Here's the command IBM should have given you but didn't.

Written by Bruce Vining

In recent articles, starting with "Trying to Get a Handle on Your IFS?," we've seen how to automate the deletion of an IFS stream file when a file has not been used within a user-determined number of days. Rather than deleting a stream file, though, some companies would prefer to clear a stream file—similar to how the Clear Physical File Member (CLRPFM) command can be used to clear a database file member. Unfortunately, if you were to prompt generically for all commands that start with the letters CLR (that is, prompt for CLR*), you would find that there is not a Clear File (CLRF) or Clear Stream File (CLRSTMF) command on your system—or at least not one provided by the i operating system. For this reason, today's article will look at how to implement a CLRSTMF CL command.

Produce better code and exchange knowledge with code reviews.

Written by Tom Snyder

One of the most typical obstacles with the adoption of modern programming techniques in RPG shops is the fact that everyone is at a different level of knowledge in different areas. All programmers have their areas of work that they find important, and they may not always be in the same genre. With code reviews, you give all of the people with different flavors of programming styles the opportunity to share their knowledge with the others on the staff.

The QSPSPLI API can tell you.

Written by Bruce Vining

Have you ever wondered how many spool files are on your system (or more accurately, on a given auxiliary storage pool which, for many companies, is the same thing)? What about the number of spool files a particular user currently owns? If so, don't feel alone. In fact, there have been sufficient requests for this type of management data that IBM has provided the Retrieve Spool Information (QSPSPLI) API to provide you with quick access to this information. The QSPSPLI API, documented here, is standard with 7.1 of the i operating system and is also available on 6.1 with PTFs SI33959 and SI34013.

Need a Web app to run on your IBM Power Systems server? Whether you adapt an existing app via Webfacing or create a new one from scratch, there are plenty of tools to help you.

Written by John Ghrist

Whether you run software apps over the Internet to primarily benefit your customers or your employees, the need for Web apps on IBM Power Systems (IBM i) machines is unavoidable. These days, the first question to answer is whether to modify one of your already-running workhorse apps or to build something completely new.

There is no crystal ball deciding the future of the language, but we can identify trends, and some of the trends may surprise you.

Written by Joe Pluta

The IBM midrange is unique in that it has always been focused on business programming, with a particular emphasis on the database. The database was so integral a part of the machine that for a very long time it didn't even have a name. Over the years, the database acquired nearly all of the features of its relational cousin DB2, enough that it could be called IBM DB2 for i. But no other platform has RPG. RPG is the assembly language of IBM DB2 for i, and as long as there is breath in the IBM midrange platform, the oxygen will be RPG.

Learn some tips and tricks to correctly handle literal constants.

Written by Jean-Paul Lamontre

My first article described how a CCSID variation can turn a program crazy. My second article described the solution, which requires correctly handling literal constants. In this last article, I share some tips and tricks I found while solving the bug with the @.

More functionality extends the USEDIRPGM command.

Written by Bruce Vining

In last month's article, "Isn't Recursion Great?," we saw how a CL command can recursively invoke itself in order to provide nested processing—in the case of USEDIRPGM, nested processing of imbedded IFS directories. Today, we will expand on last month's program with more-specific handling of the stream files (*STMF) and directories (*DIR) that are processed by the DIR3 program, which is the command processing program (CPP) for the USEDIRPGM command.

Take advantage of global, static, and non-static variable attributes within subroutines and procedures.

Written by Tom Snyder

IBM has always been good at giving us all the tools that we need in one box and ensuring that they run on the box reliably and efficiently. Since RPG has evolved into the ILE environment, we have been given more capabilities in the realm of modular coding and encapsulation. With these new capabilities, you have to learn about what you're gaining, what you're losing, and what all the nuances are of the different coding styles. In this article, I intend to describe the scoping and attributes of variables with RPG procedures.