Tracking messages files and messages ids with local development and github use

[MarcoDeSenas]

I am wondering what would be the more efficient way to track messages files and messages ids when doing local developement and tracking with github.
Is there something existing (that I did not find yet) or is this a candidate for action development?

For example, I would like to create a .msgf file in my local workspace, then insert, in an organized way, all my message ids. Then I would deploy this file, and use an action to read the stream file and populate the message file.

Is there something already available?

[worksofliam]

I always wanted to come up with a standardized JSON format for message files (among other files) but it never took off.

@codefori/core any thoughts?

[chrjorgensen]

I'm not a full-time developer, but I think some (many?) developers use a CL program to store the message file and message descriptions.
The CL program is simply CRTMSGF and ADDMSGD commands, and is compiled and run to create the messages as intended.

This is also what BOB suggests.

The source for the CL program should be tracked by git, so any changes to the messages would still be tracked.

[MarcoDeSenas]

I'm not a full-time developer, but I think some (many?) developers use a CL program to store the message file and message descriptions. The CL program is simply CRTMSGF and ADDMSGD commands, and is compiled and run to create the messages as intended.

Yes, this is the way I proceed usually.

This is also what BOB suggests.

Ha, trying bob is something on my todo list!

The source for the CL program should be tracked by git, so any changes to the messages would still be tracked.

Thanks for the tips,

[chrjorgensen]

If you have a message file but no CL program, you can create the CL program using the SQL table function QSYS2.OBJECT_STATISTICS and the SQL view QSYS2.MESSAGE_FILE_DATA.

For fun I wrote the following SQL, which returns the CL commands used for recreating a message file:

-- Build CL commands to recreate a specified message file content.

-- MSGF returns the library and message file object to build commands for.
with MSGF as (
  select *
    from ( values ( 'QSYS', 'QRNXMSG', 'QTEMP' ) ) x ( LIB, OBJ, NEWLIB ) 
)

-- OBJ returns the message file object information.
, OBJ as (
  select m.NEWLIB
       , os.*
    from MSGF m
       , table( QSYS2.OBJECT_STATISTICS( OBJECT_SCHEMA => m.LIB, OBJTYPELIST => '*MSGF', OBJECT_NAME => m.OBJ ) ) os
)

-- MSGD returns the message descriptions in the message file.
, MSGD as (
  select m.NEWLIB
       , md.*
    from MSGF m
       , QSYS2.MESSAGE_FILE_DATA md
   where ( md.MESSAGE_FILE_LIBRARY, md.MESSAGE_FILE ) = ( m.LIB, m.OBJ )
)

-- DLTMSGF returns a DLTMSGF CL command for the message file object.
, DLTMSGF (CMD) as (
  select 'DLTMSGF MSGF(' concat NEWLIB concat '/' concat OBJNAME concat ')'
    from OBJ
)

-- CRTMSGF returns a CRTMSGF CL command for the message file object.
, CRTMSGF (CMD) as (
  select 'CRTMSGF MSGF(' concat NEWLIB concat '/' concat OBJNAME concat ') TEXT(''' concat coalesce( OBJTEXT, '' ) concat ''')'
    from OBJ
)

-- ADDMSGD returns a ADDMSGD CL command for each message in the message file object.
, ADDMSGD (CMD) as (
  select 'ADDMSGD MSGID(' concat MESSAGE_ID concat ') ' concat
                 'MSGF(' concat NEWLIB concat '/' concat MESSAGE_FILE concat ') ' concat 
                 'MSG(''' concat MESSAGE_TEXT concat ''') ' concat
                 'SECLVL(' concat coalesce( '''' concat MESSAGE_SECOND_LEVEL_TEXT concat '''', '*NONE' ) concat ') ' concat
                 'SEV(' concat SEVERITY concat ') ' concat 
                 case when MESSAGE_DATA_COUNT > 0 then 'FMT((' concat regexp_replace( substr( MESSAGE_DATA, 4 ), '\s*&\d+\s*', ') (' ) concat ')) ' else '' end concat
                 'TYPE(' concat coalesce( REPLY_TYPE, '*NONE' ) concat ') ' concat
                 case when REPLY_LENGTH is not null then 'LEN(' concat REPLY_LENGTH concat 
                   case when REPLY_DECIMAL_POSITIONS is not null then ' ' concat REPLY_DECIMAL_POSITIONS else '' end concat ') ' else '' end concat
                 case when VALID_REPLY_VALUES_COUNT > 0 then 'VALUES(' concat rtrim( regexp_replace( coalesce( VALID_REPLY_VALUES, '*NONE' ), '\s+', ' ' ) ) concat ') ' else '' end concat
                 'DFT(' concat coalesce( '''' concat DEFAULT_REPLY concat '''', '*NONE' ) concat ') ' concat
                 'LOG(' concat LOG_PROBLEM concat ') ' 
    from MSGD
)

-- ALLCMDS returns each command preceded by a sorting value.
, ALLCMDS (SORT, CMD) as (
  select *
    from ( values ( 1, 'PGM' ) ) x ( SORT, CMD )
  union
  select 2, CMD
    from DLTMSGF
  union
  select 3, CMD
    from CRTMSGF
  union
  select 4, CMD
    from ADDMSGD
  union
  select *
    from ( values ( 5, 'ENDPGM' ) ) x ( SORT, CMD )
  order by SORT
)

-- Final select of all commands in the correct order.
select CMD
  from ALLCMDS
 order by SORT

NOTE: The above SQL has not been tested except for some sample runs, and it is probably missing some parameters for the ADDMSGD commands. But you can easily add any missing parameters by modifying the SQL.

Run the SQL and copy-paste the output into a streamfile or local file. Then you have what you need.

Have fun! 😃