RE: eRPG (was: RE: Quick survey - how well structured are your RPG apps?)

> 3) "Is RPG/CGI a good way to implement a web-based user
> interface?"  If you asked most of us here in RPG
> development I think the consensus would be no, it's not.
> You know the old saw:  Use the right tool for the job.

Again, this is a bad analogy.  If DB/400 is a nail, RPG is the hammer.  Java
is a Stud Finder.  

> There are simply lots of other tools that are more
> appropriate for defining user interfaces.  Look, most
> AS/400 programmers are quite comfortable using DDS to
> define their green-screen UI's.  Writing out HTML from an
> RPG program is almost like writing raw 5250 data streams!

Sure, if you put it all in your RPG.  But of course, as we know, this
doesn't have to be done.

> Tools like JSP's, Java servlets, Net.Data, and even Perl
> are simply much more apppropriate for web-based UI's, and
> offer functionality not easily available using direct API
> calls.  

They are simply using the same calls with nice wrappers.  I've built a set
of wrappers for RPG that make it just as easy.  Got a large chunck of html?
Put it in a member or a file in the IFS and in one call youve got it written
out to the web.

After all, all Net.Data is is a CGI program that parses the Net.Data
scripts.

And, every CGI language gets HTML to the browser using the same method.
Writing to standard output.  No difference whatsoever.  Sure in Java you do
it in one line, but that's because someone took the time to write functions
for it.  The same has been done with RPG.  Write HTML in one call, one
parameter.

>For example, JSP's, servlets, and Net.Data provide
> easy functionality for managing session state that make it
> easy to commit database updates at the end of the
> transaction.
>

Peristence, as a method, is not the only way to get "persitence".  And it is
also not the most widely used method.  I watch my URLs when I'm
e-shopping...  I know when persitence is being used.
 
> I agree that writing a CGI app in RPG is an easy way for an
> RPG programmer to get something on the web quickly, but it
> will be a hindrance once you need to implement something
> more sophisticated.
> 

Oh please... :)  Maybe we should all use NT and Cold Fusion then.  Then when
we want to do something complicated we'll have to rewrite it in Perl because
as we know scripting languages such as Net.Data are not easy to use for
building robust apps.

In saying your above statement, you're saying that all the apps we have
written in RPG are not sophisticated.  I'm sure every one of us would
disagree with that.

When you combine that with the only difference between an RPG app that
outputs to a screen or a report or a web page is the output vehicle used,
then that is a clincher for RPG being a great tool for web developement.

Anyhow, I'm off till Tuesday... See ya'll!

Brad 
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