• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Numbers 29 Through 31

  August 9, 2017 Doug Bidwell

  It is catch up week for us here in the PTF Realm of IBM i Land, with The Four Hundred being on hiatus for a couple of Wednesdays during the summer doldrums. So let’s go through what happened in the prior three editions of the IBM i PTF Guide in sequential order so you can keep track of it.

  In Issue 29, the PTF rundown looked like this. There were updates to Backup Recovery Solution for V7R3, V7R2, and V7R1, as well as for DB2 for IBM i V7R3 and V7R2. WebSphere Application Server V8.5 for V7R3, V7R2, and V7R1 …

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• IBM i Gets Some Development Help

  August 7, 2017 Dan Burger

  Faster, faster, must go faster. In order to pick up the pace of IBM i development, Big Blue has enlisted the support of HelpSystems, with the goal of accelerating enhancements to Rational Developer for i, PowerHA System Mirror for i, and Backup, Recovery and Media Services (BRMS) on i. HelpSystems will take the product enhancement development lead, while working with the existing team in Rochester. IBM will continue to integrate and deliver these products into the IBM i operating system.

  The transition is under way. Roadmaps are being discussed. IBM and HelpSystems are building the infrastructure and environments required for …

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• A Fresche Start For Mike Pavlak

  August 7, 2017 Alex Woodie

  If you’ve ever dealt with PHP on IBM i, it would be tough to avoid hearing about Mike Pavlak, who worked directly for Zend Technology, which is the PHP company. But after nine years with the firm, Pavlak is now teaming up with Fresche Solutions, where he aims to work directly with IBM i clients on a wide range of open source and modernization projects.

  Pavlak has been a familiar face on the IBM i speaking circuit for just as long as PHP has been supported on the platform. His technological acumen and positive demeanor have been instrumental in helping …

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• Guru: The PHP Path To Victory, Part 2

  August 7, 2017 Chris Ringer

  Part 1 of this article discussed the path a PHP request takes on its way to your backend RPG program through the magic of an external SQL stored procedure. You may need to review the SQL, PHP, and RPG code there before continuing here. If you have not yet downloaded the code to your IBM i (found in Part 1), now would be a good time to do that.

  Part 2 will give you the confidence to troubleshoot those times when something unexpected occurs in this PHP environment. And if you are a developer for large company, the responsibility of …

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• What Is Driving Application Modernization?

  August 7, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  What you don’t measure you cannot manage, the old adage says. And the key vendors in the IBM i community, ever chasing that next opportunity, do a pretty good job querying the installed base of customers about what they are up to and why. A better job than Big Blue, which should be the biggest beneficiary of the 125,000-strong IBM i base, if you want to be truthful about it.

  We are always on the hunt for any insight into what is going on out there in IBM i Land, and Rocket Software, a provider of application modernization and …

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• IBM i Trading Punches In The Automotive Supply Chain

  August 7, 2017 Dan Burger

  Manufacturing in the U.S. is experiencing some drastic changes. In the supply chain, IBM’s midrange computers have been a controlling force. The automotive supply chain is a great example. But are the wheels coming off this legendary IT platform? Future-thinking tier suppliers are brain wrestling with the question of whether to modernize or migrate.

  There is a combination of technologies, architectures, and costs to balance. And then there’s the wild card of partnerships, trusted advisors, customer feedback, and corporate mergers and acquisitions that factor into decision making. How is the IBM i faring in this sea of change?

  It seems …

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• The Power Neine Conundrum

  July 24, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  If you take a very liberal interpretation of what the term cognitive systems means, including database, middleware, analytics software and the underlying system hardware and software, then IBM has spent untold tens of billions of dollars – probably hundreds of billions, really – creating its Cognitive Systems stack. We wonder what all of that analytics and machine learning software would say, with Watson’s voice of course, if it was pointed at IBM’s entire financial and technical history.

  What is the prognosis, Doctor Watson?

  We here at IT Jungle are an optimistic lot, and we realize that IBM, like many of …

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• Mulling Midrange Optimism

  July 24, 2017 Alex Woodie

  It can be hard to be positive about the state of the IBM i server. While there are occasionally signs of growth, the overall size of the market is a small fraction of what it used to be. Outside of Rochester, you can scarcely find an IBMer who can even spell “eye bee em eye.” But a recent merger involving third-party vendors indicates there may be hidden life in the legacy platform.

  Last month’s blockbuster acquisition involved IBM i HA software vendor Vision Solutions being sold by Clearlake Capital Group to Centerbridge Partners in order to merge it with Syncsort …

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• Guru: Fundamentals Of Prototyping, Part 1

  July 24, 2017 Jon Paris

  In my series on parameter passing fundamentals, I mentioned the importance of using prototypes to help ensure consistency of parameter definitions; i.e., to help ensure that the parameter passed to the called routine matches what is expected. After that article was published, it came to my attention that many of my readers were unaware of some of the additional capabilities of prototypes, in particular that prototypes can not only identity errors in parameter usage, but that in some cases they can actually fix them for you!

  Before we can begin, though, it would be a good idea to ensure that …

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• As I See It: Those Accursed Millennials

  July 24, 2017 Victor Rozek

  Kids!

  I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today!

  Kids!

  Who can understand anything they say?

  Kids!

  They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs!

  Noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy, loafers!

  While we’re on the subject:

  Kids!

  You can talk and talk till your face is blue!

  Kids!

  But they still just do what they want to do!

  Why can’t they be like we were,

  Perfect in every way?

  What’s the matter with kids today?

  That little ditty was sung by the wonderfully snarky Paul Lynde from the 1960s musical Bye Bye Birdie, still performed in high schools around the country. Beyond …

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