IBM Power Ideas Portal


This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Power Systems products, including IBM i. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).


Shape the future of IBM!

We invite you to shape the future of IBM, including product roadmaps, by submitting ideas that matter to you the most. Here's how it works:

Search existing ideas

Start by searching and reviewing ideas and requests to enhance a product or service. Take a look at ideas others have posted, and add a comment, vote, or subscribe to updates on them if they matter to you. If you can't find what you are looking for,

Post your ideas

  1. Post an idea.

  2. Get feedback from the IBM team and other customers to refine your idea.

  3. Follow the idea through the IBM Ideas process.


Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use

Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.

Add a new idea Subscribe
Status Submitted
Workspace IBM i
Categories Languages - RPG
Created by Guest
Created on Jun 22, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

Support for returning and assigning multiple values

Knowing that this might be big deal in the ILE environment, it would be a good addition, to support returning multiple result values from a RPG procedure. Other languages like SQL or Python support this already.

Example - imagine a procedure defined like this:

dcl-pr return2values (int(10):char(20)) end-pr;

A call to this procedure could then look like this:

dcl-s value1 int(10) inz;
dcl-s value2 char(20) inz;
(value1:value2) = return2values();

To enable the called procedure to do that, the RETURN statement has to be extended, too:

dcl-proc return2values;
  dcl-pi *n (int(10):char(20)) end-pi;
  return (1:'Hello, World!');
end-proc;

As a result a multiple value assignment should be implented, too:

dcl-s var1 int(10) inz(1);
dcl-s var2 int(10) inz(2);
(var1:var2) = (var2:var1);

This would "switch" the values in var1 and var2 without the need for a 3rd variable.

The functionality could be implemented as a new form of EVAL statement - probably EVAL-MULT (analog EVAL-CORR):

eval-mult (var1:var2) = (var2:var1);
eval-mult (value1:value2) = return2values();

But it would be more modern, if the assignment to a "list of values" with parentheses and colons would be enough.

This new syntax would bring RPG nearer to other modern languages like Python.

Idea priority Medium
  • Guest
    Sep 8, 2026

    Thank you for taking the time to submit this IBM Idea and share your feedback with IBM and the broader IBM i community.

    The CAAC has reviewed this Idea and, after careful consideration, does not recommend that IBM move forward with the request in its current form at this time.

    Reason: The CAAC understands the intent to make RPG procedures more concise and provide functionality similar to languages that support tuple-style multiple return values. However, the subgroup determined that RPG already supports the underlying use case through established techniques, including returning a data structure or a pointer to a data structure and using procedure parameters to supply multiple values to the caller. Adding a separate mechanism for returning and assigning multiple values would duplicate existing capabilities and introduce additional language complexity without providing sufficient incremental value to the broader IBM i community at this time.

    Although the CAAC is not recommending implementation of this request, Ideas such as this help IBM and the CAAC better understand the needs and priorities of the IBM i community. We appreciate your contribution and encourage you to continue submitting IBM Ideas and sharing your feedback.

    Background: The COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) includes members with a broad range of experience working with small and medium-sized IBM i clients. The CAAC works with IBM i development to help assess the potential value and impact of individual IBM Ideas on the broader IBM i community.

    For more information on the CAAC, visit: https://www.common.org/common-americas-advisory-council/

    Brandon Pederson - CAAC Program Manager

    Reply

By clicking the "Post Comment" or "Submit Idea" button, you are agreeing to the IBM Ideas Portal Terms of Use.
Do not place IBM confidential, company confidential, or personal information into any field.