Midrange Stuff, OS/400 Edition

On the heels of its August release of ASNA Visual RPG for .NET (AVR for .NET), ASNA announced last week the impending release of Importa, an RPG-source-code conversion tool designed to generate Microsoft .NET intermediate language assemblies, to integrate with Microsoft Visual Studio.NET, and to be accessed from within AVR for .NET projects. Whether it is integrated with Visual Studio, it imports RPG code into text files on a PC that can then be included in AVR for .NET projects.

Importa, which becomes generally available on September 20, is the first commercially available application written in AVR for .NET and is a 100-percent native Microsoft Intermediate Language assembly that runs under the Microsoft .NET framework. The application takes RPG/400 and RPG IV from iSeries libraries or previously downloaded text files and converts them into AVR for .NET. In the process, each RPG source member is converted into an AVR for .NET class. ASNA is promoting the tool as being capable of translating "nearly all user-interface-independent business logic."

RPG programmers will notice a familiar RPG syntax that is similar to what was added to RPG with OS/400 V5R1. Familiar features include RPG's most-used idioms and constructs. Many of the RPG operation codes, like CHAIN, READ, READP, and SETLL, are applied. Those that aren't, ASNA says, are mostly related to user interface issues such as EXFMT. The AVR for .NET product also includes RPG built-in functions, subroutines and loop constructs, and indicators.

Importa supports RPG language use such as /COPY or *COPY members, compile-time tables, alternating tables, conditioning indicators, and control-level indicators.

ASNA has increased the code readability by using an indented style, providing a choice of white space options and including the use of keywords. It "blends the best syntactical and language features of CL with RPG," ASNA officials say.

As Importa translates code, it modifies it on an as-needed basis to conform to the AVR for .NET RPG rules. For example, Importa will transform array subscripts as necessary, relocate key lists to the global part of the program, allow several spacing and comment styles, and translate *INZSR to a start-up subroutine.

ASNA is refreshingly candid in acknowledging the potential booby traps of importing green-screen RPG into a modern environment. The company flatly admits that Importa will not convert 100 percent of the green-screen RPG applications. Users should expect certain RPG expressions, no matter how well they've served in the green screen environment, to be persona non grata in the modern, object-oriented world of AVR for NET. The RPG cycle is an example of one hard-to-automate translation.

ASNA cautions not to expect translation proficiency for most code that references the green-screen user interface. The best example is code that works with green-screen subfiles. "There are just too many differences in the way AVR for .NET renders a user interface to make it worthwhile to attempt to generate a meaningful translation," says ASNA's director of education and training, Roger Pence. "Program-described disk and printer files are also troublesome. It's important to remember, though, that for any RPG business logic (that's written independent of the user interface), Importa will achieve a high level of translation success."

Because .NET is an object-oriented language, it is not a particularly easy transition for programmers jumping from RPG to .NET. But even those with average skills, using ASNA's AVR for .NET or its predecessor, AVR 4.0, will make that transition a little easier because of their experience in building applications with event-driven and object-oriented programming. And ASNA's Pence says that RPG programmers will become productive quickly because of their familiarity with the syntax and the operations code.

Pricing for Importa is $9,000 per iSeries or AS/400. For more information on ASNA Importa, go to www.asna.com.