Embedded SQL - SQLTYPE xLOB_FILE with CCSID

Since release 7.2 variables in RPG can be defined with a CCSID.

With embedded SQL it is possible to read from the IFS and writing into the IFS with (static) SQL SELECT-Statements just by specifying a xLOB_FILE. A xLOB_FILE must be defined in composition with the Keyword SQLTYPE(xLOB_FILE). The defined variable is converted by the SQL precompiler into a data structure which must be populated in RPG.

... and then just a SELECT ... INTO or a FETCH statement can be used to write into the IFS file where the defined LOB_FILE variable is specified as Host Variable.

Unfortunately it is not possible to specify a CCSID for this type of variable, i.e. it is possible to specify a CCSID but it is just ignored and the CLOB-File is generated with CCSID 850.

Since UTF-8 and UTF-16 become more and more important it would be great if we could use this "simple" technique to write into the IFS with the desired CCSID. The easiest way would be to just specifying the RPG CCSID Keyword when defining the SQLTYPE(xLOB_FILE) Variable. Alternatively the CCSID could also be passed as second parameter.

Sure there are IBM Services for to write into the IFS (which can be used in RPG), such as IFS_WRITE (which will generate the IFS files in the desired CCSID). But it is much more complex because it is a stored procedure and cannot easily used within a SELECT statement. Instead the data must be received (with a FETCH/SELECT ... INTO statement) and then in a second statement the stored procedure has to be called for writing the data into the IFS.