Note: The code accompanying this article is available for download here, and it has been updated since it originally ran [Updated 06/13/07]

I have seen requests many times in the forums from programmers asking how best to handle data with invalid decimal data. Typically this type of error is first discovered when a program ends abnormally. I have found this problem occurs most often with data received from outside sources: customers and vendors. Many times this data comes from systems other than a System i. I’ve developed a command to identify and (optionally) “fix” errant data.

What’s in a

Like many shops, we have a mixture of database files that we have acquired from different sources due to mergers and acquisitions over the years. Getting things to match up is challenging, to put it mildly. I have two files that contain warehouse code fields, but the codes do not match exactly. In one file, a certain warehouse is indicated by the letter T. In the other file, the same warehouse is the character 1 (one). All other warehouses have the same codes in both files.

I need to join these files, but I don’t know what to do about

Most PC5250 green-screen users like using the Print Screen icon for sending screen shots to networked printers. However, there are two lesser-known PC5250 screen capture functions that can send screen shots to i5/OS output queues or to collect screen shots and print them as a group to a Windows networked printer, rather than printing each shot individually as they do when using Print Screen.

This week, I’ll look at two alternatives to PC5250’s Print Screen icon and the benefits they provide to your shop. While clicking on Print Screen is fairly easy for the users, these other alternatives offer