Re: TRYING undestanding new AS Iserv

from Al Mac

Batch = Some job running in background like off of JOBQ without any direct 
interaction with a user screen whether Green Screen or GUI

Interactive = User Talking to 400 via Green Screen
By definition, you cannot have Interactive on GUI unless it is emulating 
Green Screen 5250

Strange new terminology like "Batch Immediate" = User Talking to 400 via GUI 
point & click, that SEEMS to the end user JUST LIKE Green Screen Interactive 
except that in Green Screen the programmer has set up a controlled flow of 
choices of actions for the player, while on PC, the user can do any number of 
unpredictable actions that the software needs to be able to cope with, like 
what should happen if user clicks little X to close Win application, or tries 
to cut & paste some data INTO 400?

There are a number of products that put a GUI face on traditional green 
screen interactive apps, such as LANSA for the WEB, Seagull ... so that you 
had a green screen interactive program, and now the GUI user, such as a 
standard browser, does everything that used to be done at the Green Screen, 
except using GUI tools & the language is Java or RPG IV for CGI, or HTML or 
VB - whatever GUI language you want it in ... same old Green Screen software 
except the source code has gone through a conversion process & is now in GUI 
language with GUI features added.  Same software can run on Green Screen 
(original source) or GUI (converted source with some enhancements).  If you 
upgrade the original source & run it through the converter again, you can 
keep the enhancements from the earlier time around, so as to minimize 
duplication of effort.

Sometimes this process is called screen scraping, but the end result is that 
you have software that is exactly like what the green screen used to do, 
except it handles all that weird stuff GUI users like to do, and it is 
totally in GUI language, and IBM does not call it interactive any more, but 
one of those weird names like "Batch Immediate."  I am not an expert on any 
of this so you should check with the outfits that do the conversions.

LANSA http:///www.lansa.com
Seagull's JWalk http://www.seagull.com
Trade Paq http://wwwtradepaq.com

Several other posts indicated that the AS/400 still thinks this stuff is 
interactive & someone suggested OS/2 but didn't someone have an emergency in 
an OS upgrade such that OS/2 going away?

Alister William Macintyre 
Computer Data Janitor etc. of BPCS 405 CD Rel-02 on 400 model 170 OS4 V4R3 
(forerunner to IBM e-Server i-Series 400)  @ http://www.cen-elec.com Central 
Industries of Indiana--->Quality manufacturer of wire harnesses and 
electrical sub-assemblies

>  From:    D.BALE@handleman.com
>  
>  Regarding "interactive"...
>  
>  Please educate me (again?) on what does and what does not constitute
>  interactive as far as a user using a display/keyboard/mouse (in other 
words,
>  *not* what I consider a traditional "batch" job).  I.e., is a Client/Server
>  app considered to be an interactive task on the AS/400?  Other examples?  
> And, if I'm on the right path, is there a tool that converts a AS/400 green 
> screen interactive task to a GUI of some sort and makes it a 
non-interactive task?
>  *AND*, if I can convert all interactive tasks so that they become
>  non-interactive as far as the AS/400 is concerned (can't bring myself to 
> call it batch), does that happen to translate that I'd be able to get more 
> overall horsepower for less money, i.e., 
> don't have to buy much interactive CPW?  (Of course, did I just 
> increase my costs on the client side with more required
>  hardware and/or software?)
>  
>  I thought I'd heard all this before, but it was rather moot in my previous
>  environments.  Now I'm in a shop that's considering a major upgrade,
>  consolidating several AS/400s into one LPAR box.  And so I wondered if this
>  should be looked at before any decision is made.
>  
>  Dan Bale
>  IT - AS/400
>  Handleman Company
>  248-362-4400  Ext. 4952

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