RE: Add to Character Value

["Brian Piotrowski" <bpiotrowski@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Marco,

This problem stems from some legacy code we have at our facilities.  The
original programmers did not leave enough room for an acceptable amount
of characters in the field.

The field is defined as 3A.  This field is part of a control number that
is used in a multitude of programs (that will eventually need to be
rewritten at a future date).  Unfortunately, we have occasions where the
control number exceeds 999.  When this occurs, the system has been
written to flip the first digit to an alpha character.  Thus when the
999 threshold is exceeded, the new control number becomes A01.  Further
to that, when A99 is the last control number and a new record is
created, the next control number becomes B01.  

And so on...C01, D01, ad nauseum.

So what we're looking at is something that will detect when x99 is
reached and flip to the next alpha character in sequence.

So based on this, we'd be looking for some code similar to this:

If FLDX = 99 then
  If subst(FLDX:1:1) = A
    NewCTRLNum = CHAR(subst(FLDX:1:1)+1) + '01'
  Endif;
Endif;

The question is - is there an equivalent to CHAR() in RPG?  Essentially
we'd need to find the hex or decimal value of the next available
character.  For example, if A = char(1) and B = char(2), when we did a
Char(1+1), we'd get B as the next character.

I hope this response hasn't confused or made the process sound more
complicated than it is.

Brian.

-----Original Message-----
From: Marco Facchinetti [mailto:facchinetti@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 4:58 PM
To: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: RE: Add to Character Value

Alpha codes like "AAA", "AAB", "AAC"...?

Marco

--- Don Wereschuk <dwereschuk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR IS THE EXPRESSION 'A' + 1 = 'B' . I WANT TO
> INCREASE THE CHARTERS IN ORDER FROM 'A' TO 'Z' BY ADDING 1 TO THE
> CHARACTER.