Q: Help! I am trying to remove indicators in my program, but I am having a problem with a particular loop in which I perform a CHAIN and READE to delete records. I've been trying to use BIFs to solve the problem, but I still can't figure out how to make it work.

I can use the %FOUND BIF to replace the indicator for the CHAIN and the %EOF BIF to replace the indicator for the READE, but I get an odd complex DOW statement:

This seems too complicated and looks as if it might even work incorrectly. Is there a better way?

A: There are actually two ways around this particular problem. My favorite is to use the keyed delete capability of RPG:

It's simple and straightforward, and it uses fewer lines of code than the original. I like it.

A second technique uses SQL, but for that, you need to know the name of the key fields in the file and the names of the fields to match from the program. Let's say the fields in the file are DbKey1 and DbKey2, and the program fields are MyKey1 and MyKey2. You could use an embedded SQL statement like the following to delete all the matching records:

Those are two ways to perform an indicator-free delete of all records matching a specific key.

Joe Pluta is the founder and chief architect of Pluta Brothers Design, Inc., which offers PSC/400, the only product that can move your legacy systems to the Web using simple green-screen commands. He has been working in the field since the 1970s and has made a career of extending the IBM midrange, starting back in the days of the IBM System/3. Joe is also the author of two books, E-Deployment: The Fastest Path to the Web and Eclipse: Step by Step, as well as "Weaving WebSphere," a monthly column in MC Mag Online. You can reach him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..