The %XLATE built-in function in RPGLE is used to translate characters in a string, similar to the TRANSLATE function in SQL or strtr() in PHP.
✅ %XLATE Syntax
%XLATE(from: to: inputString)
-
from: A string of characters to replace.
-
to: A string of replacement characters (must match the length of
from). -
inputString: The string you want to translate.
Each character in inputString that appears in from is replaced by the corresponding character in to.
📌 Simple Example
**FREE
Dcl-S original Char(20) Inz('HELLO WORLD');
Dcl-S result Char(20);
result = %XLATE('HELLO': '12345': original);
Dsply result; // Output: '12334 W4R3D'
*INLR = *ON;
Return;
🔍 What happened?
-
'H' → '1'
-
'E' → '2'
-
'L' → '3'
-
'O' → '4'
Characters not in the from string are left unchanged.
🧾 Use Case Example: Uppercase to Lowercase
Dcl-S txt Char(20) Inz('HELLO WORLD');
Dcl-S lower Char(20);
lower = %XLATE('ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ':
'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz':
txt);
Dsply lower; // Output: 'hello world'
❗ Important Notes
-
Both
fromandtomust be the same length, or you get a compile error. -
Only single-character substitutions are supported — not full-word replaces.
-
%XLATEis case-sensitive.