Re: Proper way to do some file operations with SQL

On Tue, Apr 17, 2018 at 12:01 PM, Charles Wilt <charles.wilt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

SQL RLA doesn't offer any advantages over RPG RLA...I'd go so far as to say
that SQL RLA is at a disadvantage compared to RPG RLA.

I agree that SQL RLA *within RPG* is at a disadvantage overall
compared to RPG's "native" RLA. But even so, I wouldn't say SQL RLA
has *no* advantages. It does potentially simplify things if you need
to filter or sort or use SQL functions that don't have equivalent BIFs
in RPG, and it's usually robust against changes to the underlying
file. To some extent, SQL affords you the ability to choose files
dynamically, which you can't do with plain RPG.

In other words, SQL can sometimes take the place of extra CLPs and
extra LFs, and sometimes even extra RPG programs or service programs.
I think some people would definitely consider this an advantage for
SQL, even when the logic is fundamentally RLA.

If we talk about SQL *outside* of RPG, then of course the game changes
considerably, because most other host languages don't have any native
RLA at all. Usually SQL is the only meaningful way to interact with
database tables, whether RLA or not.

John Y.