February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

[MCWebsite.Staff]

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[Guest.Visitor]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
The loss of screen designer in the standard version is bloody ridiculous. While it was one of the "add on" features, it obsoleted SDA and was one of the best inducements to going with WDSC. Now I have to pay $3,500 for the advanced edition to get the "technology preview" screen designer. Not likely. IBM has mis-stepped badly with this and they should fix it immediately.

[schmitz395@adelphia.net]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
Has any business partner been successful in ordering V7.0 to replace V6.0?

[pete priefer]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **

[Guest.Visitor]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
Our IBM business partner said he would be able to order this for us around March 16. Until then, he said it is not available - download or otherwise.

[TheQuigs]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
I've definitely seen a spike in the blood pressure of users on the midrange.com wdsci-l mailing list. There have been many, many, many messages posted expressing great anger at the apparent direction for WDSc. However, people should really think through the consequences of this announcement. CODE Designer will not receive any enhancements such as supporting new syntax. But when was the last significant enhancement to a 5250-screen made? How many 5250 enhancements do people think IBM is going to be making? IBM is clear the direction for development is to produce GUI- or browser-based interfaces--not new and better 5250 applications. As such, the version of CODE Designer which is to ship with WDSC 7 should be adequate until IBM comes up with a plan to fully replace it. Of course that's the rub. IBM does not plan CODE Designer support for Windows Vista. (Although I've read messages from individuals who state they've run CODE on Vista.) IBM also does not plan to support CODE Designer on future OS/400-i5/OS releases. So if IBM makes a new operating system release where you can't upload or download DDS to CODE Designer, then developers are in a tough spot. Another sore point, is that the 'Technology preview' for Screen Designer is for screens only. I know I still have to code printed reports and I'm sure I'm not alone. Printer DDS support is essential. It's also essential to provide a graphical DDS editor for 'the masses' and not just for those who could afford the price of the Advanced Edition. Personally, I do my coding almost exclusively with LPEX (the editor in WDSC) or CODE Designer. Others in the shop where I work aren't as enthusiastic. One point which consistently helps sell the transition from PDM/SEU/SDA has been CODE Designer. One developer really doesn't like trying to use the workbench, but loves CODE Designer enough that they use WDSC for editing. Without a no-additional-charge graphical DDS-editor, I would have to quote the line by Joe Pluta and cite that IBM is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. All this said, CODE Designer is still to be shipped with WDSC version 7. For now developers should: keep their blood pressure down, make their opinions known to the right people at IBM (sound-off at COMMON, etc.), and then we'll have to wait and see what is provided down the road. IBM has many, many years as a very successful company. I don't believe they will permanently desert the development community.

[R.Daugherty]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
What business does IBM have dictating a "direction" with prohibitive licensing restrictions and costs for 5250 interactive use and development? Not much of one. rd

[scatterload]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
not unlike the basketball team at OU, ahead at the half and then they blow it in the final minutes of the game. not unlike another unpopular decision maker, the coaches at IBM better huddle up on this one, and rethink their Stra-Tee-Gerie. -sarge

[kketzler]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
As a consultant, I can tell you that there are many places that won't let me hook my laptop to their network, nor do they provide me with a powerful machine. (even the lite version probably won't be able to run on it) Given those kinds of environments it is essential that there be a fully supported toolset that runs directly on the iSeries. Yes, there are better methods, but big business doesn't seem to see that these tools have a good ROI. By the time they upgrade all the older, junkier PC's (starting Monday, I'll have to manually re-adjust my time everyday until the old DST routine kicks in) they have been able to dump on us for years (after all, it just has to run a terminal session) and pony up for the advanced licenses they see no profit.

[R.Daugherty]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
We shouldn't have to justify SEU and PDM based on older PC's. They did the job all these years and still do it. There is only one thing to remember about IBM. They have an agenda, to push Websphere everywhere, and that's all they care about. Not you, not me, not their customers, not anybody. Just themselves. Websphere. That's all anyone needs to explain anything IBM does to us and their customers. rd

[kketzler]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
SEU, PDM, some future Web-based WDSc, as long as the processing runs on the iSeries so that no matter where I am working that I have the same fully functional toolset is all I want!

[bibarnes@yahoo.com]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
I have been saying that for a while and have been shouted down. I am using RSE and it is a love/hate relationship. I have found it extremely useful in straight program code (RPG). I have also found it extremely infuriating in the way it hides functions under layer upon layer of drop downs. I have only used CODE a few times and didn't like it much. Printer files are a nightmare IMHO since all the nice things that RLU places in the source to help you compile to the same library with the same parameters every time. The "nice" things that WDSc are supposed to do, are difficult to figure out. I got DEBUG to work, sort of, once and haven't been able to get it to work since. Training in WDSc is patchy at best. Some of the courses offered are marginally useful in getting you started, but then leave you in the middle of the swamp surrounded by alligators. In our shop I am the only one using RSE even though management has said to move in this direction. The reason is that I have always been the one to try "new" things. In the past I was able to convince a conversion to ILE and, slowly but surely, RPGFREE. I was able to show advantages out weighing effort. Not so with RSE. After 8 months of using it, I still start my programs in SEU because of RPGTOOLBOX, I use green screen debug and SDA and RLU. I will probably retire and still be the only one using RSE. I am afraid that IBM is becoming irrelevant in the IT world. At least here they are.

[R.Daugherty]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
I am afraid that IBM is becoming irrelevant in the IT world. When they're dumb enough to only care about selling a lowest common denominator Java J2EE app server called Websphere instead of the most advanced operating systems in the world, then yes, they are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Notice their only recent success, Eclipse, is open source and does not require Websphere or any J2EE server to use. No one outside their captive market would tolerate IBM's nonsense. We shouldn't either. rd

[Greybeard400]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
There is a basic resistance in most shops that I have seen to use anything with IBM and Internet in the same sentence unless they are a dedicated IBM shop. These are few and far between in this day and age. The entry level cost in non-IBM environments is so low and the cost so high on the iSeries (license seats, comparative disk storage), and the existence of so many excellent web site service providers, make it prohibitive to justify Websphere. Considering the structural changes that Websphere has gone through since its inception, and now more dumb moves by IBM marketing, and whoever is making useful software (CODE/400) go away instead of integrating it to new things, is it any surprise that Websphere is such a hard sell? Besides, IBM was very late to this technology, and consistently demonstrates that they just don't get it. They are behind the eight ball and losing ground.

[nandelin]

February Brings Big Changes to System i Community

** This thread discusses the article: February Brings Big Changes to System i Community **
My expectations for WDSC must be pretty low, because I don't feel strongly one way or the other about the version 7.0 product announcement. I don't use the applications that IBM is moving to WDSC Advanced Edition, so the license fees don't affect me. I don't subscribe to the WDSC email list at midrange.com, but did go to the archive and read the posts about the announcement - many of which expressed discontent with the way that IBM is packaging, pricing, and handling the product, which unfortunately impacts the System i in a negative way. I'm happy with PDM, SEU, and CL commands that support ILE application development. I'm happy with Dreamweaver and SmartFTP for HTML, JavaScript, and CSS development. I think an ILE-AJAX based alternative to RSE and the LPEX editor would be ideal. The IDE could be accessed by any workstation or thin-client that supports a browser. With AJAX the browser could offer features like code-complete and command prompting, triggered by keyboard events, in addition to automatic scrolling and other standard features of textbox based editors. The CPU, RAM, DASD, installation, and PC to host synchronization requirements of WDSC are a pain. Java's overhead and poor performance are perennial problems. I still measure applications in terms of kilobytes, so a product that is measured in gigabytes (5 gibabytes for WDSC), will throw up red flags for me. Nathan M. Andelin