1. Practical Array Processing: Initializing and Sorting

Array processing has changed in RPG IV and has gotten significantly better. This article starts with the basics: initializing and sorting. By Joe Pluta Every computer language above the level of assembly language has the concept of an array

2. Does Source Maintenance Need to Be So Difficult?

How can we significantly improve the maintenance process? By Steve Kilner If someone could do a time, motion, and thought study of what maintenance programmers actually do, what might be learned, and how could the maintenance process be i

3. Better Tools for RPG Maintenance Programmers

We're conducting a survey to get you better tools. By Thomas M. Stockwell RPG is a great language with a long history of IBM commitment. But the focus of IBM's evolution for the language has been almost exclusively upon enhancin

4. The API Corner: Customize Application Behavior for Each User

It's easy with the User Application Information APIs! By Bruce Vining I received the following from reader Kiernan M.:   "Your articles are giving me all kinds of ideas for improving our system.... Is there an API

5. Exploiting the IBM Express Runtime

Developing multi-tiered software has become ever easier, but deploying it is a challenge that IBM Express Runtime was designed to meet. By Joe Pluta There are two kinds of developers in the world. One kind loves to cobble together a pow

6. How to Implement Event Notification Triggers

Using event notification triggers is a smart, simple, cost-effective way to improve productivity. By Bob Gleisner The concept behind event notification triggers is fairly simple. As the name suggests, the goal of implementing event noti

7. Welcome to the New RDi-SOA

With the release of Version 7.5 of RDi-SOA, IBM provides the first real vision of the future of IBM i development. By Joe Pluta With Something Old and Something New They Borrowed the Best And Turned It Blue  

8. Zend Releases New Version of Zend Framework

This version includes a new DB2/400 adapter that makes it easier to access data on IBM i. By Chris Smith Developers who were adventurous enough to try to develop Web applications on IBM i using PHP and Zend Framework often ran into a fe

9. Are We There Yet? Find Out with the RPGLE Progress Bar

Eliminate user frustration by giving them feedback about long-running jobs. By Mike Faust If you've ever created an interactive application that processes a lot of data, and as a result runs for a long time, you've probably had

10. The Unglamorous Science of Software Maintenance

Big gains can be realized by focusing on what RPG programmers actually do. By Steve Kilner For the past few decades, while software development has traveled through a long list of new languages and methodologies, a lesser-known journey

11. Keep a Tight Hold on Project Scope

How can you keep "scope creep" and "feature creep" under control? By Colleen Garton Editor's note: This article is an excerpt from Fundamentals of Technology Project Management published by MC Press.  

12. Practical Examples of Code Without Indicators, Part II

Indicatorless programming isn't just about removing indicators; it's about using Boolean values properly. Today's article will show you how. By Joe Pluta In the previous article in this series, I showed you how to use the INDARA

13. The API Corner: Parallelism with Open List APIs

Get the best response time with Open List APIs. By Bruce Vining This is the sixth, and final, article in a series that discusses how to find all *PGMs and *SRVPGMs that have a specific *MODULE bound into them. And to think this series s

14. Remote System Explorer: The Tool of Choice for IBM i Application Development

Learn how to view and modify field values and set breakpoints in the Integrated i5/OS Debugger. By Don Yantzi and Nazmin Haji Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt from the new MC Press book The Remote System Explorer: Modern De

15. Getting the Message Using an SQL UDTF

Use an SQL user-defined table function (UDTF) to access messages in a message file. By Mike Faust If you've ever needed to retrieve information from a message file, you're probably already aware of the Retrieve Message (QMHRTVM)

16. The CL Corner: Add Your Own Options to the IBM WRKOUTQ Command

Did you know you could enhance the IBM "Work with" commands? By Bruce Vining Over the years, many users have asked for the ability to enhance IBM-provided displays. With V6R1, this is now possible with the commands Work with Ou

17. Avoid Record Lock Errors

Prevent the most common cause of record lock errors so that you can sleep through the night. By Kevin Forsythe As long as we've written programs that update data files, there has been record lock, and as long as we continue to updat

18. Use Long, Descriptive Names in RPG Fields, Data Structures, and Prototypes

What do you do when 15 characters just aren't enough? By Mike Faust If you're like me, you've become so used to abbreviating names for fields, data structures, prototypes, and subprocedures to stay within the 15-character limi

19. Making the Best Use of V6 SQL OLAP Functions

Getting the most benefit out DB2 for i requires keeping the concept of "set at time" in mind and making use of all the latest features and functions. By Mike Cain In Dan Cruikshank's August 2008 article "Working with Da

20. Using SQL in the Real World

Why are the examples for SQL always so lame? It's time to see what you can do with SQL on a real-world database. By Joe Pluta Seriously, how often do you change the price in an entire price file by 15 percent? I don't know of a

21. Practical Examples of Code Without Indicators, Part I

You've heard a lot about coding without indicators and perhaps even seen some code, but this article will show how the techniques can make you a better developer. By Joe Pluta RPG programmers have a long and storied relationship with

22. The API Corner: Finding Modules in a *PGM

Today, you'll learn about the QBNLPGMI API. By Bruce Vining This article is the fifth in a series that discusses how to find all *PGMs and *SRVPGMs that have a specific *MODULE bound into them. Today, we're adding support to the

23. Exploit the Power of Joins in SQL SELECT Statements

Inner joins, outer joins, exception joins, cross joins... Do you know how to take full advantage of all the types of joins? By Kevin Forsythe Editor's Note: In this excerpt from SQL for eServer i5 and iSeries, author Kevin Forsythe

24. The CL Corner: Just How Big Is That Variable?

You can determine at run-time the size of a variable. By Bruce Vining I recently conducted a workshop on best programming practices when working with system APIs. One of the practices I recommend is to avoid hard-coding values such as v

25. Build Business Database Applications Online with Zoho Creator

Zoho adds powerful features to Zoho Creator 3.0 and introduces a new Marketplace to buy and sell the resulting Web applications. By Chris Smith There are times when you need a small application in a hurry, and you don't feel like sp

26. Easily Identify What Message a Job Is Waiting On

With the QUSRJOBI and QMHRCVM APIs and MONBCH2, you know exactly what the message is and how to reply. By Bruce Vining In a previous article, "Keep Those Batch Jobs Running (Or How to Enjoy Your Off Time)," we saw how to detect

27. Emulate Object-Oriented Programming in ILE RPG, Part II

Now, we'll take the concept to the next level by using prototyped subprocedures. By Mike Faust In a previous article, we explored how nested data structures can help to emulate the way object-oriented programming languages access info

28. Taming EJB 3 Development with Rational Application Developer 7.5 and WebSphere 7

Harness RAD 7.5 power to persist data in DB2 for i. By Jarek Miszczyk I believe that EJB 3 and its core element, Java Persistence API (JPA), have finally fixed what had been broken in the J2EE data persistency specification. The inher

29. Book Review: IBM System i APIs at Work, Second Edition

API expert Bruce Vining delivers the only comprehensive guide to APIs. By Jon Paris Although I have rarely had problems using the C-style APIs from RPG, for some strange reason, the system APIs have always intimidated me. Perhaps it is

30. Gain Control over Libraries in SOA Applications

Library lists have long been our mainstay, but with server programs it's not so easy to set that initial library list. By Joe Pluta The IBM i has a number of unique features, things that set it apart from nearly every other machine.

31. The API Corner: Take Advantage of Open List APIs

Do you know how to open, use, and close an open list? By Bruce Vining This article is the fourth in a series that discusses how to find all *PGMs and *SRVPGMs that have a specific *MODULE bound into them. Before reading this article, yo

32. PHP: Server-Side Scripting for the Business Developer

Solve business application needs, jazz up existing applications, create user interfaces, or make applications easily accessible for remote users. By Laura Ubelhor Many languages can be used for server-side programming, including Java, JSP

33. Managing SQL Is Easy with Change Management Tools

There's no reason not to forge ahead with new techniques such as SQL as long as you have the right tools in place. By Ray Bernardi Structured Query Language (SQL) is a keyword-oriented language, which makes it easy to learn and use,

34. Keep Those Batch Jobs Running (Or How to Enjoy Your Off Time)

With the QUSLJOB API and my MONBCH program working for you, you can relax when you're away from the office. By Bruce Vining My recent series of articles prompted the following note from reader Jerry G.:   "I enj

35. Emulate Object-Oriented Programming in ILE RPG

What do you get when you combine nested data structures with prototyped subprocedures? By Mike Faust According to Wikipedia, although the concepts behind object-oriented (OO) programming have been around since the 1960s, they weren'

36. The CL Corner: Learn More About C Run-Time APIs

Now let's use the ctime API. By Bruce Vining Similar to how we enhanced the original Send Update program, SNDUPD, and the Check Last Send program, CHKLSTSND, to incorporate a level of operational friendliness to the job at hand with

37. Is There a Rich Client in Your Future?

The browser is the successor to the 5250, but the rich client is its replacement. By Joe Pluta The 5250 turned the midrange computer into the indispensable component of the computer world. You can reasonably argue that interactive

38. Picking the Right Partner for RPG

With all the options available, are you in danger of being blinded by application development science? By Joe Pluta RPG is no longer a standalone language. Gone are the days of learning RPG alone; you have to interface with the larger I

39. The API Corner: Finding All *SRVPGMs on the System

Do you know how to use the Open List of Objects (QGYOLOBJ) API? By Bruce Vining This article is the third in a series that discusses how to find all *PGMs and *SRVPGMs that have a specific *MODULE bound into them. Before reading this ar

40. Book Review: JavaScript for the Business Developer

There's no faster, easier way to become proficient in JavaScript. By Jan Jorgensen This book landed on my desk just before my holiday in Greece. I looked at it and thought, "How can anybody cover such a large subject in just 16

41. The System Integration Challenge: Eliminating Project Breakdowns

With proper planning, you can ensure a smooth system integration project. By Marty Acks So, your next big project is to integrate one of your existing systems with another system of which you may or may not have in-depth knowledge. In t

42. Working with Data Sets

Let's look back at the various ways we processed data sets using RPG and compare that to the new V6R1 SQL grouping sets capability. By Daniel Cruikshank Like many midrangers, I began my career as a computer operator, loading card de

43. The CL Corner: Alternatives to the CEE Date and Time APIs

Have you tried using the C run-time date and time APIs? By Bruce Vining In the two most recent articles of this column (here and here), we have looked at the CEE date and time APIs and seen how easy it is, when working with Lilian second

44. The API Corner: Finding Modules in a *SRVPGM

Are you aware of what you can do with the QBNLSPGM API? By Bruce Vining In the last article, "Module, Module, Who's Got My Module?", we wrote an application to find all *SRVPGMs that had a given *MODULE bound into them. We

45. The CL Corner: More on ILE CEE Time APIs

Learn how to use the Convert Seconds to Character Timestamp (CEEDATM) and Convert Timestamp to Number of Seconds (CEESECS) APIs. By Bruce Vining In the last column of this series, we looked at the Get Current Local Time (CEELOCT) and Co

46. Advances in XML

XML has become the standard for exchanging complex data, and i is quickly becoming the standard platform for processing it. By Joe Pluta Passing business data from one machine to another has always been one of the more difficult issues,

47. Expand Your Database with UDFs

User-defined functions are flexible and easy to create. Add them to your development toolkit to create powerful new solutions for your company. By Bruce Vining Many of you are quite familiar with DDS and the ability to define physical a

48. Performance When Converting Legacy Dates

Converting legacy dates to true dates? One approach is significantly faster. by Sam Lennon Often, I need to convert from legacy dates to true dates. I convert mostly so I can easily do date arithmetic, but sometimes just for readability in

49. Get the Most out of .Net 3.0, Microsoft's Latest Developer's Tools

Microsoft's latest .Net features are examined in an interview with Dan Waterbly, an accomplished .Net developer with the Washington State Digital Archives. By Chris Peters Dan Waterbly is a .Net applications developer for the Washin

50. JavaScript Frameworks Compared

DHTML is what makes the browser dynamic, and JavaScript frameworks allow mere mortals to make it happen. By Joe Pluta JavaScript frameworks are the newest weapons in the Web application arsenal, and they're seriously powerful. Compa