IMO, management should be dictating use of RDi, because it is a vastly superior toolset. I recall reading about other quality GUI tools for IBM i RPG development (don't recall their names atm), in which case perhaps those should be added to the list of "use one of these tools".
If management lets the developers decide what they will use, management isn't leading. They are followers, because they are following the lead of the developers.
There are exceptions to every rule. I'm not talking about that quick one line code change in SEU, but if a manager frequently looks over the shoulder of a developer and every single time the person is in SEU and never in RDi, there is something wrong.
The choice between SEU and RDi is a black vs. white choice. RDi is the clear winner. It is fine and advisable to let developers make those grey area technical decisions, but not make the wrong choice on a black vs. white decision.
If management wants to call themselves leaders, they should actually lead, not follow.
-----Original Message-----
From: Buck Calabro [mailto:kc2hiz@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 3:57 PM
To: wdsci-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [WDSCI-L] Resistance to using RDi
On 2/17/2016 5:10 PM, Jon Paris wrote:
Another approach that I’ve seen used to good effect several times is to simply remove the offending programmers authority to SEU. They get used to RDi very quickly!
On Feb 17, 2016, at 4:39 PM, Jon Everton <joneverton@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
An easy way to get developers using RDi is creating the source files
where SRCDTA is greater than 240 bytes. SEU throws a severity 40
EDT0303 message and they can't open it. They might as well get used
to it with IBM opening up the first 5 bytes and removing the 80 byte
limit. Unless IBM changes it's other mind, SEU is as dead as DDS.
I don't know how I'd feel about management dictating my choice of editor. A previous boss wanted to force the team into RDi, and I actively argued against that. Should I re-evaluate my thinking?
Is there a real-life example of rolling out RDi to a team who must be forced to use it? My notion of success is that they become almost immediately enamoured of RDi and constantly walk past my desk to shower me with adulation for finally bringing them to the promised land.
Here's what I think would happen. My colleagues don't have RDi installed, or if they do, it's WDSC 5.0. Which they tried for ten minutes. Once.
1) Schedule the time for the PC to be available for an hour
2) I install RDi + fixpack
3) I configure RDi; connexion, filter, not much
4) Claudia comes back from lunch and tries SEU (should I break PDM too?)
5) Bad words because SEU is broken. Switches to RDi window (which I've cleverly left open)
6) My phone rings. How do I edit a member, I just want to edit a member I don't want all this drill down crap, I just want to... Oh, Ctrl-Alt-Q, OK
7) My phone rings. I want to copy a line, all I want to do is copy a line. Why do I have to backtab a hundred times to get to the sequence number? No, I don't want to use a mouse, I never used a mouse before why should I use a mouse now? Alt-L? How many special key combinations do I need to remember? OK I wrote that down, now what? Ctrl-C? Oh brother, like Word? Why can't I just use Word it'll be easier than all this. OK.
8) My phone rings. I have all these sqiggly lines all over everything, how do I get rid of that crap? Well of course I'm in the middle of editing, I am changing the lines and every time I type one character and down arrow all these pink lines and red squiggles come up. Why can't it wait until I hit enter like it always did? Do you know how slow it's going to be to change one entire line and the go to the next, and the next? If I survive the epilepsy this thing is giving me.
9) My phone rings. All I want to do is compile this. There are a pile of useless icons, I click Compile and I get a dropdown which gives me a dropdown and I have to choose one of what 10 options? This is nuts why can't I just compile? Ctrl-Shift-C? OK
10) My phone rings. How do I test my program now that it's compiled.
At least I think it's compiled. How do I see the spooled file? Green screen? All this crap so I can go use a green screen? Host connection emulator? Who called it that? Right click on what now? Forget this, I'll start Client Access.
My descent into Dante's First Circle of Hell has begun, and so passes the first hour. Of the rest of my life.
This hopefully entertaining tale is not entirely a figment of my slightly eccentric imagination. To this day, years later, I am still the subject of scorn as That Weirdo who claimed WDSC is better than SEU, haha what a freak.
--
--buck
Visit wiki.midrange.com and register for an account. Edit a page that helps you, and because it's public, you'll help someone else, too!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been scanned for email related threats and delivered safely by Mimecast.
For more information please visit
http://www.mimecast.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
midrange.com
