IBM Updates Rational Developer With Mac OS, Other Goodies

September 12, 2016 Timothy Prickett Morgan

If you like creating applications in the Rational Developer for i integrated development environment, and you also like Apple Macs, then IBM has a release update for you.

In announcement letter 216-143, Big Blue said that it was making the Mac OS client a peer to Windows and Linux machines with the V9.5.1 update to the RDi tool. To be ultra precise, RDi is now compatible with Mac OS X 10.11. IBM warns that some functions of RDi, such as program verifiers and syntax checkers, are not available on Mac OS, and it is not clear when or if these functions will be added.

In addition to the Mac OS support, RDi V9.5.1 includes a bunch of tweaks, including stuff like:

Kerberos authentication for sessions linking into the IBM i platform, which allows for single sign-on and enterprise identity mapping for developers that is consistent with other users of the system.
Synchronization of IFS projects, which means that the Eclipse IDE at the heart of RDi can take code written in Java or PHP or RPG or COBOL and synchronize it with folders residing on the IBM i Integrated File System, or IFS.
ILE RPG editing is improved, and now the editor can detect definitions and references within O-Specs. Specifically, the dynamic ILE RPG outline view, hyperlinking, hover support, and content assist can find fields that are referenced in O-Specs. Additionally, RDi features handling I-Specs are enhanced so that qualified and indexed fields are fully supported.
SQL help is now embedded in ILE RPG and accessed through RDI do when you hit the magic F1 button, you get the right SQL help for the bits of code you are working on.
The dynamic ILE RPG outline view can now hide any unreferenced definitions, cutting down on clutter and making declarations easier to spot.
ILE RPG content assist automatically provides helpful hints for completing your code without requiring any intervention on your part. It is like a spell check for nerds.
ILE RPG program verifier can switch from generating messages for bound programs versus modules. The verifier defaulted to generating messages as CRTRPGMOD in the past, but now it supports bound programs as well. IBM says you can also switch the default between programs and modules.
CL and DDS editing, using languages such as ILE RPG, can now easily comment and uncomment lines by using a shortcut key.
Integration with Access Client Solutions (ACS), which allows RDi to analyze the performance of SQL using Visual Explain. Also, RDi can now use the Run SQL Statement function in ACS with COBOL and ILE RPG.

The updated RDi V9.5.1 was available for download through Passport Advantage on September 9, and is available through other channels starting September 13. IBM offers a free trial of RDi, which you can get here. A base license for the edition with COBOL and RPG costs $860 per developer. Other editions, which support Java and EGL, cost more.

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