• All i Want For Christmas Is RDi Lite

  December 12, 2018 Alex Woodie

  All some IBM i community members wanted for the holidays was RDi Lite. Instead, they’re looking at IBM like the Grinch due to its decision not to offer a free, scaled-down version of the application development tool. What’s more, the community is expressing great displeasure at the manner in which IBM handled the matter through its Request for Enhancement (RFE) process.

  Hassan Farooqi kicked off the campaign for RDi Lite in August 2017, when he posted an RFE on the new IBM developerWorks website that’s designed to facilitate collaboration with its user communities by allowing them to submit ideas for …

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• iSphere Upgrade Bolsters RDi Even More

  November 7, 2018 Alex Woodie

  When it comes to IBM i programming tools from IBM, Rational Developer for IBM i (RDi) is the integrated development environment at the top of many professionals’ wish lists. However, the IDE’s functionality is lacking a few departments, which provides an opportunity for innovation in the community, as IBM originally envisioned. One of the projects that’s been running with the ball is the popular iSphere project, which recently unveiled a new release.

  iSphere is a free plug-in for RDi and WDSC that was first released by Frank Hildebrandt of Task Force IT-Consulting back in 2013. The original idea behind the …

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• Guru: Ready Or Not! Part 5 Of Big Changes In RDi V9.6, Edit/Browse Toggle, PDM Perspective, More

  October 22, 2018 Susan Gantner

  In this tip I’m going to cover a few of the “smaller” features implemented in V9.6.0.3 and …0.4 that I think you should know about. I’ll cover my favorite — the Edit/Browse toggle feature — as well as some enhancements to Block Nesting. I’ll also follow-on to my last tip about the PDM affinity features in the Object Table — the PDM perspective — plus a few more little goodies.

  A quick hint for you on the subject of exactly what new features became available within RDi and when: If you ever want to see a complete list of new …

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• Q&A With IBM i’s AppDev Architect

  June 18, 2018 Alex Woodie

  During COMMON’s recent POWERUp18 conference in San Antonio, Texas, IT Jungle got a chance to sit down with Tim Rowe, the IBM i business architect for application development and systems management at IBM, to talk about what’s going on with application development on the platform. Here’s an edited version of that conversation.

  IT Jungle: So what’s happening in IBM i application development? What’s new up there in Rochester?

  Tim Rowe: In between all sorts of fun development stuff that we got going on back in the lab, I spend quite a bit of time talking with customers. We continue to …

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• Guru: RDi and Refactoring

  April 16, 2018 Ted Holt

  When I first heard the term refactoring, I thought, “So that’s what they call it.” I had been refactoring for years, my only tools being SEU and a compiler listing. I learned a long time ago that refactoring is often necessary to enhance code, especially poorly written code. Another reason I often refactor is to better understand poor code.

  To refactor means to rewrite source code without changing its external behavior. Due to all the “legacy” source code (RPG II, RPG III, fixed-form RPG IV, OCL, etc.) in IBM i shops, the ability to refactor source code is a …

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• RDi Jumps Aboard The TR Train

  October 9, 2017 Dan Burger

  What is it going to take to convince IBM i developers that RDi, a modern Eclipse-based development environment with an impressive list of productivity enhancements, is a better development tool than the traditional green-screen tools that were designed decades ago? While IBM hasn’t upgraded the green-screen development tools in years, the investment in RDi continues. The latest Technology Refreshes, announced last week, embellished the list of productivity features RDi offers.

  Most IBM i shops that are using modern RPG coding techniques are familiar with RDi and the value of modernizing applications that are significant business assets. It is the organizations …

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• If RDi Was Free, Would You Go For A Ride?

  August 16, 2017 Dan Burger

  Some interesting developments have occurred with the Rational Developer for i (RDi) team. First came the extraction from IBM Software Group and relocation within the IBM i development organization. Then came the integration of RDi development efforts involving IBM and HelpSystems. What’s next? Perhaps a free lightweight version of RDi designed to entice more IBM i developers to trade in their old tools and take a closer look at what they can gain with RDi.

  A new request for enhancement (RFE #108558) may gather enough momentum to bring a free RDi to market. That leads to the question of whether …

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• SystemObjects SmartPad4i Mobilizes RDi

  April 3, 2017 Dan Burger

  As more companies find their way into the RDi development environment, more ISVs realize plug-ins to RDi are in demand. SystemObjects just joined the list by offering an RDi plug-in to its Web and mobile application development tool known as SmartPad4i. For situations where Web development skills are still evolving, SystemObjects is offering a route that bypasses the Java and HTML learning curve. And there are always RPG and COBOL programmers who don’t mind that detour.

  SmartPad4i is not new. But the plug-in to RDi and the built-in capability to create HTML files are interesting enhancements. IBM i developers with …

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• Guru: MiWorkplace As An Alternative To SEU

  March 13, 2017 Jon Paris

  From time to time somebody will recommend an application to me and it sounds really useful – until I discover that it is Windows Only. Whenever that happens I usually go to one of the Alternative To websites, such as AlternativeTo.net, to see what I can find.

  Recently I was asked if there were any alternatives to SEU by a programmer who wanted to use fully free RPG and was tired of the green screen blobs all over his code. (See the example below if you don’t know what I mean by this.) This was a topic that …

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