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?
Learn more about free format and other ILE RPG functions in the “ILE RPG in Easy Bytes” series,” one of several online self-study courses available at my.enskill.com.
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