Editing RPG

Apart from those common language features mentioned in Edit, ILE RPG source editing also has these capabilities:

  • outline view - structured view of source that allow navigation to source, filtering the items
    Use View > Outline to open outline view.
    RPG outline view

    Click a field or a variable in the Outline view will position the editor to its definition and highlight it.
    RPG outline view

    Outline view supports filtering the items by name. Click on an item in the outline view and then start typing the string that you would like to filter items by. A popup with the string you were typing will appear at the top right corner of the outline view. Hover your mouse over the popup, and it will expand to reveal three options to filter items by name, go to previous matching item, and go to next matching item.
    RPG outline view

  • hover - show information for item under cursor
    Put the mouse over the variable and the hover will appear and show the definition of the variable.
    RPG hover

  • references - show particular code element is referenced throughout the codebase
    After right clicking on a specific variable, users can select either Go to References or Peek References to show all references embedded inline. You can navigate between different references in the peeked editor and make quick edits right there. RPG Go to References

    Users can also select Find all references, but will manually need to open the references view from the left sidebar, to reveal the references.
    RPG Find all References

  • definition - show source of particular code element
    After right clicking on a specific variable, users can select Go to Definition to go to the definition of the variable.
    RPG definition

  • formatting - format the whole document or selected region
    Formatting options can be found at Preferences.
    RPG formatting options

    Users can select Format Document to format the whole document or Format Selection to format the selected region after right clicking in the source file.
    RPG formatting

  • content assist - code and variable completion
    Content assist can be triggered in editor window by typing ⌃/CTRL+SPACE.
    RPG Content assist

  • rename - intelligently rename all references to variables
    Select Rename Symbol and then type the new desired name and press Enter. All usages of the symbol will be renamed, across files.
    RPG rename

  • extract constant - extract a literal value into a constant
    Click on a literal value, and then click the light bulb icon that appears to the left. Two options will be available: Extract constant to enclosing scope and Extract constant to global scope. Clicking one of these options will create a new constant in the selected scope, with the extracted literal value. The literal value will be replaced in your code with the new constant. RPG extract constant

  • source error reporting - errors are shown beside the text in the editor and Problems view
    Use View > Problems to open problems view.
    The errors display in both editor and problems view. In the editor, if the cursor hovers over the problem, it will show the details of the error. In the problems view, clicking a specific problem will position the editor to the location of the error.
    RPG problems

For information on using ARCAD tools, see How to use ARCAD integration with IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration