RE: Tiger Tools

[Jim Damato <jdamato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>  Reeve:
>The whole CFINT thing comes back to IBM's failure to provide the
Application
>Development tools necessary to move out of the 5250 environment.

I don't really understand this.  Moving out of the 5250 environment means
moving out of the mini-computer or baby-mainframe terminal based environment
and using the AS/400 as a server.  The architecture changes to
client-server, n-tier or web-based design.  If I implement a Unix server
with an Oracle database I'm not necessarily depending on my Unix provider or
Oracle for Application Development tools.  Development is based more on my
client, app server, or web platform of choice, and many of those development
solutions are third-party.  Right now we're dabbling in developing apps
against Oracle on HP/UX using Microsoft VB, IIS, Crystal Reports, and Toad
for database scripting.  If we were developing these apps against the AS/400
server I might be looking at similar tools for the front end, replacing the
SQL Net client with OLE-DB or some home grown data interface modules.

CFINT is, to me, distasteful because it overprices the 5250 environment or
underprices the server environment, and because IBM has been deliberately
deceptive about the nature of Interactive Feature.  It would be interesting,
however, to see if iSeries servers without Interactive Feature were
profitable on their own.  Some of IBM's own statements suggest that legacy
customers are carrying iSeries server customers.  It's like they're saying
that their statement of direction is to push the iSeries toward eventually
losing money on every sale.

Still, I don't think you should be looking to IBM to produce the tools for
your application development.

-Jim

James P. Damato
Manager - Technical Administration
Dollar General Corporation
<mailto:jdamato@dollargeneral.com>