• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Misys Partner Launches IBM i Client for Subversion 1.75

    June 26, 2012 Alex Woodie

    A Russian partner of IBM i banking software developer Misys last week announced that it has completed work on a new IBM i client for the popular open source Apache Subversion version control system. A developer at Banking Technologies & Consulting says the IBM i client, called iSVN, enables RPG and CL programmers to access external SVN repositories and utilize SVN features, such as code checkout and update commands, from the comfort of the 5250 green screen.

    Moscow-based Banking Technologies & Consulting (BTC) provides support and localization for the EQUATION core banking system from Misys for financial service companies in Russia and other former states of the USSR. BTC does a lot of consulting work for EQUATION users, which requires writing new RPG programs and integrating them into its customers’ existing RPG programs.

    With so much RPG code in the mix, BTC at some point realized it needed a way to manage the source code for its customers, BTC developer Alexei Baranov tells IT Jungle. The company looked at change management products of some well-known vendors, but found that they were too expensive for a company of about 40 people, or too proprietary and difficult to use to be widely adopted by the company’s developers, he says.

    Instead, BTC looked to SVN, an open source version control system that has gained a lot of market share since it was initially released in 2000. SVN brings numerous advantages to the RPG programmer, Baranov says, the primary ones being that SVN is simple and widely used around the world. “But until this moment, RPG programmers have been deprived of these elegant tools.”

    BTC is not the only organization that has embarked upon a plan to bring SVN’s riches to the IBM i populace. Several years back, the folks at SoftLanding Systems (now owned by UNICOM Systems) ported SVN to run natively under i5/OS. Today, UNICOM sells the software as TurnOver for SVN v100. However, the product is based on SVN version 1.4, which is six years old. As a result, the BTC crew decided to put together their own IBM i binary of SVN with the latest SVN code.

    The porting work was completed in March, and BTC started to put its new iSVN client into production in the middle of May. But then Apache released version 1.75 of SVN. In the interest of having the latest and greatest release of SVN to work with, the company decided to hold off the release, and did the additional work required to port SVN version 1.75 to IBM i.

    iSVN is a native implementation of the Subversion client for the IBM i platform. It works with all supported versions of IBM i, from i5/OS V5R4 through IBM i 7.1. The software works by storing working copies of RPG and CL source code on the IFS drive, where they can be accessed by the green-screen iSVN client or by any external SVN client.

    By synchronizing the source physical file members with the working copy on the IFS, developers gain access to all the SVN features, including versioning (code update and checkout commands), branching, merging, and two- and three-way source comparison. “The RPG developer receives full access to all the long-awaited source version control features directly from the green-screen session,” Baranov says.

    BTC also added an IBM i-specific feature that enables the output of standard streams stdout and stderr to be sent to the joblog. It also generates *STATUS messages in addition to the standard output, “a small but very handy feature when working in a green screen,” Baranov says.

    iSVN is just one of several ports that Baranov and his team have completed at BTC as part of its “i5PortAll” initiative. In addition to iSVN, the company has ported SQLite, OpenSSL, Zlib, gSOAP, and Libconfig to IBM i. Several of these are typically used in conjunction with a SVN implementation, but BTC is not providing separate access to these IBM i binaries at this time.

    “In our projects, we are actively using the tools and libraries [that] are . . . the gold standards for software development,” Baranov says. “These tools are not new, but the [IBM i developers] usually miss this functionality. In scope of i5PortAll initiative, our company has completed porting of some libraries and developer tools to the IBM i platform.”

    BTC is making iSVN available for 30-day trials. Beyond that, a license key must be purchased from BTC to continue using the product. The tier-based licensing chart starts at €1,000 for a P05 box for the first year, with a €500 annual maintenance fee in subsequent years. A P10 license costs €2,000, with a €1000 annual maintenance fee. Maintenance includes technical support, bug fixes, and enhancements.

    For more information and trial downloads of iSVN, see www.btc.info/en/products/233/.

    RELATED STORY

    SoftLanding Goes Open Source with TurnOverSVN



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags:

    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.

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Sponsored Links

    Abacus Solutions:  More affordable and flexible alternatives to deliver secondary workloads
    New Generation Software:  Announcing the $475 IBM i Query & BI SDK. Order a FREE trial by June 30
    Help/Systems:  2012 Solutions Summit. Early bird pricing ends June 30. Save $100!

    IT Jungle Store Top Book Picks

    BACK IN STOCK: Easy Steps to Internet Programming for System i: List Price, $49.95

    The iSeries Express Web Implementer's Guide: List Price, $49.95
    The iSeries Pocket Database Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket SQL Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket WebFacing Primer: List Price, $39
    Migrating to WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    Getting Started with WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    The All-Everything Operating System: List Price, $35
    The Best Joomla! Tutorial Ever!: List Price, $19.95

    European Server Market Swoons, Quite Predictably Protect Your Intellectual Property: Obfuscate DB2 For i Source Code

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Volume 12, Number 18 -- June 26, 2012
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:

PowerTech
T.L. Ashford
ASNA
Abacus Solutions
Tembo Application Generation

Table of Contents

  • HiT Software Takes DBMoto To the Cloud
  • Cybele Goes Mobile with 5250 Emulator
  • Misys Partner Launches IBM i Client for Subversion 1.75
  • Synergivity Touts Workflow Enhancements in MDCMS
  • Bug Busters Tackles Journaling Issues with HA Software
  • Customer Fails to Break EXTOL’s Latest EDI Software
  • Trailer Tracking App Gets IBM i Hooks
  • Data Storage Signs Partner Deal with Maximus
  • UNICOM Wheels and Deals for Two Public Companies
  • Manufacturer Picks IntelliChief for Paperless Project

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • IBM i 7.3 TR12: The Non-TR Tech Refresh
  • IBM i Integration Elevates Operational Query and Analytics
  • Simplified IBM i Stack Bundling Ahead Of Subscription Pricing
  • More Price Hikes From IBM, Now For High End Storage
  • Big Blue Readies Power10 And IBM i 7.5 Training for Partners
  • IBM Delivers More Out-of-the-Box Security with IBM i 7.5
  • Groundhog Day For Malware
  • IBM i Community Reacts to IBM i 7.5
  • Four Hundred Monitor, May 11
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 24, Number 19

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2022 IT Jungle

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.