iSeries & AS/400 RPG IV at Work

Doug Pence and Ron Hawkins have spent the last two decades accumulating tips, tools, and techniques that make RPG the best that it can be. From designing software to attaining maximum performance to using advanced problem-solving tools, this book presents a wide range of important topics. It offers in-depth, practical coverage of basic subjects—such as data structures, string handling, and subfiles—and also tackles the more intricate subject areas, such as APIs, prototyping, and journaling as a debugging tool. It covers built-in functions (BIFs), data types, and subprocedures. From coding to compiling, this book has tips for RPG programmers of every level. There are even tools and utilities from Doug and Ron's own toolbox—tools they have designed to improve their productivity and extend their effectiveness as programmers. RPG IV at Work is a complete rewrite of Pence and Hawkins' best-selling 1996 book Power RPG IV. Although much of the basic material has remained, Doug and Ron have reviewed all the code and all the techniques and have updated them with newer techniques and additions to the RPG language throughout the book. They have also included additional sections to cover new facilities in the language. Have you ever wished you could just sit down and talk to a real RPG IV programming guru? This book is the next best thing. Doug and Ron tell you how they use these techniques, why they program tasks in specific ways, and why they don't choose other options. In fact, this book just might bring you up to guru status yourself.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS BOOK, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO MASTER:

• Advanced techniques that give your programs real power and pizzazz
• Sophisticated array and string handling techniques
• Design concepts that enhance system performance
• ILE concepts (what you really have to know)
• Command processing and system APIs
• Subfiles with all the bells and whistles
• Information data structures and error handling
• Effective and efficient debugging
• Windows and menu bars
• Powerful uses for data structures and data areas
• Complex manipulation, formatting, and management of date data types
• The power of prototyping, procedures, and subprocedures

Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Performance Starts with Program Design
Chapter 2: Subfiles Belong in Every Programmer's Toolbox
Chapter 3: We Do Windows (and Menu Bars, Too)!
Chapter 4: Information Data Structures and Error Handling
Chapter 5: Tips and Techniques for the RPG/400 Programmer
Chapter 6: The Power of Command Processing APIs
Chapter 7: Array and String Handling
Chapter 8: Data Structures, Data Areas, and the Local Data Area
Chapter 9: System APIs
Chapter 10: Tracking Down Problems
Chapter 11: Tools for the Toolbox
Chapter 12: Working with Date and Time Data Types
Chapter 13: ILE Concepts
Chapter 14: ILE Procedures