RE:dates in /free

 >> Will this work in 5.1?

Nope - the ability to use a character parm to %Int didn't arrive until V5R2.
You'd have to use a DS to convert the char fields to numeric.  Like so:

     D DateData        DS
     D   mdy                          6S 0
     D   mdyAlpha                     6A   Overlay(mdy)
     D   ymd                          6S 0

      /Free

       monitor;
         // assign result to alpha version, mdy will then have the numeric
value
         mdyAlpha = %Char (%Date (ymd: *YMD): *MDY0);

       on-error;   // catch bad date

          // do whatever you do with a bad date
       endmon;

Alternatively if you don't mind being attacked by your fellow programmers,
use Hans' %rem(%int(numdate*10000.01):1000000)

Jon Paris
Partner400
www.Partner400.com