There are some alternatives. These are generally in the form of APIs for use by HLLs and don’t require SQL. You might call the List Database File Members (QUSLMBR) API to generate a list of file members in a user space. If the number of members is too large, you might instead access a member at a time with the Retrieve Member Description (QUSRMBRD) API.

Regardless of how you do it, if your database is of any significant size and complexity, it’s almost a certainty that you do not want to rely on something like “deleted records are more than 10%” as a threshold for RGZPFM. (If you’re a past DBA, you already know that; but this thread can be read by others who are just beginning.)

You’ll want to be familiar with the Database performance and query optimization topic in the Info Center for i 6.1 to see the possible tools you might use.

Do you have some specific objectives in mind?

Tom