SRCDAT value 000000

[kofetz]

Hi Barry,

I did some trial on editing sources and yes the SRCDAT on each record changed into 000000.. Pls help on this matter.. I use SRCDAT to track back when the change of lines was made..

Thank you..

[worksofliam]

Hi

Thanks for raising this issue. I will have to think about it. Right now, I am using git to track any changes to source members. It's much nicer than using a merge on 5250. Eventually, I will also add a compare and merge between two sources into ILEditor which will also help tackle this problem.

Thanks,
Liam

[Ubedawg]

This made it a no go for our developers. Poised to use as an alternative to RDI but source date is crucial to us. Will be keeping an eye on developments regarding this. Right now it's a 'view only' policy, although I will probably use it for brand new apps.
Other than that.... kudos to you, Liam. A wonderful application.

[worksofliam]

Hi @Ubedawg

Thanks for the kind comments. I am interested in as to why it's crucial for you. Is it due to your change management, or because you use certain tools that require the SRCDAT column?

Thanks,
Liam

[Bsloggett]

Hi Liam, please be advised - FTP (which is what i believe is being used behind the scenes to update the source member back on the server, while editing - correct ? ) on the Iseries by default uses a certain passive mode that resets the source change date (as if it was a new record, and not modified one-because FTP writes back each source record as if new-It doesn't compare to see if it is a changed line of code, or source record -) , however if I recall , there is a way to stop this, (and im not an FTP expert) but think you had to go with like the -bin Binary transmit mode on the FTP parameter if i recall,; im not sure, but it's something like that simple if i recall, im sure u can refer to the IBM 'STRTCPFTP' command on the old AS400 manuals, and you should find your answer there., Let me know if you would like any help in this area ?

[worksofliam]

Hi @Bsloggett

Yes, I am aware.. no matter the connection type (be it passive or active) the SRCDAT is always reset. Right now, using BIN (binary mode) is not an option because ASCII mode will handle the EBCDIC conversion. If you know a way for FTP to retain the SRCDAT, then please let me know - although I am not sure it's possible.

I am in the midst of thinking of a fix which would

1. Download the member with all columns
2. store the SRCDAT in the Document, which is part of TextEditor in SourceEditor.cs
3. when saving, use SQL to write each record back to the original member with the SRCDAT retained and newlines updated.

This fix is a long way off and I don't have a lot of time to make a large change like this right now.

Thanks,
Liam

[Ubedawg]

Hi Liam,
There are various reasons that are all based on change management. While I believe we do have some in house tools as well, it is the change management that is more important. I am going to advise our developers that they can still use the application for new code. I don't think that any of them have watched your youtube vids, but when they do, I think it will pique their interest :)

[okuturn]

SRCDAT is important in our shop to see what lines have changed, basically change management. We have just two coders but when changes occur we need to be able to see what was changed. Without the dates then we have to source compare from previous versions which isn't always available. Liking what I see though. Impressed so far.

[rbpabluecloud]

I have been following the comments and would like to add mine. SRCDAT would be nice to have, but it is not required. Like others have mentioned, it can be helpful when searching changed lines, but only the last line change, so it is not really a change management "tool". It is more of a fall back for lack of change management and lack of basic change documentation. If it can be added easily, then it would be nice to have. It should really not be considered critical. Anyone that sees the benefit of this editor should also realize it is about time to do real change management, not SRCDAT.

[Bsloggett]

OKUTURN - Im not getting it, at all - Since when is 54-compare source members not available..? I am really not getting all this dependency on SRCDAT... Why don't u guys just tag each line of changed code if it is so important, like most shops do ? w/free form its easy, on far right just put ...// comment1 -BDS1
notice i put my initials, and every time im in that pgm, i just increment that by +1. And the initials will also will tie back up to your header comment, where most shops put proj#, mod date, and a description of the change - and that is all, how is SRCDAT any better than just doing that? and we have a rule where you only go back 3 changes (3 previous versions of the program) once you changed the same line of codes the 4th time, then you just start deleting the older commented out lines - and that is just so that the program does not get too full of dead code, and hard to read (too many comments looks lame and is hard to read in other words..) anyways , so tell me how SRCDAT , beats that system? or a 54-compare?

[dwt1324]

I have been doing a trial for ILE-Editor. While we do not use SRCDAT for change management, and we tag lines of code that are added and/or modified (as well as use the source compare utility), SRCDAT is still considered a useful piece of information. After discussing with my co-workers, the general consensus is that SRCDAT is valuable enough to prevent us from considering using the tool until this issue is fixed (As Ubedawg mentioned, we were also looking at it as a nice "middle ground" between SEU and RDi). It was mentioned during these discussions that RDi fixed the SRCDAT problem in 2004.

[worksofliam]

Note: priority has been put up during ILEditor meeting. Will be enabled via option in Connection Settings, enabled by default.

[Sumeel]

Hi Liam,

Thanks a lot for this Application.Excellent work done..Kudos to you..

We use SRCDAT to keep track of changed lines and it is a very important for us for source comparison. Need help on this issue as it is stopping us from using the editor.

[dwt1324]

Any updates on when this will be fixed?

[mlstoppa]

Hi Liam,
While looking for RDi alternatives I stepped into your tool so I have just started to use it; excellent job done so far and I hope it will be improved more and more. In our company at least 15 people code in RPG ILE with or without SQL and I hope we all will be using it in a few months.
But SRCDAT could be an issue because frequently we search the last changes in order to align test and production sites very quickly, and also because it helps to state since when we have been using a specific programming logic. Hope it helps to the whole picture.

[thebeardedgeek]

Hi Liam,
This is a great tool but the SRCDAT being set to 0000 makes it a no go for us. We comment the code with dates when we make changes but we also use the dates within the file to search for the lines modified on those dates. I use this heavily for the payroll programs I work with and without the SRCDAT info I cannot use this tool.

Keep up the great work and thanks for keeping this tool open source. I look forward to what is to come.

[Smith5646]

While this is not a show stopper for my newest client because all of the code will be new and this actually saves me the step at the end of setting them all to 0, this will be a show stopper for me for my other clients with existing source that don't have good change management / archiving tools. Many of my other clients rely heavily on the mod date because not everyone remembers to tag the changes on the lines they changed and it helps us figure out when something changed (broke). I know we should be using source diffs for this but being a consultant, I can't seem to convince (force) the client's employees to do that.

It would also be helpful to see the mod dates in the editor. Let me know if you would like a separate issue opened for this request. I included it here because I think the two are very tied together.

All of that said, I have tried to figure out how to do this myself and I have no idea. Every attempt I make at pulling a source member the sequence number and mod dates.

[PerryRaleigh]

I will work on tackling this issue. I like the idea of pulling the SRCDAT in along with the rest of the source member then updating the member records after it is uploaded.

[ethanjosephscott]

Hey gang,

Was doing some reading and thought of this issue when stumbling upon something. Apparently there is a python module for converting EDCDIC TO ASCII. I am wondering if this would make solving this issue easier.

https://pypi.org/project/ebcdic/

Thank You