Profound Logic Fine Tunes Programming Tool with RPGsp 5.2

Published: January 17, 2006

by Alex Woodie

OS/400 shops looking to modernize their RPG applications may want to check out the latest development tools from Profound Logic Software. Last week the company unveiled a new release of its integrated development environment for creating RPG-based Web applications, RPG Smart Pages (RPGsp), that brings several new features, including a tool that converts fixed format RPG to free format code, more session-variable storage options, as well as new syntax highlighting and auto-correction capabilities.

RPGsp is a Windows-based IDE that enables RPG programmers to build interactive Web applications served from the iSeries' Apache or HTTP Web server. The toolset includes one editor that handles both HTML- and RPG-editing functions and eliminates the tediousness of using separate editors for the two languages. At runtime, a Web browser executes the HTML and RPG script embedded in the RPGsp page, using CGI techniques to access iSeries data. The tool can be used for converting existing greenscreen RPG applications to Web applications, or for building new RPG-based Web apps from scratch.

With RPGsp 5.2, the company has included a new fixed-format-to-free-format conversion tool that allows programmers to easily convert entire programs, or just sections of code, to free format. The tool instantly converts fixed format code into its equivalent free-format syntax, and will even convert obsolete opcodes, such as ADD, to the recommended free-format syntax, Profound says. When the conversion tool runs into operations that are not supported in free format, such as CALL or PARM, it ends free format coding, and starts another free format section when it can.

Free format RPG debuted with the release of OS/400 V5R1 in 2001. Supporters of free format coding say it helps them move more easily among today's popular programming languages, almost all of which use a free format, as opposed to the fixed formatting required by older versions of RPG, which has its roots in the punch-card systems of the 1960s.

RPGsp 5.20 also brings programmers more options for tracking session variables, including the capability to store Web browser session variables in a database file. Profound says it's easy to enable better tracking of session variables (it requires a "simple" procedure call) and doesn't require any extensive modification to existing applications.

Profound has also done a bit of work to the code editor in RPGsp, including adding support for syntax highlighting. Developers can now opt to have RPG keywords, built-in function names, and comments highlighted in a different color than the rest of the code, which can enhance the development experience. Developers can use default color settings or choose their own colors. Profound Logic has offered syntax highlighting in its greenscreen code editor, called RPG-Alive, for years, but this is the first time this feature has been brought to the RPGsp variant of the RPG-Alive editor.

The RPGsp code editor also sports new auto-correct technology to validate code as it's entered, and to adjust the case according to predefined settings. So, if a developer prefers to code entirely in uppercase, which lends a certain air of authority and urgency, then he can configure the editor to change all code to uppercase as it's entered, regardless of the case used. Programmers can choose to code entirely in uppercase, lowercase, or a mix of both upper and lower case.

Profound Logic also aims to save programmers time with a new auto-complete feature in the code editor. With RPGsp 5.2, the code editor will automatically enter the appropriate END statements for certain statements, if it hasn't already been entered. This feature will save development time and reduce the number of logic errors in programs due to improperly placed END statements, Profound says.

Rounding out the list of enhancements in RPGsp include new Web development server-side functions, a streamlined upgrade process, and a new wizard to automatically write the code for processing existing HTML forms, according to Profound.

RPGsp 5.2 is one of many point releases Profound Logic has made since it first introduced RPGsp in the spring of 2003. Since that time, the tool has been adopted by hundreds of OS/400 shops around the world, some of which have very nice things to say about RPGsp.

RPGsp 5.2 is available now. Free trial downloads are available at www.profoundlogic.com.

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