On Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 11:25 AM, Dean Eshleman
<Dean.Eshleman@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm open to Java or Python, whichever is easier to get up and running.
OK. In this case, learning the respective languages is only part of
the "get up and running" process. Java, since it is already installed,
requires no time or effort to install. IBM's new Python is, from
everything I have gathered so far, not what I would personally
consider easy to install. Now, remember that I'm not a sysadmin. I've
never ordered or applied a PTF, and I don't have the ability to do so
on my system. Someone who does have experience with the admin side of
things, and sufficient authority on their system, might consider IBM's
Python fairly easy to set up. I don't know. But there are several PTFs
that are required if you want a "useful" installation of Python on the
i. (Namely, besides Python itself, you really should get at least the
"DB2 for i connector" and the "Toolkit for IBM i". The latter also
requires that you install XMLSERVICE.)
iSeriesPython, in stark contrast, is very easy to set up. There's only
the one download, and the instructions are very clear and very
specific. I was able to do it myself (which is why it's on our system
in the first place), and if I can do it, pretty much anyone can do it.
And I see you've already done it.
I haven't really written any Java code, but I have played around with calling Java classes from RPG. It isn't something that I have done very often, so I was curious if Python would be any easier. I have seen you talk about it on these forums, so it has peeked my curiosity. Maybe "enough Python" and "enough Java" are both similar as far as the learning curve goes. I guess that was what I was trying to figure out.
The learning part of it is more subjective, but on the whole, I think
most people will find it easier to learn Python. It's definitely
easier and faster to program in Python, once learned.
I downloaded iSeriesPython and installed in on our IBM i. I then used your blog article about creating a spreadsheet and was able to get your code to work. If I want to use this for production, I should probably have our administrator install the IBM PTF's to enable the newer version of Python at 7.1.
I've been using iSeriesPython in production for years (as far back as
an AS/400 at V5R2). If your shop needs the reassurance of the IBM
name, then by all means, install the PTFs. But you have to keep in
mind that there are a number of significant differences between IBM's
Python and iSeriesPython.
Also, the stuff I've written on that blog is meant for getting
people's feet wet. If you want to use it in production, there are
definitely things I would recommend adding to it. (Actually, if all
you want to do is copy data from QSYS files to Excel workbooks, you
might as well go to <
https://bitbucket.org/jky/cpytoxlsf.py> and
download a more fleshed-out tool for that purpose.)
That little exercise still doesn't address my question about how easy it would be to convert HTML to PDF in Python. Java and iText may still be a better option for that.
If iText does what you need it to, then yes, that's probably the
quickest way to accomplish that.
As I often try to point out, learning just enough Python and one or
two packages to accomplish a particular task is all well and good, and
I'm happy when people do that; but the real dividend is that Python is
stunningly versatile. You can use it for all kinds of stuff. I would
argue it's more versatile than Java.
John Y.
midrange.com
