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Manta Releases Free-Form RPG Design Plans

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Manta Technologies has released the design plans for its newest series, Free-Form RPG Programming. You can view them at http://www.mantatech.com/manta/PFFR00.htm. The seven courses in this series will be released throughout 2016. It is making the design available early for two reasons that are important to our existing and potential customers.

 

First, while Free-Form RPG Programming will be available as an independent series, it will also be added to the following combination packages:

  • Program Development Combination Pack
  • RPG Development Combination Pack
  • The IBM i Training Library

 

As existing users of Manta's combo packs have learned, Manta does not charge for new courses that are added to a combo pack during their existing license terms. At most, some fraction of the price (typically about $25 per course) will be added to subsequent renewals. This presents potential customers with an incredible deal. They can order any of the above combination packs and get Free-Form RPG Programming for free as it is rolled out this year. Since we expect the seven courses in the series to be released from April through November, ordering one of these combos now will guarantee 5- to 12-months of free usage.

 

Second, Manta customers who are planning this year's training schedules need to know how the new series relates to our existing RPG offerings. The Free-Form RPG Programming series follows the same general outline as Manta's existing RPG Programming series. It is intended for new RPG programmers (particularly those moving from other languages) who need to learn only the free-form RPG statements. Students who need to learn the older, fixed-format statements should take the existing RPG Programming series instead. That series also discusses key differences between RPG III and RPG IV.

 

Students who have completed the RPG Programming series (or who already know RPG, including the free-form C specs introduced in 2001) can take the Coding Free-Form RPG course to learn the free-form H, F, D, and P specs introduced in 2014. This course has been available since November.

 

Three other Manta series may also be of interest to students learning free-form RPG.

IBM has announced that the free-form RPG statements will never be supported in SEU (the green-screen Source Entry Utility). We recommend that RPG developers use RDi, which is covered in the Manta series, Using Rational Developer for i (RDi). RDi contains prompting and help facilities expressly designed for the free-form RPG programmer.

 

Both of the Manta RPG series cover the standard, record-oriented I/O that is supported by RPG. Today, most organizations use embedded SQL statements in addition to ? or instead of ? the RPG I/O op codes. Using embedded SQL is covered in the Manta Using Structured Query Language (SQL) series.

 

Both Using Rational Developer for i (RDi) and Using Structured Query Language (SQL) can be taken before, during, or after the Free-Form RPG Programming series. The IBM i Programming Environment series, which is a prerequisite to the RPG series, introduces both RDi and SQL at a level sufficient to complete this series.

 

For more information, contact Manta at (800) 40-MANTA (800-406-2682). International customers can call (303) 862-4562. Or, visit the Manta web site (www.mantatech.com) and begin training today.

 

Manta is the premier company in the IBM i training and education business. This year, Manta celebrates its 17th year in business. During that time, it has trained tens of thousands of IBM i students in over 5,000 organizations around the world. It's customer list includes organizations of all sizes, from major companies (including IBM) down to one-person consulting organizations. If you need IBM i training, Manta is the first vendor most often recommended. Because you want quality training for less. Manta's consistently low price has always been a major attraction. For example, a typical company can train its entire IT organization for less than the price of sending a couple of operators to a class. (See "Total Cost Comparision" for a detailed analysis.)

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