converting string to a numeric

[Chris Payne <CPayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,
I need to know how to convert a string to a numeric. The following works
fine.
 
d thedate         s               d                                 
 d startdate       s              7a                                
 
                                                                     
  /free                                                              
     thedate = %date(*date);

     startdate = '1' + %subst(%char(thedate):3:2) +             
      %subst(%char(thedate):6:2) + %subst(%char(thedate):9:2);      
  /end-free                                                          
 c                   seton                                        lr
 
and I end up with a string that represents a date in the form CYYMMDD.
 But what I really need is a number in that format. Something like
 
 d thedate         s               d                                 
 d startdate       s              7a                                
 
                                                                     
  /free                                                              
     thedate = %date(*date);

     startdate = %ConvertThisSuckerToaNumber('1' +
%subst(%char(thedate):3:2) +             
      %subst(%char(thedate):6:2) + %subst(%char(thedate):9:2));      
  /end-free                                                          
 c                   seton                                        lr
 
I looked through the reference manual and found %dec but that does not seem
to do the trick. When I try to use that I get
 
*RNF0327 30     10 001000  The first parameter for %DEC or %DECH is not
valid.
 
 
Anyone have any good ideas on this one?
 
Thank You,
Chris Payne