Four Hundred Monitor, March 7
March 7, 2018 Dan Burger
RPG ILE has been enhanced with the addition of DATA-INTO functionality, which will become available March 16. DATO-INTO supports the parsing of multiple states types — JSON being the most important. It imports data from a data document into a data structure. For those familiar with XML-INTO and RPG Open Access, DATA-INTO can be grasped quite easily. Those needing a little help can look inside Monitor.
Also inside Monitor this week, you’ll discover why system admins should be watching the open source news for helpful features, and you’ll be scrutinizing what AI (hello Watson) has in store for developers and system admins.
Top Stories From Outside The Jungle
(IBM Systems Magazine) The most recent Technology Refresh brought DATA-INTO to the RPG language. If you are familiar with XML-INTO and RPG Open Access, DATA-INTO will be easy for you. XML-INTO unpacks data into a matching RPG data structure. Open Access utilizes a custom handler, written by staff or supplied by a third party, to treat data originating from any source as if it came from a file. DATA-INTO places data into Data Structure (or array), as XML-INTO does, but it uses a custom parser to figure out what data goes where.
(Open Your i) If you think open source is just one of those programmer things, your eyes are only half open. System administrators should be watching the open source space, too. Here are three open source advantages specifically for system admins.
(InformationWeek) Envision a data center with AI-driven management software (some or all of it cloud-based) monitoring and controlling IT and facilities infrastructure, as well as applications, seamlessly and completely across single or multiple sites. Compute, power, storage, networking, and cooling operations will flex dynamically to achieve maximum efficiency, productivity, and availability. Human operators, meanwhile, will be free to do what they do best: plan new capabilities and innovate improvements.
(TechTarget) New tools are helping developers build better, smarter AI apps and enable developers to quickly assemble more intelligent applications. IBM allows developers to use whatever AI tools they like to build apps on the IBM cloud, but also guides developers toward a tool or combination of tools that are better suited to solve particular problems. Expect the next generation of AI tools to make development easier.
Redbooks, White Papers, and Other Resources
(Scott’s Island) Open source languages in IBM i environments are more common than a lot of people imagine. There are thousands of utilities, mostly designed for Unix, that run in the QShell and PASE environments. However, running these tools from your RPG and CL programs can be tricky. A free utility called UNIXCMD makes it much easier.
(IBM) Full support for IBM i 7.1 will end April 30. What are the reasons for upgrading and why would you choose 7.3 over 7.2. Information on these topics can be found here.
(CEF) The COMMON Education Foundation (CEF) has added a new video library containing live-session recordings from COMMON Conferences and webcasts. Business development and technical development topics, presented by respected authorities, are included in the new library, which is available 24×7.
Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings
March 7 — Beachwood, Ohio – A one-day seminar featuring the new Power9 hardware and Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.2 and 7.3, along with an overview of Db2 Web Query and the backup to disk or the cloud is being hosted by DMC Technology Group. These topics will be discussed from 8:30 a.m. until noon. After lunch, there will be a Db2 Web Query workshop from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel located at 3775 Park East Drive.
March 8 — St. Louis, Missouri – A session on SQL descriptors by John Derr highlights the regular monthly meeting of the Gateway/400 Group, a System i user group serving the greater St. Louis area. The meeting begins with lunch at noon and the presentation following lunch. The meeting location is Spazio’s restaurant at 12031 Lackland Road.
March 13 -15 — Delavan, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association Spring Technical Conference is the largest conference in the Midwest. It features more than 50 informative presentations on current topics such as SQL, PHP, RPG, .NET and IBM administration. The tech conference includes a vendor expo and is hosted by the Lake Lawn Resort.
March 19-22 — Las Vegas, Nevada – Think 2018 is a new IBM conference that highlights topics such as IT transitions to the cloud, data and analytics, application development, IBM research, the Internet of Things, IT infrastructure, mobile, security, collaboration, and Watson. Programs available for C-level executives, IT managers, developers, and academics.
March 19 & 20 — Dallas, Texas – IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will and a select group of CIOs will be discussing the potential of modern IBM i applications during the IBM i CIO Summit. The CIO Summit is an executive-level forum facilitating the exchange ideas in a confidential setting where they can talk candidly about the challenges they face and to learn what works for their peers. Conversation will be supplemented by brief talks on select topics such as staffing, how to attract young RPG developers, and IBM i direction. The CIO Summit is a free, by-invitation-only event open to a limited number of CIOs or IT directors whose IT staff includes developers.
March 20-22 — Dallas, Texas – The twice-a-year, spring and fall, RPG & DB2 Summit returns to the Southwest for its next technical conference with an agenda of in-depth sessions that covers new and traditional topics. In addition to the three-day Summit, an optional fourth day of hands-on workshops provide intensive education into popular IBM i development technologies.
March 20 — Costa Mesa, California – IBM Db2 and Google Web Services will be the featured topic at the regular monthly meeting of the OCEAN User Group. This presentation by IBM i OCEAN Board Member Sean Corpuz will include geolocation topics and shortening full URLs for use in emails. Registration and networking begins at 5:30 with dinner and the presentation at 6. The meeting location is National University at 3390 Harbor Boulevard.
March 20 — Itasca, Illinois – Useful plugins, preference settings, and a few tips that will enhance your Rational Developer for i experience will be the featured topics during the monthly meeting of the OMNI User Group. Guest speaker is Bruce Guetzkow, a senior programmer/analyst with Liebovich Bros. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. with registration and networking, followed by dinner at 6, and the presentation at 7. It will take place at the Fox & Turtle Restaurant at the Itasca Country Club, 400 East Orchard Street.
March 20 — Eden Prairie, Minnesota – Kim Greene explains MongoDB and its impact on our industry at the monthly meeting of QUSER, the local user group for IBM midrange professionals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Greene is president of Kim Greene Consulting, a firm specializing services for the IBM Collaboration Solutions portfolio for IBM i. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. with the presentation at 2. A presentation on Power9 and a Q&A session follow. The meeting location is the HelpSystems offices located at 6455 City West Parkway.
March 21 — Westbury, New York – The Long Island Systems Users Group monthly meeting will include two presentations by Steven Wolk, CTO for PC Richard & Son. His first presentation is an introduction to Linux. The second session focuses on creating commands and program development for IBM i. LISUG meetings are held at the Westbury Manor located at 1100 Jericho Turnpike.
March 22 — Coppell, Texas – Many CIOs and IT professionals, while appreciating what the IBM i platform does for their organizations, have a slight inferiority complex about the platform, believing that the issues of deferred maintenance and skill replacement are unique to us. They aren’t. Any long-lived platform brings similar challenges, to be met head-on with confidence. At this session, you will learn how to discuss the challenges of long-lived systems in a way that that business people can understand, how to create a plan for moving forward with IBM i modernization if appropriate for your business, and to gain support for doing so. Guest speaker at this Metro Midrange Systems Association meeting is IBM Champion Alan Seiden. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6 and Seiden’s presentation at 6:45. MMSA meetings are held at the IBM Innovation Center located at 1177 South Belt Line Road.
March 29 — Webinar – The Mid-Atlantic Group of IBM i Collaborators (MAGiC) will be hosting an online educational session on Rational Developer for i presented by Charles Guarino, a popular speaker on the topic. This presentation is available to all IBM i users, not just members of the local user group. It will take place between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
April 23-25 — Framingham, Massachusetts – The Northeast IBM i User Group Conference features more than 70 educational sessions in seven skills categories. It offers the opportunity to learn about new technologies, engage with vendors to discuss packaged software advancements, hear IBM i executives and lead developers discuss products and roadmaps for the platform, and gain knowledge that can benefit your company and your career. The user groups that combine to organize this conference come from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
May 20-23 — San Antonio, Texas – PowerUp 18 (formerly the COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition) is the largest IBM i educational event of the year. It includes more than 300 sessions related to IBM i, as well as AIX and Linux. Open source, high availability, security, DB2, and application development are a few of the popular skill-building topics. The agenda includes all-day pre-conference workshops, open labs, and a wide variety of lecture-type sessions presented by subject matter experts. Pre-conference workshops (May 19) are also planned.
