• IBM Adds New PDM Perspective to RDi

  May 9, 2018 Alex Woodie

  IBM is receiving high marks for a new feature called PDM Perspective that it just launched in Rational Developer for i version 9.6.0.2. The new feature gives users the capability to filter libraries or members in RDi that’s very similar to the way PDM functioned in SEU. It’s so good, according to some IBM i experts, that it eliminates any reason not to use RDi.

  There are several new features in RDi version 9.6.0.2, which IBM released May 2, but it’s the PDM Perspective feature that’s getting the most attention. According to IBM, the new PDM Perspective in the Object …

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• Guru: Refactoring into Routines

  May 7, 2018 Ted Holt

  In RDi and Refactoring, I illustrated the process of refactoring by taking code of a very old style and converting it little by little into something modern. I promised to write more about the subject, and today I fulfill that promise.

  The things I did in that first article — removing indicators, removing the COMP op code, removing GOTO, and renaming variables — are great, but they are not the only refactoring techniques. One of the best ways to refactor is to create new routines or improve existing routines, especially routines that can stand alone.

  To illustrate, I’ll begin …

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• Git Started With GitHub And ARCAD On IBM i

  April 23, 2018 Ray Bernardi

  (Sponsored Content) I have been experimenting with Git as the repository for IBM i native source like RPG, CLP, and so on. Git seems to be the source repository of choice at the moment and using it for native code seems to open up a whole new world to IBM i developers. Imagine being able to branch and merge IBM i code as easily as you do your PHP code. Imagine adopting agile methodologies for native development, builds and deployments. Imagine never having to “check-out” code and jump through those hoops. That’s what Git allows, and it’s really …

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• Guru: Ready or Not! Part 2 of Big Changes in RDi V9.6, Hover and Annotations

  April 23, 2018 Susan Gantner

  If you’re one of those RDi users who doesn’t bother updating to the latest releases, listen up. I’ll bet that at least one of the new features in V9.6 will entice you to update. In Ready Or Not, Big Changes in RDi V9.6! Part 1, Key Behavior, I covered some RDi key behavior changes. Here I’ll explore some of the more noticeable — and to me anyway, more useful — features: enhanced hover text and new annotation support.

  Hover Text

  RDi has had hover text for variables and procedures for a while now. You could hover over an item …

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• IBM Kills iAccess for Windows, Older RDi Versions

  April 18, 2018 Alex Woodie

  Spring is still weeks away in the Upper Midwest, where it still feels like winter. But that didn’t stop the IBM i leadership in Rochester, Minnesota from embarking upon some spring cleaning by sending out to pasture some development tooling and admin interfaces for IBM i, including older releases of RDi and all of iAccess for Windows.

  IBM yesterday announced that effective April 30, 2019, it will withdraw IBM i Access for Windows. That announcement puts the final nail in the coffin of the old Windows-based client that traces its roots back to OpsNav.

  Here’s the short announcement posted to …

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• Guru: RDi and Refactoring

  April 16, 2018 Ted Holt

  When I first heard the term refactoring, I thought, “So that’s what they call it.” I had been refactoring for years, my only tools being SEU and a compiler listing. I learned a long time ago that refactoring is often necessary to enhance code, especially poorly written code. Another reason I often refactor is to better understand poor code.

  To refactor means to rewrite source code without changing its external behavior. Due to all the “legacy” source code (RPG II, RPG III, fixed-form RPG IV, OCL, etc.) in IBM i shops, the ability to refactor source code is a …

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• Guru: Beyond The Basics Of Code Conversion

  March 19, 2018 Paul Tuohy

  Today many RPG programmers are tasked with having to modernize existing programs. These programs often have long and varied history. They may be RPG IV programs or they may be RPG IV programs that were originally RPG II or RPG III programs, or any permutation or combination you can imagine. There are tools available to help us convert from fixed-form RPG to free-form RPG and, within RDi, we have options to help us reformat code and refactor variable names. But these tools can only go so far. We finally reach the point where we have to put fingers to the …

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• Guru: Ready Or Not, Big Changes in RDi V9.6! Part 1, Key Behavior

  February 26, 2018 Susan Gantner

  Version 9.6 of RDi has many new features. If you’ve upgraded your RDi, you have undoubtedly noticed some of the enhancements, because most of the new features are enabled by default. Just in case you’re not a huge fan of some of those features, most can also be disabled to make things work as before if you know where to look.

  In this series, we’ll take a look at some of the new features and how to enable and/or disable them. In this first part, we’ll study two new key behaviors and how to control them.

  Many of the enhancements …

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• A Skills Shortage Solution Alert

  October 23, 2017 Dan Burger

  Employee development doesn’t get the credit it deserves when it comes to talent acquisition. Putting the right people in the right place and giving them the right tools is not a new concept. Many of the top programmers work for companies where this concept has been in place for years. They are homegrown. It follows a pattern: Hire programmers with useful skill sets and if that doesn’t include modern RPG, train them.

  The steep green-screen learning curve and natural tendency for young developers to resist the old fixed format RPG isn’t really a factor with modern free format RPG and …

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• RDi Jumps Aboard The TR Train

  October 9, 2017 Dan Burger

  What is it going to take to convince IBM i developers that RDi, a modern Eclipse-based development environment with an impressive list of productivity enhancements, is a better development tool than the traditional green-screen tools that were designed decades ago? While IBM hasn’t upgraded the green-screen development tools in years, the investment in RDi continues. The latest Technology Refreshes, announced last week, embellished the list of productivity features RDi offers.

  Most IBM i shops that are using modern RPG coding techniques are familiar with RDi and the value of modernizing applications that are significant business assets. It is the organizations …

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