RE: Looking for ideas -- MIDRANGE-L

I suggest you start with IBM's free cgidev2 library and Brad Stone's books
and do a web solution,
the programs will all run on the AS/400, it can even perform the e-mail for
you, setting up
a page to check all boxes is easy (javasrcript handles this well).
Any example for web pages off the AS/400 can be applied to this
opportunity -
depending on how you want to go, even cookies are applicable.

Just think of the HTML pages as DDS screens performing I/O to your AS/400,
the DDS just "looks weird at first".

Also, switch to another list (the web400@midrange.com will be better suited
for
your questions and the experts you are seeking).

Just a side note, even though you have two machines that are under utilized,
web apps can be rather heavy hitters - depending on how much traffic and
data
is flowing between your box and the web pages being served.

This also keeps you coding "mostly" in the RPG language, though you may or
may
not need to know html/java/javascript in order to get things to work as you
want,
depending on the solution you choose - and how much money you have to spend.

Websphere is an option, as is Domino, as is cgi programs.

Depends how much effort, how large of a learning curve you can tolerate,
and what experts you have on staff.

Our customer area of our web site here is all running cgi on a AS/400,
it allows srp maint, a/r look-up, order inquiry, pdf catalogs on-line,
bi-weekly
promo books including the vendor inserts/specials, and eventually if I get
the
chance a "bbs" section to receive "edi-like" invoice and item files for the
customers to use on their own PC's or back office systems.
I choose the route of CGI and used Brad "a lot" along with this list,
and lots of experimentation, blood, sweat, tears, laughter, and lots and
lots of coffee.

Good luck.


HTH

Mark



-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-admin@midrange.com
[mailto:midrange-l-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Paul Nelson
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 10:41 AM
To: midrange-l@midrange.com
Subject: Looking for ideas


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
I had a meeting yesterday with a new client who wants to build an
application for his vendors to use to interact with the purchasing
department.

Many of them are overseas, and are low tech, so full blown EDI is not an
option. The vendors do, however, have email and internet capability. Here's
what he needs:

When a purchase order is created, or an existing one is updated, send an
email to the vendor telling him to go to a specified URL and enter his
pre-assigned ID and password, along with the P.O. number assigned to him.
Display a "form" showing the details of the P.O. If he can ship the entire
order, allow him to check a box at the top that automatically checks off
each line item. If he cannot ship the complete order, check the ones he can
ship. Allow him to indicate which lines will be back ordered, and to
indicate the date on which he'll be able to ship. When the vendor clicks the
submit button, initiate a program that picks up the vendor's responses and
output a file that can then be sent back to the acknowledgement system.

I'm looking for any and all suggestions that can run on the iSeries
platform. The customer has 2 machines that are under-utilized, and he wants
to put one of them to use. (He's trying to fight off the encroachment of
ORACLE into his company).

Paul Nelson
Braxton-Reed, Inc.
630-327-8665 Cell
708-923-7354 Home
pnelson@braxton-reed.com
--

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