Re: Flat File to SQL-DDL

[CRPence <CRPbottle@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 2/14/11 8:19 AM, Jerry C. Adams wrote:
> First, I'm on V5R1.
>
> Second, I'm dealing with a legacy application ported years ago to
> the  AS/400 (!) from either a System/34 or /36.
>
> Third, there are no external table definitions except the ones that I
> have created. I prefer using SQL-DDL, but I have never been about to
> find an equivalent for DDS's EDTCDE and EDTWRD.
>
> DDL's edit [equivalent to EDTCDE(J)] is find for 90-95% of the
> cases. However, since I'm dealing with legacy files, the dates are
> 8.0 numeric (ccyymmdd), and they get displayed as, for example,
> 20,110,214 in queries. Is there any way to display dates using an
> edit word, such as EDTWRD(' - - ')? Or even something like EDTCDE(Y)?
> I use date data types when creating new tables, but converting these
> legacy tables is, for the time being, out of the question.
>
> I RTFM's and could not find anything so I'm surmising that the answer
> is "You're SOL." But asking is worth a shot.

  There is little reason to move to SQL DDL versus to PF-DDS to get the 
external description, so just use DDS [or if a fit, the IDDU] and keep 
[using] the available numeric editing.

  As surmised, with a conversion to use the SQL DDL, there be loss of 
numeric editing for use by DSPF, PRTF, and [at least as presented by 
some native] query tools.  With such a conversion great care is 
required, to be taken in advance, to ensure no dependencies exist for 
placing invalid data into numeric fields; i.e. correction of data and 
code not already completed will need to be corrected as incidents are 
encountered after replacing either flat files [optionally described by 
the IDDU] or DDS described physical files with TABLE files created by 
SQL DDL.  Note: non-native and\or non-local [at the server] query report 
writers implemented over SQL DML [SELECT] are not likely to provide any 
support for presenting the numeric using the defined numeric editing anyway.

http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/200812/msg01409.html
http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/200708/msg01210.html
http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/201102/msg00352.html
http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l/200808/msg00315.html

Regards, Chuck