Re: ODBC (was RE: Green screen - it's time is over ) -- MIDRANGE-L

> Brad,
>
> Do you think the C++ method of programming is overkill?  Where
data members
> of a class ( structure ) are private and public methods (
messages ) are
> provided by the class author for reading and writing to the
class.

I think there is more than one Brad on this list, but since I have
an opinion on this, and it is a public discussion forum,  I'll
share it.

I think C++ sucks for application development. I understand that
there are others who disagree with me, but it's just too easy to
confuse yourself, much less someone else, with that language.
There's too much 'figuring it out' when you look at someone else's
code. I'm in a hurry, I want things to be as obvious as paossible,
and C++ is not it for me. Not to mention the wonderful ability to
crater an application through the misuses of pointers. Pointers
are used a lot of places that they are unnecessary. (I'm really
talking about C here in general).

However, I think class/property/method/event programming is
great - we use it all the time at the core of our applications.
But we do it in VB6 (and a little in PB). And we use ODBC to
attach to the data source, or OLEDB. More of the former than the
latter, since ODBC was really designed to make up for transmission
bottlenecks in client/server applications.

> Do you think this extra level of code will lead to more errors,
more code
> that has to be debugged?

Yes, and it depends. Of course it is more code, and of course the
code has to be debugged, and of course two pieces of code that
have to coordinate their work will lead to more debugging  than
monolithic code. The question is,  are you intending to reuse that
particular function, preferably many times? Then yes, it is a good
idea. Are you going to take the trouble, and have the discipline,
to document the class, including how it performs what it does?
That's the only way another programmer (or yourself later) can
trust it to be the exact functionality needed. Trust but verify.

For example, in our archiving product, we use VB dlls with classes
to look up keys, decompress report pages, access files, perform
certain string manipulations, select directories, etc.

In our next major release we intend to add an interface class to
our client programs so that users who are programs can run the
client under program control.

Our Content Express report burster/emailer/webdelivery/printer/and
soon to be fax application was designed with an interface class
from the start, so that the web page can be our standard format,
or the user can totally customize it using our presentation
program as a module. Maybe they want to turn our invoice
presentation into a bill payment system, for example.

Does that mean I think this is always the best way to structure
programs - no. Rigid application of theory is a sign of mental
inflexibility, to me.  That costs somebody money.

I often wonder how great a raging success the AS/400 would have
been if IBM had settled on promoting a less esoteric language than
RPG. Maybe it was the puzzling nature of this language that held
the technical population's fascination. Maybe it was the rigidity
of the standard that fostered the growth.

Please remember the book I am reading is RPG/400, I think there is
something newer. But still, this is what most everything is
written in, isn't it? In the book I am reading, they offer that
the IF/THEN?ELSE is a sign that RPG has added structured elements.
I almost cried.

And the screen handling is archaic - attribute characters between
columns? The interactive screens of the other mini makers won, of
course, but only reborn as Unix and then pc incarnations.

Some of the wonderfulness of java with the AS/400, is only due to
the fact that it was a more complete and exhaustive effort to open
up the functionality of the machine, that occurred after the turf
battles were won with VB and other client server development. If
they would open up that functionality to VB programmers, it would
far overtake the java efforts. There are three million VB
programmers out there.

Is there VB access to the java jar for the AS/400? I could kick
ass with that. I'd love to have high speed, no holds barred access
to the iSeries.

I notice there is a third party tool that claims to give high
speed access to 400 files thru DDM. Has anybody used that?

We needed faster access to the AS/400 for downloading reports, so
we took a PC SCSI card and made it look like a tape drive to the
AS/400. I don't think anyone matched our speed until possibly with
the bus transfer to the integrated PC.  Maybe not even then. I
think PrePaid Legal still uses it.

Sometimes one feature is more important that others in your design
considerations.