Determining the size of a message file

To determine the size of a message file, you need to use this formula. The Add Message Description (ADDMSGD) command parameters are given in parentheses.

The smallest possible entry in a message file is 59 bytes and the largest possible entry is 5764 bytes. The following table describes the largest possible entry.

Table 1. The largest possible entry
Attribute Largest possible entry
Message index 42 bytes
Message text 148 bytes
Message help text 3016 bytes
99 formats 311 bytes
Type and length 48 bytes
20 special values 1282 bytes
20 values 640 bytes
Default reply value 32 bytes
Default program and dump list 233 bytes
Alert option 12 bytes

In the following example, the Create Message File (CRTMSGF) command creates the message file USRMSG:

CRTMSGF   MSGF(QGPL/USRMSG) +
          TEXT('Message file for user-created messages')

If you are creating a message file to be used with the DSPLY operation code in RPG for i5/OS®, the message file must be named QUSERMSG.