Re: Say Hello to IBM System i5!

I'm sure the person staring at a terminal (real or emulated) is relieved
to know 5250 is just a data stream.  You're talking tools and what a
could be developed if the midrange customer wanted to commit resources
to it.  IBM offers a bunch of tools themselves, but none of them have
changed the perception of the 400/i5 as a greenscreen legacy system.

Transforming a 5250 data stream won't produce a decent GUI.  Most 5250
apps are modal and really need to be reworked for better UI.  This is
costly and why the terminal app is more often thrown out and replaced
with something new.


Keith



Jerry Adams wrote:
> But the iSeries can do the nice GUI.  Trevor's done that many times, and 
> so have many others.  The 5250 data stream is not an interface.  The 
> dumb terminal (3197 etc.) is an interface.
> 
> 
> You want GUI?  Use webfacing.  Or LookSoftware.  Or whatever.  It takes 
> the data stream and makes it GUI.
> 
> 
> I'm not a Windows system designer, but my guess (and I'm sure I'll be 
> corrected here if I'm wrong or incomplete) is that graphical interfaces 
> aren't done via magic (though some kind of sorcery may be involved) but 
> a mapping algorithm. 
> 
> 
>       * Jerry C. Adams
> *iSeries Programmer/Analyst
> B&W Wholesale Distributors, Inc.* *
> voice
>       615.995.7024
> fax
>       615.995.1201
> email
>       jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> 
> 
> Keith Carpenter wrote:
> 
>> Yet given all that, it's the interface that leaves the biggest
>> impression.  5250 is killing the AS400/iSeries/i5 (and these name
>> changes aren't helping).
>>
>>
>> Keith
>>
>>
>>
>> michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>  
>>
>>> And another point...if you think about improvements and changes to a
>>> system, I don't think there's a system out there that's had more
>>> changes than an iSeries. Using virtualization from the mainframe and
>>> UNIX shells from UNIX and the ability to host multiple OS's (ala VM),
>>> the iSeries has had more changes than any system I know of, except
>>> maybe for mainframes.
>>>
>>>    
>>>
>>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>>> Subject: Re: Say Hello to IBM System i5!
>>>> From: Jerry Adams <jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Date: Thu, February 02, 2006 10:41 am
>>>> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>
>>>> I realize that Unix is an operating system and that SQL is a language, 
>>>> but I recall hearing about both of those back in the 70's when I started 
>>>> out. 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My point being:   Unix and SQL are both legacy products.  Which would 
>>>> make Oracle, SQL Server, AIX, Linux (a Unix wannabe), and their ilk all 
>>>> legacy.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> That is not to say that any of these have stood still; to the best of my 
>>>> knowledge there have been incremental improvements to each.  Just as 
>>>> there have been incremental improvements to the AS/400 -> iSeries -> i5.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So the next time some eunuch (pardon me, Unix) 'guru' or SQL (any 
>>>> variety)  wiz kid throws the word 'legacy' into a conversation regarding 
>>>> the iSeries, just look 'im in the eye and with a condescending look say, 
>>>> 'You're sh*****g me.  Right?'
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> And, just for the record, Bell Labs invented Unix, and IBM invented 
>>>> SQL.  Not Oracle, not Microsoft, not Sun.  And who leads the world in 
>>>> patents again?  It sure ain't Oracle, or Microsoft, or any of those wiz 
>>>> kids' favorites.  I don't have any idea how many have been used in the 
>>>> iSeries, but certainly quite a number.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    * Jerry C. Adams
>>>> *iSeries Programmer/Analyst
>>>> B&W Wholesale Distributors, Inc.* *
>>>> voice
>>>>    615.995.7024
>>>> fax
>>>>    615.995.1201
>>>> email
>>>>    jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> fbocch2595@xxxxxxx wrote:
>>>>
>>>>      
>>>>
>>>>> It's easy to lump all IBM machines, whether mainframe or midrange, as 
>>>>> legacy, don't you think?  
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Keith Carpenter <carpcon@xxxxxxx>
>>>>> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>> Sent: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 09:21:54 -0800
>>>>> Subject: Re: Say Hello to IBM System i5!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The large consulting firms who recommend new systems just call it legacy.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Jeff Crosby wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>        
>>>>>
>>>>>>> Whatever the name, 
>>>>>>> seems I always end up having to use "AS/400" as part of the 
>>>>>>> definition. 
>>>>>>>     
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>            
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not to mention that even the Rochester IBMers refer to it as AS/400 to 
>>>>>> this
>>>>>> day.  They are in conversations with me this very morning.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>   
>>>>>>
>>>>>>          
>>>>>>
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>>>>
>