From AS/400 to iSeries to System i to IBM i on Power
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Modernizing AS400 aka WEB-ENABLING AS400 and iSeries Converting an old green screen application to run in a website is as easy as typing an email or uploading a photo to facebook. If you are a modern IBM i Software developer the chances are, your system has lots of old AS400 and iSeries that code that …
IBM i, AS400, iSeries, Programming, RPG
Since the introduction of the latest Service Pack for IBM i V7 — cunningly entitled ‘Technology Release 7.1 — RPG programmers can now finally eschew the old fixed column coding and roam around a modern free format language. RPG is free. Finally. Lovely jubbly. Long overdue and in the words of Jon Paris (RPG Guru …
AS400 needs to be modernized …seems to be the chant of the moment. But I put it to you that it is not the Computer System that needs modernizing: It is the applications that run on the system… and more importantly the *expectations* of the users and developers that need modernizing. Most IBM midrange systems …
I was reading an interesting thread on Linkedin this morning, discussing another article about the much loved AS/400. The basic storyline is (a) some chap says the AS/400 is a really neat computer and he’s very pleased to have worked on it for many years (b) other chap says “its not called an AS/400” anymore (c) …
Is SQL faster than CPYF Native IO? For the longest time I’ve heard about the performance difference between a true SQL INDEX and a DDS ACCESS PATH generated index on the IBM i operating system (or ‘OS400’ which was a ten year old, but very commonly used version of the the same OS). But is …
You DO NOT have an AS400 or an iSERIES! This has been an ongoing argument disagreement in our IBM i and RPG programmer communities for well over a decade: Should IBM have changed the name when the launched the replacement for the old AS/400 computer? Many people using the latest IBM i servers still enjoy …
IBM i, AS400, iSeries, Programming, RPG
This morning I got question from an old RPG3 chum of mine: I know a couple of questions they will ask me, what are the different parms used on sub-procedures like *OMIT/*Nopass. Didn’t we use those any way? I thought we were writing programs that did or did not necessarily get parms depending what called …
Last night I was asked what the differences between RPG versions were: RPG3 RPG400 RPGLE: IBM have gone out of their way to make the version naming and releases differences so quirky, dirty and convoluted that I’m not even sure they know what to call the current incarnation of this beautiful programming language. Anyhooo, here’s …
CVTRPGSRC – Convert RPG Source This is a standard IBM i command which will ‘Convert RPG Source’ (CVTRPGSRC) from RPG III or RPG/400 source code to ILE RPG source code. If you are running on a system using the old (1980’s format) RPG source code — easily recognisable because it uses the short column widths …
Recently at a client site, I heard a monotonous and really quite annoying sound: tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,TAP… tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,TAP… tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,TAP… tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,tap,TAP… coming from the adjoining Dilbert cubicle.
This prompted me to ask what he was doing. He reluctantly moaned that “I have to move all these spool files to another output queue and their are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them”
I looked quizzically until I realized he was in WRKSPLF on the green screen and was manually selecting each and every spool file with a 2 before paging down for the next screen, for as many screen as was needed, he then planned to change the output queue.
Wow!
Loads of time wasted doing a manual task when the tools to move the entire output queue are already right there in Windows but just didnt know about it.
...YOUR IBM System is NOT an AS/400 YOUR IBM System is NOT an iSeries IBM stopped making the old AS400 in the 1990’s The iSeries came next and that ran for over ten years The current machine is an IBM Power System. The grandson of the AS400 YOUR IBM System is an IBM POWER SERVER …
iSeries, AS400, IBM i, Programming, RPG
Upgrade RPG3 before its too late 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 …