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Setting the date field in Remote Systems LPEX Editor

yantzi — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:18:06 GMT

I get this question a lot: "can I set the set the Date field for a line or selection of lines in the Remote Systems LPEX Editor". The good news is that it's possible. The not so bad news is that you have to setup some simple preferences to make this happen.

First, to show the Date field in the LPEX Editor you need to right click in the editor and select Source > Show Date Area. You can also set the Show date area preference on the Remote Systems > Remote Systems LPEX Editor preference page so you don't have to do this every time you open a member.

LPEX ships a bunch of sample actions, one of which is setDate. This is the action that can set the date field for a line or selection of lines. Here are the steps to set this up:

1. Open the preferences dialog (Window > Preferences).

2. Switch to the LPEX > User Actions page. Enter the following values and click Set (don't forget to click Set or this doesn't add it to the table):

Name: setDate
Class name: com.ibm.lpex.samples.SetDateAction

3. Click Apply.

4. Now you need to assign a keyboard shortcut to the action so it's easy to invoke from the editor. Switch to the user key actions preference page. Enter the following values and click Set.

Key: c-s-t
Action: setDate

The c-s-t sets the keyboard shortcut to Ctrl + Shift + T. You can enter any keyboard shortcut you want here.

5. Click Apply and close the preferences dialog.

When you are inside the LPEX editor you can now invoke the new action. Position the cursor on the line you want to change, or select the block of lines to change. Hint: to select the entire file press Ctrl + Home, then hold down Shift and press Ctrl + End.

Then invoke the action by pressing Ctrl + Shift + T. A dialog box appears at the bottom of the editor prompting for the new date.

While we're on the topic, RDi 7.5 added a new Find Date action to LPEX. Press Ctrl + Shift + D to search for lines that match a specific date, are greater than or less than a date, or match a range.

Alternatively you could move to a change management system like Rational Team Concert for i and stop relying on Date fields to detect when things are changed

RDi Webcast Series

yantzi — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:28:44 GMT

Over the past 2 months I've been doing a monthly webcast series with Sirius Computer Solutions on Rational Developer for i (RDi). The format is generall 40 min deep dive on a specific topic, 10 min preview of the next month's topic, and 10 mins for Q&A.

So far we have covered an overview and a deep dive on RSE. The webcasts are being recorded and are available for playback.

The next one is this coming Friday (November 13th) and will cover the Integrated i Debugger; one of my favorite RDi topics because it's so easy to use and something I have to use often when coding RPG, COBOL, or CL

Here are the details for the upcoming call:

Topic: RDi webcast 3 - Debugger
Date: Friday, November 13, 2009
Time: 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time
Meeting Number: 557 432 806

1-877-369-7289 passcode 7541 then you need to enter 2468.

To join the online meeting (Now from iPhones too!)

1. Go to https://sirius.webex.com/sirius/j.php?ED=112887842&UID=0
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: (This meeting does not require a password.)
4. Click "Join Now".

Hope to see you in one of the upcoming webcasts.

Don.

SQL Tools and RDi

yantzi — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:50:00 GMT

We get a lot of questions about SQL tools and Rational Developer for i (RDi). While we didn't ship the Eclipse Data Tools Platform (SQL tooling) in RDi 7.1 or 7.5, they can be added in after the fact. This is one of the great advantages of an extensible, integrated development environment like Eclipse (which RDi is built on top of). Dmitry Baev, one of the RDi developers, has a new article published in IBM Systems Magazine on Using the Eclipse Data Tools Platform and SQL Tools with RDi.

RDi Webcast Today

yantzi — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:03:32 GMT

I'm presenting on RDi today as part of SystemiNetwork's free IBM i Development Essentials Virtual Conference today. I'll be presenting "RPG and COBOL Development in Less Time With Better Quality Using Rational Developer for i" at 4PM EST.

I've created most of this presentation from scratch and there should be some goodies for both new and experienced RDi users. Hope to see you there!

Business Value of RDi

yantzi — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:31:27 GMT

javajoe2000 asked a good question on the RPG discussion form: Why RDi 7.5?. I've written up a document with my opinions on why I think IBM i development shops should switch from SEU / PDM to RDi here: Why RDi 7.5

Please post discussion comments under Joe's original posting.

Updated RSE Pin-Up

yantzi — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:44:54 GMT

System i Developer (a.k.a Susan, Jon, Paul, and Skip) have updated their RSE Pin-up with 10 new shortcuts and new tips on customizing the RPG editor. These 10 new shortcuts now bring the total to 46; including what I would consider to be the core, must know, RSE keyboard shortcuts. Printing and posting this is a must for anyone using the RSE!

i Finally Did it

yantzi — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:00:53 GMT

I don't know how many times a day I have to hit Ctrl+z to undo Word or PowerPoint's "auto correction" of my i to an I (as in Rational Developer for I, Rational Team Concert for I, or IBM I). So I finally bit the bullet and removed those auto-correction rules since I don't generally write about myself in Word or PowerPoint. Honestly, i have no idea why it took me so long

RDi Elevator Pitch

yantzi — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:45:42 GMT

I'm getting ready for an RDi customer demo for Monday and my co-presenter asked what are the main points I normally cover for RDi. Since I typed up the email, I figured I'd post it here as well. So here is my RDi elevator pitch (provided it's the CN Tower elevator):

Modern Eclipse / Rational SDP tools for the IBM i RPG and COBOL developers.
- SEU / DPM tools are old and don't have even the basic features that developer on other platforms take for granted.
- Things as simple as the ability to undo and redo changes.
- Things as advanced as the ability to generate a visual overview of the structure of an application.
- RDi can do the things green screen tools can do and more.
Improved productivity
- RDi tools are tightly integrated to improve productivity.
  - On the green screen developers have to open SEU to edit, then close and run the compile command. After the compile completes, developer has to open the compiler spool file and look for the error messages. Find the error message and note the line number. Then re-open the member and position to the line number corresponding to the error.
  - In RDi, you open the member in the editor, launch compiles directly from the editor without closing. When the compile finishes, the errors are automatically downloaded and displayed in the Error List view. Double clicking on an error automatically positions the editor to the corresponding line.
  - Open multiple members at the same time, split screen editing of different members, or the same member.
  - Language specific help is integrated with editor (F1 help and content assist)
  - Run remote searches, and results are automatically displayed in the search results view, double click to open editor and position to search result line.
  - Easily attach the integrated i debugger to any job using service entry points (batch, interactive, stored procedures, programs called from the Web)
  - Tools to help developers better understand their large, monolithic source members
    - Color tokenizing lets developers quickly see what are comments, keywords, fields
    - Outline view provides high level overview of source, file records and fields, and makes navigating the source a lot easier.
    - Filtering, searching, and visualizing block nesting are just a few of the editor features
    - Application Diagram can generate a visual representation of the structure of the application. This includes a call graph for CL, COBOL, and RPG source and a binding diagram for ILE programs and service programs. Using split screen editing you can see a visual representation while editing the source!
  - Screen Designer provides visual layout and editing for display files screens
Designed to make the transition easier
- RDi was designed to make the transition from SEU / PDM easy
- Filtering is similar to WRKLIBPDM, WRKOBJPDM, WRKMBRPDM
- Editor supports prefix commands, source prompting, format line
- Object table view provides PDM like view for those not comfortable with the tree view
First step in moving forward
- Adopting RDi for RPG and COBOL development is the first step in enterprise modernization.
- Allows developers to learn the new tool while doing the same tasks they normally do.
- Then they can branch into other areas of enterprise modernization tasks like Web development, Web services, Java or EGL development.
- As well as new tools like Rational Team Concert for i for change management

Random thoughts from WMCPA

yantzi — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:48:30 GMT

Last Friday I was presenting at the Wisconsin user group (WMCPA) on various RDi related topics. It was their all day fall conference and it went really well IMHO. Here are a few random thoughts from the day.

There is a mental shift moving from the green screen "single task" based tools to the "multi-task" based RSE environment. I'm not just talking about the learning curve of learning a new tool, it's more about the mental shift of really understanding how the new tool works.

That's a bit abstract, so let me try to make it more concrete with an example. Recently I've gotten the following question from 3 different people: "Can I run a CL command while editing in the RSE?" The assumption seems to be that, while the editor is open, you can't do anything else. This is what I'm referring to as the single task mode (yes, I know SEU allows you to run a CL command, but that takes over the editor while you are doing it). Another example: while you are debugging on the green screen you can't also be editing code unless you open multiple emulator sessions.

In the RSE you can do most things at the same time. You can run CL commands and work with your objects and members while editing, you can edit multiple members at the same time, you can be debugging one or more programs in the debug perspective and then switch to the RSE to do some other things, then switch back and continue debugging. You can use the RSE in a single-task mode, but over time you make the mental shift and really start leveraging this power. This is not something that can be taught, it just comes with time and experience.

Second observation: always find out the true problem before giving an answer. There are many ways to do things in the RSE, you just need to find the way that best solves your problem. I've written about this before, specifically about using spool files to find compile errors and cross reference information vs. using the Error List and Outline view.

I came across another case of this while running the open lab. A woman in the class was trying to get F1 help for an RPG built in function, but when you press F1 on a BIF it takes you to the help for the opcode (a possible defect?) So I embarked on showing her how she could find the help page that lists the BIFs and bookmark it so she could always jump back to it quickly. She seem okay with this, but not overly thrilled.

A few minutes later she mentioned that she only needed the help because she can never remember what parameters some of the BIFs require and the order they are expected. Ahhhh! What she really needed was the content assist for the BIF which shows you the parameters and a small help blurb. When you select the BIF from the content assist list it even puts up a hover box showing the parameters until you have them all entered in. This got the excited response I was hoping for.

My last observation is more of a comment. Jim Buck, who is the president of the user group, is also a teacher at Gateway Technical College which has an IT - Programmer/Analyst programthat teaches System i and RPG programming. Very cool!

Welcome

yantzi — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:18:56 GMT

Hi, and welcome to the Extending RPG Applications to the Web with EGL blog. This is a blog by some of the IBM i application development tools team members at the IBM Toronto Lab. We've all been involved with RPG and related application development tools for 10+ years (each of us, not cumulative!)

We all believe in using the right tool for the right job. RPG is a very powerful business language on the IBM i. EGL is a powerful language for working with new technologies such as AJAX, JavaServer Faces (JSF)and Web services. So this blog will focus on using the two together; taking business logic written in RPG and providing a Web user interface or Web service interface to it using EGL.

To that end, we hope to provide tips, techniques, stories, pointers and probably even a few questions in this blog. If you are an RPG developer and are using (or looking to use) EGL, we encourage you to comment on blog postings.

The Bloggers,

Claus, George F, George V, Satish, and Don