%check() workalike in SQL

Hi all,

I've looked through the SQL reference for DB2 for iSeries, and haven't 
found anything yet.  Hoping someone can suggest a combination of functions 
or one that I missed that can work like the %check() RPG opcode.  %check( 
verification string : search string) returns the first occurrence of a 
character in 'search string' that does not appear in 'verification 
string'.

The best I've come up with so far is:

select  CASE 
         WHEN SUBST(prtnum, 1, 1) IN ('0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8',
'9') THEN prtnum
         WHEN SUBST(prtnum, 2, 1) IN ('0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8',
'9') THEN SUBST(prtnum, 2)
         WHEN SUBST(prtnum, 3, 1) IN ('0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8',
'9') THEN SUBST(prtnum, 3)

and so on (for 25 characters).  Please be gentle, I think it's just as 
ugly as you do :)

The requirement is to extract the numeric portion of a part number, to try 
to group part numbers "logically".  For example, GR1234 might be similar 
to RG1234, 1234ABC, and ABC1234DEF.  I expect I'll have to end up using 
either embedded SQL, an stored procedure, or some other programming 
solution.

All suggestions welcome,
Adam

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