In RPG (on IBM i / AS400), a Program Status Data Structure (PSDS) is used to automatically capture runtime information about the current job, program, errors, etc.

✅ Basic Syntax for PSDS

DCL-DS ProgramStatus PSDS;
   *STATUS       CHAR(5);      // Error Status Code
   *ROUTINE      CHAR(10);     // Failing Routine Name
   *PARMS        PACKED(3:0);  // Number of parameters
   *PGM          CHAR(10);     // Program Name
   *STATUS       CHAR(5);      // Last error status
   *OPMOD        CHAR(10);     // Program module
   *PROC         CHAR(10);     // Procedure name (for ILE)
   *MSGID        CHAR(7);      // Message ID of last error
   *DATE         CHAR(6);      // Compilation Date
   *TIME         CHAR(6);      // Compilation Time
   *LUNAME       CHAR(8);      // Workstation device name
END-DS;

You can name the data structure anything, but it's marked as PSDS by the PSDS keyword.

📌 Commonly Used PSDS Fields

✅ Example Use in Error Handling

DCL-DS MyPSSR PSDS;
   *STATUS   CHAR(5);
   *PGM      CHAR(10);
   *MSGID    CHAR(7);
   *ROUTINE  CHAR(10);
END-DS;

DCL-S ErrorFlag IND;

BEGSR *PSSR;
   ErrorFlag = *ON;
   // Optional: log or display the error using *STATUS or *MSGID
ENDSR;

🔍 Notes

• The positions are fixed, especially in fixed-form RPG. In Free Form, you don't worry about positions explicitly but the compiler maps fields by position.

• You can use *STATUS, *MSGID, etc., directly in logic to check for errors, e.g., after file operations.