• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Open Source IBM i Build Tool Now Supports VS Code

    July 24, 2024 Alex Woodie

    A new release of the open source iBuild tool now supports VS Code, the developer of the tool recently announced. The new release also now fully supports ILE, which is critical to the future of the IBM i platform, the iBuild creator says.

    iBuild is a free build tool that automates the task of running all of a developer’s RPG source code through the IBM compilers. It’s been in active development for about eight years and can be downloaded from sourceforge.net/projects/ibuild.

    What makes iBuild unique is that it puts instructions on how to build objects into the header of a source member, according to its creator, Alan Campin. The software extracts the commands from the header, formats variables, and executes the commands, thereby eliminating the need to put build instructions in another file or program.

    “There are other build tools out there but they all require storing building instructions in separate files,” Campin tells IT Jungle via email. “I wanted a solution that does not require that.”

    iBuild is the follow-on to an earlier tool that Campin developed called COMPILE. The impetus for COMPILE was the coming of ILE, modules, and service programs, he says.

    “COMPILE was written because someone else had written a tool that had you create a CL program for each compile and call that,” he says. “I looked at that and said there had to be a better way. I wanted a solution where you did not have to have build instructions in another file or program.”

    COMPILE was written in RPG III and used State Transition Diagrams to parse the commands in the header, Campin says.

    “It was beautiful code but several people at the time did not like the State Transition Diagrams so I resolved if I ever re-wrote it I would just use regular RPG logic to parse the headers,” he says.

    In 2017, Campin rewrote COMPILE and released iBuild. It was originally written in free format C with fixed format D specs, he says. But with the latest release, he finally completed the conversion of iBuild to 100 percent free-form RPG. As part of the move to free-form RPG, iBuild also now supports VS Code, he says.

    Like the COMPILE tool that came before it, the big impetus to use iBuild remains the (unfulfilled) promise of ILE, according to Campin.

    “Having modules that have to be bound to form programs and including service programs and activation groups is very difficult without a build tool,” he says. “The problem is that very few people are using ILE. Almost the entire community is still doing monolith programming. Using CRTBNDRPG and CRTBNDCL instead of using modules. Doing program calls instead of service programs. Running in default activation group, etc, etc.

    “It means we are still writing unmaintainable code and it is killing the machine,” he says.

    iBuild and COMPILE aren’t the only utilities developed by Campin. He also created and continues to maintain utilities like Trigger Mediator, User Queue API, and Simple Socket Client Program, among many others. You can see and download many of Campin’s tools at www.think400.dk/downloads.htm. iBuild is maintained at SourceForge, where it’s distributed under a GPL license

    Campin tells IT Jungle he has been out of work for a bit and probably won’t work as a programmer again, so he’s been concentrating on his open source software. There’s just one caveat to that work:

    “Everything I do is about teaching ILE,” he says.

    RELATED STORIES

    What’s Up with Open Source on IBM i?

    Open Source The Path To Software Riches For IBM i

    Open Source Is the Future, So Where Does IBM i Fit In?

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags: Tags: API, IBM i, iBuild, ILE, RPG, RPG III, VS Code

    Sponsored by
    Raz-Lee Security

    Start your Road to Zero Trust!

    Firewall Network security, controlling Exit Points, Open DB’s and SSH. Rule Wizards and graphical BI.

    Request Demo

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    What’s In the Latest Update to PowerHA IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 29

    One thought on “Open Source IBM i Build Tool Now Supports VS Code”

    • ILEIDK says:
      August 21, 2024 at 9:25 am

      Hmmm, I use modules (compiling and building) so I don’t run in the default act group. Not sure what others do, but that’s for \C as well as RPG. ILE? I think that’s part of the problem, most people have moved on from ILE and/or the failed promises. However, building software is a great experience, I hope you’re enjoying it either way.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

TFH Volume: 34 Issue: 36

This Issue Sponsored By

  • Maxava
  • WorksRight Software
  • ARCAD Software
  • Manta Technologies

Table of Contents

  • Open Source IBM i Build Tool Now Supports VS Code
  • What’s In the Latest Update to PowerHA
  • InterForm Sells Majority Stake to Private Equity Firm
  • Four Hundred Monitor, July 24

Content archive

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

Recent Posts

  • IBM Pulls The Curtain Back A Smidge On Project Bob
  • IBM Just Killed Merlin. Here’s Why
  • Guru: Playing Sounds From An RPG Program
  • A Bit More Insight Into IBM’s “Spyre” AI Accelerator For Power
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 42
  • What You Will Find In IBM i 7.6 TR1 and IBM i 7.5 TR7
  • Three Things For IBM i Shops To Consider About DevSecOps
  • Big Blue Converges IBM i RPG And System Z COBOL Code Assistants Into “Project Bob”
  • As I See It: Retirement Challenges
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 41

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 © 2025 IT Jungle