Get data from external servers and Web services easily.

Written by Jan Jorgensen

It's been a long time since I wrote Part 1 of this TechTip. I hope you've been eagerly looking forward to learning a bit more about jQuery and how to parse XML data using it.

Meanwhile, Rafael Victória-Pereira has done a marvelous job of covering the GeoNames Web services, so I encourage you to read his great tips (you can start here and work your way backward).

Demystify the noble art of reading XML data.

Written by Jan Jorgensen

Every day, the expectations of our skills are challenged. It is not enough to know RPG, DDS, and CL. Nowadays, we must also know something about PHP (or likewise), HMTL, JavaScript, and XML if we want to cope.

In this tip, I will show you how to parse XML data using a simple HMTL file and jQuery. If you are unfamiliar with jQuery, I encourage you to read ”jQuery Tutorial” at w3schools.com and Getting Started with jQuery at jquery.com. All this can of course be done in "normal" JavaScript, but jQuery will hide all the complicated stuff. Plus, it will let you do things very quickly and easily.

The last tip in this series discusses creating PDF files using the open-source FPDI product.

Written by Jan Jorgensen

We all know that companies have a lot of predefined letters that contain logos, special forms, and such, and it is always a challenge for us as programmers to fit our data into these predefined letters. Sometimes we just re-create the letter, and if changes occur, we start over again in order to make things look nice. But wouldn't it be great if we could put all our efforts into the data processing instead of the design of letters and forms?

IBM i developers often mistake Web designers as the enemy.

Written by Jeff Olen

In the previous article, we went over how to use some Zend Framework classes in an actual procedural PHP script. We created a simple login/authentication script that could easily be combined with a login form to create a simple Web page/portal authentication system. So adding the login form is exactly what we are going to do in this article.

Add more tricks to your FPDF toolbox and learn how to control "overflow" printing.

Written by Jan Jorgensen

In my last TechTip, I introduced you to FPDF. This time, I will dig a little deeper into this great tool and provide you with a tip that lets you print out data and at the same time use the built-in overflow control in the FPDF class.

So sit back and let your thoughts fly back to the good ol' days of the RPG cycle with 1P and LR.

Before OO came along, functions were all we had!

Written by Jeff Olen

We RPG developers are still relatively new to the concept of functions. I say "relatively" because some of my readers are still under the impression that embedded SQL is a "new" feature. Perhaps we can just agree that "new" is in the eye of the beholder and leave it at that. But I digress. This article discusses functions in PHP: how to find them, how to write them, and why they are useful.

Learn a free and easy way to create PDF files from within your PHP script.

Written by Jan Jorgensen

Some time ago, I had a project in which I needed to create PDF files from within a PHP script. I checked php.net to find the functions needed for my project. I was very surprised to discover that PDF creation is not a free part of PHP but is maintained and controlled by pdflib.com.

I have no problem paying for things I need, but in the spirit of open source, I asked Miss Google if there were any alternatives and came across the FPDF Library at fpdf.org.

Wouldn't it be great if we could bypass the IBM i SMTP and POP servers altogether? Well, we can!

Written by Jeff Olen

I've written several TechTips related to improving your ability to send email effectively from your IBM i (See "TechTip: Use PHP and Zend_Mail to Send Email" and "TechTip: Using the QTMMSENDMAIL API"). This TechTip is the latest installment in that genre. It had to be done because the tools just keep getting better and easier to use.