RE: Changeing records in a big file

Blocked sequential IO could be a very good choice depending on how many
records you need to change.   If it's a substantial proportion of the file,
it will definitely be your fastest choice.  Keyed I/O is very expensive
compared with a simple read.  Leave out the K in your F spec if the file has
a key.

Update is an expensive operation. If you can write the output to a new file
with the same record format (rename the old one first) it will go much
faster.  Write all the records to the new file.  

If you have to update in place, consider exception output.  It's dangerous
in a large program that has to be maintained, but not too bad in a short one
shot program.

If you can go through the file sequentially, you can break the job into
three parts using OVRDBF to start at record numbers that will divide the
file in thirds and submit three simultaneous jobs.

Another option is an update query in the form:

update filename
set fieldx = somevalue
where fieldx < minvalue    (or any logical condition involving the fields in
the record)

but I assume you are looking for an RPG solution.

I used to do a lot of mailing list processing that involved exactly this
sort of thing.  On the F60 we had when I started, updating half the records
a 4 million record file by writing the output to a new file would take about
a half hour running in batch in the middle of the day with a lot of
interactive users signed on.  Using update in place with the UPDAT opcode
would take more than twice as long.



Four hours sounds like an unreasonably long time but maybe I've been
spoiled.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Beck [mailto:CBeck@good-sam.com]
> Sent: Friday, February 04, 2000 1:43 PM
> To: RPG400-L@midrange.com
> Subject: Changeing records in a big file
> 
> 
> I have a 4 million record file that I need to change some 
> records in if they meet certain criteria.   What are some 
> things I can do to speed this up. obviously sequential 
> reading of the file is out of the question at over 4 hours to 
> run.  I would prefer not to use the SETLL if possible,  
> because I don't want to have to go in to the file and see 
> what record to start with. 
> 
> 
> thanks for any help.  
> 
> 
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