Re: RPG Web Question?

An RPG program that creates web pages will typically (I believe) have to
output a fair amount of plain-old HTML. One suggestion is not to embed
that code into the program itself, but to put it into some kind of data
file (or source file member) that is separate from the program. I like
using a data file, because I can have one long text field containg my HTML
line and then one or more "code" fields that signal the program how to
handle them. For example, I can read through a bunch of header lines,
outputting them one by one, and then come to a set of "data" lines (e.g.
rows in a table) that I want to repeat in a loop as long as I have data to
fill them with. I can load the text fields into data structures
(controlled by the codes) and then insert the data that I want them to
include.

A lot of this can be done and tested on the PC -- in fact, I found it was
pretty handy to enter my codes, HTML, etc. into an Excel spreadsheet and
then upload it to my file on the AS/400 when I was happy with it. This
allowed me to insert lines, renumber them, etc. more easily than I was
able to do otherwise. I was also able to generate HTML using other tools
and then cut and paste it into the spreadsheet, after which I could adjust
it as necessary.

The RPG program just has to handle reading in the input, responding per
the codes, and writing it out. Once you get that down, the main work
becomes tweaking your HTML, which is quite easy to do on the PC.

Others may have other ideas, but that general approach worked for me. . . .

RPG400-L@midrange.com writes:
>Do you need an AS/400 to create RPG web applications or can I create the
>code 
>using a PC and use something like BIZLAND.COM to upload the application
>to 
>and test it?
>
>I'm already creating web's using MS Frontpage but since I know RPG very
>well 
>I would like to learn how to do it.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Bill


Mike Naughton
Senior Programmer/Analyst
Judd Wire, Inc.
124 Turnpike Road
Turners Falls, MA  01376
413-863-4357 x444
mnaughton@juddwire.com

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