RPG Next Gen
Turnover 5.4 Change Management - the IBM iSeries [AS400] has a Pulse
So, today I'm upgrading the IBM ISeries Change Management system from Turnover version 5.3 to 5.4
I'm also going to switch from the old Jurassic Green screen methods to the funky space-age GUI that comes bundled with TurnoverV5R4. This new Turnover Client is an addon to the open source editor - Eclipse. I've played with Eclipse but am far from a knowledgeable user or even a total convert, as I find it clunky and slow to use. But here is a good opportunity to retrain myself to use Eclipse and perhaps pick up on some of the seemingly squillions of benefits that WDSC and Eclipse users harp on about... ;)
(i) Grab yourself some Java
You know you want to. The latest and greatest version of Java is a free download from the Java homepage.
(ii) Snaffle a free copy of Eclipse!
Eclipse is Open Source (I love that) but it's also been developed by lots of different people and therefore has a huge number of different versions and flavours (I hate that). This is whats made it so confusing in the past. Even the description of what Eclipse is, from the Eclipse homepage, is confusing:
IBM i Editor keeps getting better
Fresh out today - thje latest build of the RPG Next Generation editor - 0.5.0
Open Source at its best and finally a nice, friendly, easy to use code editor for the IBM i.
Download the latest version for here
It's at version 0.5 so still in early days yet, but with each minor release it's getting sharper... I know use it for around 50% of my coding on the IBM i and when/if it ever gets to the stage where it allows me to prompt things like %BIFS then I will be dancing for joy.
Incidentally - evn though its called RPG/NG it works equally well for editing DDS (DSPF, PF, LF, etc..) and of course all the Control Language programs you like...
upgrade AS400 RPG3 to IBM system i RPGLE /FREE and beyond
Many IBM Power i machines have been running steadily for years without business interruption. The hardware is incredibly resilient but development environments are in need of upgrading. The nature of the machine means applications written ten to twenty years ago are still running strong, so the need for change is rarely investigated.
Living with archaic applications is simple, may apear cost effective inthe short term but offers no benefit to the business.
The iSeries Developer Road map can help developers deliver new application features such as browser based interfaces. The road map guides business thjrough the process of upgrading your applications into more efficient, easily maintained environments.
It's simpler than you may think and the modern business benefits are clear.
This road map is from the IBM System i Developer Road Atlas
- Several persuasive benefits are encouraging iSeries developers to implement the road map:
- New user-interface alternatives address many user demands and give users the option to access iSeries information online.
- New application design techniques improve maintainability and make it possible for developers to utilize new coding techniques as they emerge.
- New technologies create the potential for communication between applications running on different platforms and written in different languages.
- New tools and skills increase developer productivity and satisfaction.
- At the same time, several powerful drawbacks are inhibiting iSeries developers from embracing the road map:
- Infrastructure requirements, such as the need for upgraded PC and iSeries hardware, create a cost barrier.
- Investments in training and the time required to assimilate new skills are not available.
- Deployment complexity can make it difficult to ensure the performance, reliability, security, and scalability to which iSeries users are accustomed.
For example, it’s one thing to maintain some green-screen interfaces and quite another to develop new applications exclusively with 5250 interfaces. However, archaic code that is hard to understand and expensive to maintain can be replaced. Replacing code might entail anything from purchasing a new software package to rewriting selected portions of an application to replacing some parts of your RPGIII application with code written in RPG/FREE or Java.
Simple reusable code means less maintenance time, hence lower I.T. costs.
Overtime, the dollar savings far outweigh the cost of upgrade.
Business image is equally important - With web-based sales and customer interaction turnover is quicker, staff levels are lower and your business can truly be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
Is your business Dynamic, Lean and Cost Effective?
a healthy pulse is a good thing
As I drag myself, kicking and screaming, out of the green-on-black middle ages and into the sunny clear skies of 21st century web enabled coding, I find myself seriously confused about what tools I should use to write this new fangled code. There are so many out there, some established while I've been floundering around with my SEU Source editor and many new and leading edge applications just to confuse things further: WDSC? Rdi? Code400? Eclipse? Websphere? Mocha? Frontpage? and many many more acronyms and weird and wonderful names spring to mind.
Recently, I've tried a few but it was the efforts of Mihael (the guy developing the wonderful RPG/Next-Generation application) that has finally inspired me to invest some time and figure out what its all about.
As it seems to be one of the most common, my IDE of choice is.... drum roll please... yes IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment... yes thats just a complicated way of saying 'Code Editor'... anyway... *cough*... it's ECLIPSE!
"No. Stop. Wait" I hear you say "I looked at Eclipse and there is loads of different versions and plug ins and stuff and its so confusing I just couldn't figure it out"
iSeries RPG Editor for your laptop (free AS400 SEU RDi Alternative)
I've just stumbled across an open source RPG Source Editor thats built around a PC Editor called Eclipse - I've only ever used Eclipse for my very infrequent Java work. Having recently decided to upgrade all the Projex400 utilities to RPG/FREE and make them available on this website I'm very excited about this great bit of software.
More details are at RPG NEXT GEN which looks very promising.
This site offers some resources for working with the programming language RPG (native on IBM System i). IMHO IBM has done a poor job so far providing the RPG programming community with any decent software development kit for RPG compared to the Java Development Kit offered by Sun to the java community. Some people might now argue that IBM has done a great job by providing WDSCi and EGL. But perhaps this is comparing apples with pears. Anyway ... where is the solution?
One thing is clear ... there is no current adhoc solution to it. I'm trying to make life a little bit easier for the RPG developers and offer some resources.
It's still in Alpha stages of development but i think this could become a serious rival to the excellent (but expensive) IBMoffering - WDSC.
