• Knee-Deep In Ruby Waters

  January 27, 2015 Aaron Bartell

  In Testing The Ruby Waters I introduced you to Ruby and how to use irb (interactive Ruby shell) to easily run and test Ruby code. In this article I expound on that and introduce more features of the Ruby programming language as it relates to an IBM i programmer. In particular, Ruby methods and one form of encapsulation. Ruby is an object-oriented language; everything in Ruby is an object. But that doesn’t inhibit Ruby from being used in a more procedural approach. Below is a Ruby program named “say_hi.rb” with a method definition of “hi”, and then the invocation of

  … Read more

• The Powerful SQL Upsert

  January 27, 2015 Ted Holt

  As you well know, a common task in business computing is to update an entity (customer, vendor, purchase order line, etc.) that exists, but add the entity if it doesn’t exist. In RPG this requires two operations–an update and a write–within a conditional statement. In SQL one statement handles the whole shebang. Here’s how it works. Here’s some RPG III code that illustrates the situation. FCUSTF UF E K DISK . . . code omitted C CUSKEY KLIST C KFLD COMP C KFLD ACCT C* . . . more code omitted C* HILOEQ C CUSKEY CHAINCUSTREC 99 C* . .

  … Read more

• Everybody Likes Shortcuts! Part 2, Playing With Blocks

  January 27, 2015 Susan Gantner

  In my last tip on RSE shortcuts, I talked about shortcuts that help you find your way as you navigate through source members. Eventually, you find the place where you need to work with the code. So in this tip, I’ll concentrate on shortcuts to help with that, and specifically working with blocks of code. First let’s talk about selecting a block of code. There are many ways: You could drag your mouse over the block or hold down the Shift key and use the cursor arrow down key to select the lines for the block. The one I’ve

  … Read more

• Reader Feedback On IBM i Wish List For 2015

  January 26, 2015 Hey, TPM

  First, my disclaimer. I have worked my whole life in the S/3X space: 31 years as an IBMer, last 10 working for the (now) IBM i brand and Rochester, then nine years working for IBM Business Partners. Next, my wish list (biased by the above): 1) I’d like to see graduated pricing for IBM i, regardless of software tier. One of the biggest impediments to sales of new footprints is Initial Purchase Price. P05 licenses of IBM i and its LPPs are very competitive. P10 is expensive and P20 and above are prohibitive. I’d like to see IBM make the

  … Read more

• As I See It: Partisans and Mercenaries

  January 26, 2015 Victor Rozek

  Long ago in simpler times, I read a novel in which one character kills another with a credit card. I remember being dismayed that something so trivial as a credit card could be used as a weapon. It seemed there was no end to human ingenuity when it came to dispatching other human beings. By the time computers became militarized, I was no longer dismayed. It was obvious that a tool capable of amplifying human capacities would not be limited to the perfection of human nature. But with the growth of the World Wide Web, something unforeseen happened that sent

  … Read more

• Capturing Data, Not Just Documents

  January 26, 2015 Dan Burger

  There is a pretty good chance that content management systems are not what you think they are. Preconceived notions and unwarranted conclusions are a dime a dozen. CMS, in the minds of most people, is about scanning and capturing reports. Or it is about going paperless and abandoning the old metal filing cabinets. But if that’s all you think it is, you are missing the big picture. Mobile and analytics technology have altered how data is captured and how it is used. The shift that has occurred in content management is not insignificant. Mobile and analytics have converged at a

  … Read more

• More IBM i Predictions From The Community

  January 26, 2015 Alex Woodie

  Last week, we ran part one of our IBM i predictions series. Most of the prophecies were positive, although there were a few pessimists in the bunch (some might call them realists). This week we have round two of our predictions, including some interesting hunches from the top honchos in Rochester, as well as more doses of (shall we say) “realism” from dedicated IBM i advocates. Steve Will, Chief Architect–IBM i Operating System “From a community predictions point of view, I do believe that conferences and user groups in the IBM i community are going to have a healthy year,

  … Read more

• Profound Logic, ARCAD Partnership Targets Modernization Projects

  January 26, 2015 Dan Burger

  Modernization strategies in the IBM midrange community are inevitable because the future is not exactly hospitable to those who cling to the past. At some point, the risk of doing nothing exceeds the risk of moving forward with new plans. Last week, Profound Logic and ARCAD Software announced a partnership that signals more activity in the modernization arena. It is not the first ISV action relative to modernization and it won’t be the last. Profound Logic is one of the leaders in the application development tool business. ARCAD is a major player in the change management field. Both companies have

  … Read more

• A SoftLanding For AUTOMON. . . . InterSigning From InterForm. . . . Where Oh Where Did My BABY Go (Windows). . . .

  January 21, 2015 Alex Woodie

  In this issue’s roundup of IBM i news, we cover the latest AUTOMON offerings from SoftLanding, a new digital signature capture solution from InterForm (which is sold as ArtForm/400 here in the U.S.), and the 2015 edition of Infinite’s BABY36. A SoftLanding for AUTOMON UNICOM Global subsidiary SoftLanding Systems recently issued new releases of its AUTOMON suite of systems management tools for the IBM i. The New Hampshire company bolstered several AUTOMON components, including the job scheduler, called iSchedule; the iConsole message monitoring tool; and iMessage, which allows users to respond to messages remotely. The new release of iSchedule should

  … Read more

• IBM Wraps Up Change In 2014, Looks Ahead To 2015

  January 21, 2015 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Although the company might be called International Business Machines, the real drivers, at least in 2015, are set to revolve around data, cloud, and engagement. That was the message from Martin Schroeter, IBM’s chief financial officer, who walked Wall Street analysts through the company’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2014 after the markets closed on Tuesday. While Power Systems and System z servers and various storage products will be a foundation for IBM’s business, Big Blue will continue to push its software and services in the pursuit of revenue and profit growth. As is usually the case, Ginni

  … Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles