1 to %Elem(array); ...

New feature:  F18=Search string into listed files WSF utility, works like WRKSPLF but... New feature: Searching a string into  spooled files New feature: Generate a PDF from a spooled file #IBMiSample Each IBMi user knows they run the most efficient system. All others just have too much money. Users often have many spool-file rows. How to  quickly   find the last done? how to quickly find the one produced on October 15th? These and other options are just a click away. The WRKSPLF command does not show spool-file rows sorted by Creation-Date/Creation-Time, so the last one is not the first one in the list. I thought a different way of looking at spooled-file rows might be useful. In this program (WSF) the spool-file rows appears in order of Creation-Date/Creation-Time, with the last one at the top of the list. I also added the ability to filter each column, for example to see only the rows in HOLD status. I also added the possibility to sort each column ...

#IBMiSample Each IBMi user knows they run the most efficient system. All others just have too much money. This example comes from https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/coding-rpg-iv-beginners-tutorial This example calls the C runtime printf() function to print a message to the standard output instead of to the external message queue.

#IBMiSample It often happens that you have to read all the records of a file. Years ago I would have used the RPG cycle defining the Input/Primary file. Today, with the introduction of embedded SQL, I would do this: First of all I create a file, then I manually write some records. to create a file I write this SQL source: IPFLSQL.SQL -- --  RUNSQLSTM SRCFILE(myLib/MySouceFile) SRCMBR(IPFLSQL) -- --  Generazione tabella CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE myLib /IPFLI00F ( IIFANN CHARACTER(1) NOT NULL WITH DEFAULT, IITEXT CHARACTER(25) NOT NULL WITH DEFAULT ) RCDFMT IPFLI ;  Run IPFLSQL.SQL with RUNSQLSTM SRCFILE(myLib/MySouceFile) SRCMBR(IPFLSQL) to create the file IPFLI00F. Then populate IPFLI00F with some records. No matter what you type, just a few records are enough. Then compile and run  IPFL01.SQLRPGLE **free // ******************************************************* // *  How to read an entire file from the beginning    ...

#IBMiSample Compile and Run this SQLRPGLE to create table CLANA00F, index CLANA01L and table OTORD00F, and populate:       **free       *****************************       * create CLANA00F & OTORD00F       *****************************        ctl-opt option(*nodebugio) dftactgrp(*no) actgrp(*new);         // The EXEC SQL is never executed. It is used at compile time.         exec sql Set Option Commit = *None;         // Create File         exec sql           CREATE or REPLACE TABLE myLib/CLANA00F (           CLANN0 CHARACTER(01) NOT NULL WITH DEFAULT,           CLCCL0 NUMERIC(7, 0) GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY,           CLCIB0 CHARACTER(03) NOT NULL WITH DEFAULT,           CLNOM0 CHARACTE...

                               

Weather report from openweathermap.org   first of all get your own API key on https://openweathermap.org/ , it's free. The Key looks like '35a545c6ce3bda8347f588353aa59fbd' Compile and run the program below to create the WBSWL00F table that will contain the weather data for a location, each row one location. WBSWL00F.SQLRPGLE       **free       *********************************       * create WBSWL00F Location list *       *********************************        ctl-opt        option(*nodebugio) dftactgrp(*no) actgrp(*new);         // The EXEC SQL is never executed. It is used at compile time.         exec sql Set Option Commit = *None;         // Create File         exec sql           create table WBSWL00F             (         ...