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  • Profound Launches RPG-to-Web Conversion Tool for the Masses

    December 7, 2004 Alex Woodie

    Profound Logic Software is throwing its hat into the Web refacing ring. The Dayton, Ohio, company, announced a new tool last week that converts RPG-based green screens into completely Web-based GUIs, the kind without WebSphere, green screens, or OLTP fees lurking just beneath the surface. Profound claims that the conversion tool, which is part of its RPG Smart Pages development environment, will convert 90 percent of green screens with no intervention.

    Profound Logic built its reputation in the AS/400 market of old with RPG-Alive, a collection of handy utilities for boosting the productivity of RPG programmers. In 2002, well into the iSeries era, the company launched RPG Smart Pages (RPGsp), a development and runtime environment that combines RPG and HTML into a single editor, making it faster and easier to write RPG logic, while using the Web for presentation.

    With the introduction of the new conversion tool last week, Profound has taken the next step in streamlining the development of graphical and Web-oriented iSeries applications that can be maintained with RPGsp. The conversion tool, a component of RPGsp 3.0, launched this summer, uses CGI coding techniques to convert DDS green-screen definitions into a combination of HTML, RPG IV, Cascading Style Sheets, and JavaScript.

    Profound says that converted applications run as CGI programs and can be launched from a Web browser immediately after the conversion. What’s more, once converted, the applications require neither interactive (OLTP) processing capability nor IBM‘s WebSphere Application Server, the company says. These are important points, because many small and midsized OS/400 shops can’t afford the kind of horsepower required to run WebSphere, not to mention the capital to hire Java developers to develop for WebSphere.

    “Unlike WebFacing tools, RPGsp produces true Web applications that are no longer tied to existing green-screens. The conversion success rate is really high,” says Alex Roytman, founder of Profound Logic and the company’s lead developer. “Our RPG-to-Web conversion tool is truly one of a kind.”

    Tests at customer sites show the conversion tool will automatically convert about 90 percent of RPG applications, the company says, while the most basic, one-screen maintenance programs will hit a success rate much closer to 100 percent. When the tool can’t convert certain parts of a program, a check list, provided by Profound, guides developers through the things they need to do to get the application moved to the Web.

    Because looks do count (remember, that’s one of the reasons why you want a GUI instead of a green screen), Profound is providing RPGsp with a list of more than 40 different CSS or HTML themes for the new screens, such as “Brushed Metal,” “Mystic Sphere,” “Squiggles,” and “Purple Spots.” Users can create their own as well.


    Once the screens have been converted, they are free from the 24×80 green-screen layout, and can be maintained and enhanced from the RPGsp IDE. A series of wizards in RPGsp help users do things like converting entry fields into drop-downs, connecting fields to pop-up selection subfiles, and adding pop-up calendars. (For more information about the capabilities of RPGsp, see “Profound Logic Streamlines Development with RPGsp 3.0,” in the August 17, 2004, issue of Four Hundred Stuff.)

    In conjunction with the introduction of the conversion tool, Profound has also launched a new services offering for customers looking to hand the development of Web apps to someone else. The company also announced it will convert–at no cost–one simple application per customer, as a proof of concept.

    Pricing for RPSsp 3.0 ranges from $4,000 to $20,000. For more information, go to www.profoundlogic.com.

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    Sponsored by
    Krengeltech

    When it comes to consuming web APIs on your IBM i, your options often boil down to one of two things:

    First, you end up having to rely on a variety of open source and non-RPG solutions. This adds developer complexity, taking away time that could have been better spent invested in other projects. Of course, open source software is free, but generally comes at the cost of no professional support, which adds an element of risk in your production environment. RXS is completely professionally supported, and is complemented by a staff of trained IBM i developers who can address your nuanced development challenges, head on.

    Second, if you choose not to pursue an open-source solution, you’re often left having to shake up your current program architecture with proprietary software, external dependencies, and partial RPG implementations – many of which are sub-par compared to RPG-XML Suite’s wide range of features. RXS aims to simplify the efforts of developers with tools like code generators, useful commands, and subprocedures written in 100% RPG – no Java. Because they are entirely RPG, the RXS subprocedures are easy to add to new or existing ILE programs and architecture, helping to cut your development time. RPG-XML Suite offers powerful capabilities in an accessible, easy-to-implement format.

    With RPG-XML Suite, you can accomplish a variety of complex tasks, such as:

    • Calling REST and SOAP web services from your IBM i
    • Offering APIs from your IBM i
    • Creating JSON & XML
    • Parsing JSON & XML
    • Text manipulation, Base64 encoding/decoding, CCSID handling, hashing and encryption functions, and more.

    To try RXS for yourself, we recommend a free proof of concept, which not only gives you access to all of RPG-XML Suite’s subprocedures and utilities but also includes a tailor-made software demonstration that can be used as a starting point for your future API implementations.

    For a free proof of concept, contact us at sales@krengeltech.com, or visit our website for more information.

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    IDC Makes Its IT Prognostications for 2005 RPG IV Comment Blocks

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Volume 4, Number 48 -- December 7, 2004
THIS ISSUE
SPONSORED BY:

ProData Computer Svcs
Bytware
Lakeview Technology
Profound Logic Software
Affirmative Computer

Table of Contents

  • LTO 3 Tape Makes Its Way to Market
  • Profound Launches RPG-to-Web Conversion Tool for the Masses
  • FormSprint Gets a New PDF Archive
  • Bsafe Gets New OS/400 Security Solution Out the Door

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