Bryan's RPG IV Journal

Q. I've been trying to convert a series of RPG IV programs to free format, but I've been very frustrated, because free format doesn't support the MOVE operation. I don't want to switch back and forth between fixed format and free format (the result is ugly). What can I do? Is there an easy alternative?

A. There are a number of alternatives to the MOVE-related operation codes, and therein lies the challenge in converting to free format. Which option you'll use depends upon the data types and sizes of the source field and the target field. Here's a table to get you started:

Source Field	Target Field	Alternative Coding
Character	Character	Use EVAL/EVALR, with or without %SUBST.
Character	Numeric	Use %DEC, %INT, %UNS functions (V5R2).
Character	Date	Use %DATE, %TIME, %TIMESTAMP functions.
Numeric	Character	Use %EDITC function with X edit code, with or without %SUBST function.
Numeric	Numeric	Use simple EVAL.
Numeric	Date	Use %DATE, %TIME, %TIMESTAMP functions.
Date	Character	Use %CHAR function.
Date	Numeric	Use %DEC, %INT, %UNS functions, with %CHAR function (V5R2).
Date	Date	Use simple EVAL.

To replace MOVEA, at V5R3, you can use the %SUBARR function. For example:

 /Free
  %Subarr(Arrayname:50:5) = '10101';
 /End-free