Re: SQL UDF to call RPG without service program

That's exactly what I expected, with the more recent support for parameter markers - love that feature!

*Regards*

*Vern Hamberg*

IBM Champion 2025 <cid:part1.2ZOf0jwj.h8kSFhNx@centurylink.net> CAAC (COMMON Americas Advisory Council) IBM Influencer 2023


On 3/3/2026 2:24 PM, Charles Wilt wrote:

You can get the output parms back with just a '?' in RSS...
(not originally, but that functionality has been there a while now)

IN/OUT parms, you'd have to use variables in RSS.

Charles

On Tue, Mar 3, 2026 at 12:54 PM Vern Hamberg via RPG400-L <
rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I think we are agreeing a bit violently on some of this! :) I'm still
focusing on the basic feature that IBM i SQL will treat a call to an
existing program as a stored procedure call with GENERAL style and
IN/OUT parameters - at least, that's what I see in the docs. And if the
RPG or even CL changes the values of a parameter, that change is
available to what did the CALL.

Now I hear you say, and it seems sensible, that to get the changed
parameter value, you need to do the CALL within some kind of SQL
environment, be it function or procedure or maybe dynamic compound
statement - and maybe in RSS if you declare some variables and use them
in parameters for a CALL - I'm just dreaming, now.

*Regards*

*Vern Hamberg*

IBM Champion 2025<cid:part1.sE4PMd9g.AVQFu9wz@centurylink.net> CAAC
(COMMON Americas Advisory Council) IBM Influencer 2023


On 3/3/2026 11:46 AM, Charles Wilt wrote:

Vern,

You can get something back from stored procs or functions.

Functions can only return 1 piece of data (could be an array now-a-days)

,

stored procs can have multiple output (or IN/OUT) parms.

Just like an RPG Program, an SQL stored proc usually does some
significant chunk of work. Whereas a a SQL function or RPG Procedure

tends

to do some smaller (usually repeated) work.

Repeated invocation is the point for UDFs, as shown in Roberts example:
SELECT
ivwhid AS "Warehouse",
ivitm# AS "Item Number",
GETUPCHARGEFUNC(ivwhid, ivitm#) AS "Up Charge"
FROM invmasp
WHERE ivwhid = 90
AND ivitm# = 5
ORDER BY 1, 2;

Charles

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