• Writing Control Break Programs

  May 12, 2004 Ted Holt

  [The code for this article is available for download.]

  Having worked on programs written by different programmers, I have noticed a lot of different techniques and programming styles. However, one thing is consistent: that most programmers do not design programs. When it comes time to write a program, they just sit down at their workstations and have at it. This approach to program development results in error-prone programs that are hard to modify. A saying I once read on a poster comes to mind: If builders built houses the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker to …

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• Changing Prototypes and Dual Prototyping

  May 12, 2004 Hey, Joel

  You mentioned in your article “Service Programs with a Smile” that changing a procedure’s prototype could cause problems. Are you saying you should never change a prototype? I’d like to add a new parameter to a procedure, and it seems a little impractical for me to create a whole new procedure. Any suggestions?

  

  — Jim

  You are absolutely right, it would be impractical, but fortunately that won’t be necessary. What I was referring to in that article was changing a parameter in a prototype, which could cause disastrous results. Adding a new parameter, however, is a different story, as long

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• Sending E-Mail from RPG

  May 12, 2004 Hey, David

  [The code for this article is available for download.]

  A few years ago you wrote an article about sending e-mail using the QzmfCrtMailMsg API. I used your code at my last job to send e-mail from RPG programs. I told my new boss I could set it up so that we could send e-mail from our RPG programs, but I don’t have the magazine with that article. Is that article available online, and is the QzmfCrtMailMsg still the way to go?

  –Frank

   

  Back in 1998, QzmfCrtMailMsg was a good option for RPG programmers, but there are …

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• OS/400 Alert: i5, or iHype?

  May 12, 2004 Shannon O'Donnell

  You’ve heard all the news in The Four Hundred about the newest operating system and hardware from IBM, and may be getting anxious, thinking that you are going to be left behind. Before you start hyperventilating, take a moment to read what I have to say about what this announcement really means to you from a practical perspective. Also in this issue we tell you about the arrest of the creator of W32.Sasser and a rather goofy OS/400 PTF from IBM.

  

  WHAT DOES I5 MEAN TO YOU?

  In case you missed it, IBM announced last week that our beloved

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• Using RPG As Your ASP Language, Part 2

  May 5, 2004 Howard Arner, Jr., and Holley Davis

  Last week, we ran the first article in this two-part series, which described our experiences in creating a Web application, using RPG as our ASP language. We discussed the project we were attempting to create, its requirements, setting up the environment, and our first programming steps. In this article, we finish the project by adding interactive grids to the browser application, adding an additional drill-down to allow the viewing of physical file fields, and offer our conclusions about developing with ASNA‘s Visual RPG for Visual Studio .NET.

  

  To catch you up, my partner and I had decided to create

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• Proper CL Error-Handling

  May 5, 2004 Hey, Ted

  When a CL program produces an unexpected error, we find the problem, fix it, and take option “I” (ignore) or “R” (retry) in response to the error message. However, when a user runs a program and encounters an unexpected error, we run into problems. The user might call us. The user might not call us. The user may pick the wrong option and really mess things up. What can we do?

  

  –Sandra

  You can prevent the user from seeing an inquiry message when something goes wrong. The first thing you need is a global monitor message (MONMSG) command that branches

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• Closing Files in ILE Service Programs

  May 5, 2004 Hey, Ted

  We’re moving all our new development to RPG IV and ILE, and as part of this process we are looking at putting our commonly used processes into service programs. Many of these functions require access to database files. For example, one function would retrieve the price of an item according to the area in which it is being sold, the date for which the price is applicable, and whether any discounts have been set up. This is quite a complicated procedure, and we want a simple function we can call that will prevent us having to code it separately each

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• Admin Alert: Hitting the Limits of the QNTC File System

  May 5, 2004 Joe Hertvik

  In a recent column, I discussed OS/400’s QNTC file system and its ability to treat Windows file systems as targets for ASCII and stream file operations. While QNTC is undeniably a good thing, I was incorrect in stating that QNTC lets you back up Windows data to an OS/400-based tape drive by using the Save Object (SAV) command. You can do this function, but only in one very specific OS/400 configuration.

  

  The experience behind this statement occurred when a Windows network tape drive broke, leaving my shop without a reliable backup solution. “Great,” I thought, “I have an alternative: I

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• OS/400 Alert: Fix Central Is Now Firewall-Enabled

  May 5, 2004 Shannon O'Donnell

  This week’s “OS/400 Alert” lets you in on a couple of announcements from IBM. In addition, Microsoft has released a couple of security bulletins that you should be aware of. We’ll tell you where to go to learn more.

  

  ISERIES SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

  One of the cool things about Symantec‘s Norton utilities is its capability to notify itself that new virus definitions are available. This makes it easy for you to keep current on virus protection because you do not have to remind yourself to check for updates every so often. IBM is now offering a similar service for

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• Cross-Reference Your Procedures

  April 28, 2004 Bruce Guetzkow

  [The code for this article is available for download.]

  

  With the advent of procedures, it has become much simpler for iSeries programmers to write reusable snippets of code. But keeping track of those snippets is a bit more involved. Since a source member can contain multiple procedures, how do you know which procedures are found in which modules and where they are used? If you have the *MODULE objects, from IBM, you have the tools to answer those questions. With the code provided in this article, you can create your own procedure cross-reference files and commands.

  THE

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