• Guru: A Handy Function for Unit Testing

  December 4, 2017 Paul Tuohy

  I would like to share a technique I use for dealing with lists in an RPG unit test program. According to Wikipedia, “. . . unit testing is a software testing method by which individual units of source code, sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures, are tested to determine whether they are fit for use.”

  In the world of modern RPG, this translates to writing “test” programs to test a specific piece of code. For example, when I write a subprocedure, I will write a test program that …

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• Fresche Plan: Guidance Leads To Growth

  December 4, 2017 Dan Burger

  Without wings, an airplane has no chance to fly. A legacy-based IBM i shop is like an airplane without wings. During the past few years, more companies have recognized that IT modernization is necessary. It’s a complex problem with many moving parts and deserves a strategic approach for best results. At the same time, the transition has become an easier problem to solve.

  Tools have evolved and much of the manual labor that was once required has been automated. And service providers have stepped up to handle work that companies are ill-equipped to take on themselves. Companies that are quick …

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• Mainframe And IBM i Share App Dev Testing Tool

  November 29, 2017 Dan Burger

  The integration of disparate IT systems is on the priority list for many companies aggravated by the duplication of effort and the cost tooling for each development environment. It’s fueled the rise of DevOps and the big picture view emphasizing speed and collaboration. For IT environments that share mainframe and IBM i platforms, we have uncovered software that allows applications written in COBOL, PL/I, EGL, RPG and Assembler to share a single tool for testing programs.

  The tool is called XaTester and it’s available through IBM and the company, Xact Consulting, that created it. Xact Consulting is an international …

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• Guru: Using SELECT * With Cursors

  November 27, 2017 Ted Holt

  From time to time someone brings to my attention the use of SELECT * with SQL cursors in RPG programs. Specifically, is that a good idea or a bad idea? I have learned that the answer to that question is “It depends.” Using SELECT * in a cursor declaration may or may not get you into trouble.

  To set the stage, let’s begin with a simple example — an RPG program that reads one table (physical file) and prints each row (record). Even though most programs use data from more than one table, programs that read only one table are …

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• Coming Attractions: The IBM i App Dev Multi-Platform Show

  November 13, 2017 Dan Burger

  Multi-platform development is more vision than reality. Application development is still a siloed environment as programming work remains more isolated and less collaborative than visionary thinkers wish it to be. Therefore, the existence of multiple programming environments within an organization seldom reaches the goal of operating as a team. Much of the potential benefit of teamwork lingers out of reach. Instead of a single team with common operations, there are individual teams with individual operations.

  The good news is that it’s better than it used to be. Still, the fabric of multi-platform unity and the efficiencies it would bring to …

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• Should Spark In-Memory Run Natively On IBM i?

  November 6, 2017 Alex Woodie

  There’s a revolution happening in the field of data analytics, and an open source computing framework called Apache Spark is right smack in the middle of it. Spark is such a powerful tool that IBM elected to create a distribution of it that runs natively on its System z mainframe. Will it do the same for its baby mainframe, the IBM i?

  So, what is Apache Spark, and why should you care? Great questions! Let’s introduce you to Spark.

  Spark came out of UC Berkeley’s AMPLab about five years ago to provide a faster and easier-to-use alternative to MapReduce, which …

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• Guru: Wow! I Could Have Had Long Column Names! – Take 2

  October 23, 2017 Ted Holt

  In 1990, three computer science professors named Gorla, Benander, and Benander wrote about debugging effort in COBOL programs. Among their claims was that debugging is easier if variable names were between 10 and 16 characters long. The original native data definition facilities allowed variable names up to 10 characters, but nowadays we can define alias names that Gorla, Benander, and Benander would be proud of.

  It is common in many DB2 for i shops to have physical files with field names of six characters or less. This practice dates to predecessor systems, such as the System/36, for which the …

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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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• Continuous Improvement: Within Reach, Without Fear

  October 18, 2017 Dan Burger

  There are relatively few companies with end-to-end operations that actually achieve the goal of continuous improvement. It tends to be more of a slogan than a policy for most. And it’s easily recognizable with a glimpse of the IT department. Cutting edge isn’t mandatory, but the stakes have never been higher for those that lag or, through inaction or other poor decisions, make costly mistakes — some quickly realized and others of the ticking time bomb variety.

  Keeping an IT department moving forward is no sure bet, but it helps when the company commitment to persistent progress is more than …

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• Guru: Error Handling in SQL PL, Part 2

  October 16, 2017 Ted Holt

  In the previous episode of this exciting, action-packed series, I introduced you to the exception-handling methods that IBM has built into SQL PL. The cliff-hanger has lasted four months now, much too long. It’s high time I explained RESIGNAL, as I promised I would. I will explain SIGNAL while I’m at it.

  Before I start the syntax lesson, I need to explain a bit of philosophy. I use the hit-the-ball-drag-Harry method of exception-handling when I embed SQL in RPG and COBOL programs. That is, I execute a command, test the SQL state, execute a command, test the SQL state, …

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