RE: Nested DS & LIKE()

You cannot specify multiple levels in the like, according to the help on the error you received. Notice "it cannot contain more than one period"
RNF0623
Cause . . . . . : A simple qualified name is formed by specifying the owning data structure name followed by a period (.) followed by the subfield name. It cannot contain more than one period, and it cannot start or end with a period. The subfield-name part must be one of the subfields in the data structure.



I don't think of using templates is a plan B. They are very nice. However, if you want to avoid them and if you are willing to name at least one of your subfields, you could use this syntax.

Dcl-ds A qualified ;
key int(10) inz(1) ;
value varChar(128) inz('AA') ;
*n like(a.key) inz(2) ;
*n like(a.value) inz('BB') ;
*n like(a.key) inz(3) ;
*n like(a.value) inz('CC') ;
Dcl-ds xyz dim(3) pos(1) ;
key like(A.Key);
value like(a.value);
End-ds ;
End-ds;

-----Original Message-----
Templates were my Plan B. I was just checking if there's a way to avoid them.