Re: Looking for examples of modern i5/OS applications

Lukas,

For the most part, you have identified a decent design, but I think you have
over-engineered an i5/OS "modern" solution, and placed restrictions or
design requirements that are too narrow.

IMO, such a thing that meets your list does not exist. I would suggest that
there are some solutions out there that are as "modern", but are designed
differently. For the most part, the companies with i5/OS that I have seen
are in the process of "modernizing" - for example, refacing and repurposing
their applications. In these cases, the business and database layers run in
i5/OS, but the presentation layer could be browser or .NET based.

I think you should be careful in providing design guidelines that are a
little too much personal preference. Things like "no monospaced fonts" are
more personal as a requirement - while rare, these can be used effectively
in a modern interface. Most programmers will use them to solve the wrong
problem - but I would suggest that is too limiting for a comparison of
"modern" i5/OS solutions.

Ultimately, I think this is ~your~ approach to designing a "modern"
application, and I would expect there would be many people that utilize a
different approach, but are just as "modern".

Maybe you could take it to a higher level...

1) n-tier development
- DB2 database on i5/OS
- application layer on i5/OS
- rich presentation layer
2) Full use of DB2 SQL database
- triggers
- constraints
- commitment control
- fully relational
3) Application layer
- ILE
- Reduced maintenance
4) rich user experience
- rich controls
- fully integrated with desktop applications
- information analysis tools
- increased user productivity
- consistent, easy to use
- Web 2.0 for user interaction

I am sure this list can be improved, since it was off the top of my head.

Trevor




On 7/21/07 2:45 AM, "Lukas Beeler" <l.beeler@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi,



I'm looking for some examples of modern, nicely done i5/OS applications.



I've seen several examples of things gone horribly wrong in the i5/OS
world, and I haven't found applications where I would say that
"everything was done right". So I'm looking for some positive examples.



What I (roughly) expect:



* Modern user interface (Web 2.0, or a graphical client)

* Nice output forms (No monospaced fonts, fully graphical forms,
graphical form designer)

* Full use of DB/2 functionality (Triggers, Commitment Control,
etc.)

* Tight integration into i5/OS - must be an application that
runs natively on i5/OS

* Business Logic must be running on i5/OS (not fat client apps
which use i5/OS as a DB server)

* Client software should be written in a modern language (.NET
or Java)

* If Client software requires configuration, it must be
centrally manageable (i.E. using Windows Group Policies)

* Integration into other commonly used business application like
Microsoft Office or Microsoft Exchange



Does such a thing exist?