Is It a Different ‘Hello World’ in OS/400 V5R1?

September 18, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Joe:

I just loaded the Java Development Kit (JDK) v1.3 on one of our new V5R1 iSeries boxes, and I can’t get the ‘Hello World’ sample to work. It works on our V4R5 AS/400 when I type in the following Run Java (RUNJVA) command:

RUNJVA CLASS(com.ibm.as400.system.Hello) PROP((java.version '1.3'))
         

But when I type this command on my V5R1 box, I get an error. What’s happening?

— Mike

I went to one of my OS/400 V5R1 boxes and typed in the RUNJVA Class command, just as you sent me. It failed, but–again, just as you wrote–it worked on one of my OS/400 V4R5 partitions.

Next, I pulled up the Google Search Engine and ran a search using “RUNJVA”, “Hello”, and “PROP((java.version ‘1.3’)” in the search string. Google returned a link to a V5R1 PTF MF27672 description page that discusses problems using incorrect maintenance levels in the RUNJVA command java.version property. On that page, IBM displayed the following RUNJVA command, which is shorter than the one people usually use for OS/400 V4R5.

RUNJVA CLASS(Hello) PROP((java.version '1.3'))

I typed this command on a V5R1 iSeries and ‘Hello World’ showed up on my screen. I tried your command and IBM’s command on a second V5R1 partition and I got the same results as earlier: the ‘com.ibm.as400.system.Hello’ CLASS version failed while the ‘Hello’ CLASS version worked.

So my conclusion is that IBM shortened the ‘Hello’ call for at least JDK v1.3 in OS/400 V5R1 (perhaps to remove the ‘as400’ literal from the CLASS parameter), and that IBM didn’t publicize this as well as it should have. I’m not a Java programmer, but this solution works on my systems. So I would try the shortened version of the ‘Hello’ CLASS and see if that solves your problem.

I hope this helps.

— Joe

Sponsored By COMMON

REGISTER FOR COMMON IN DENVER, OCT. 13-17 Get the IT training you need by attending COMMON Users Group’s Fall 2002 IT Education Conference & Expo, October 13-17 in Denver. Choose from over 720 sessions and labs covering a wide range of industry topics. Also receive training from J.D. Edwards, MAPICS, and other vendors. Don’t miss out! Go to www.common.org