Re: Costco still on IBM i?

xy

If you will be working with DSPFs, I strongly suggest that you start using RDi - it is really a very good tool for regular DSPFs - not menus, as has been discussed here before. I have found that the graphical display, alongside the Properties view, makes for a very efficient tool. Hey, in SDA, how any different function keys do you have to press to get various attributes set? How many times do you have to type something in front of a field to get some attribute window open? In RDi's Screen Designer, teamed up with the Properties view, it's all very quickly available. And the actual source is always a click-on-a-tab away.

Just my-not-so-humble-opinion but based on experience!  :)

*Regards*

*Vern Hamberg*

IBM Champion 2025 <cid:part1.lzRlxR0L.zclhFOgr@centurylink.net> CAAC (COMMON Americas Advisory Council) IBM Influencer 2023

On 5/23/2025 3:06 AM, x y wrote:

While they'll have to pry SDA out of my cold, dead fingers, I envy the GUI
crowd because they have a large-as-it-needs-to-be panel size, a rich
palette of colors and attributes (I know--16 bits), and a spectrum of
fonts. Fifty years later, the i remains chained to the 5250 data
stream, which was great in its day.

Yes, I know there are lots of options today, and they exist because IBM
rolled over for Bill Gates. Windows 95 couldn't hold a candle to the
AS/400...but Bill marketed like a crazy man and invested in the midrange
while IBM didn't do either. The IBM'ers in charge thought Gates was just
another nerd, that he'd be working for them. Software, they said..."just a
necessary evil". "Honkin' big mainframes are where the money is", they
said. IBM failed to adapt and they're paying the price: in the U.S., the
7th largest tech company and 67th overall in revenue (which has been
declining). Actually, IBM's primary investment has been in its own
shares--stock buybacks are one of two ways to keep your earnings per share
up (the other is increasing your revenue). Everybody worries about the
death of the i; the greater concern should be the death of IBM.

I've been at this since the mid 70's and it's been good. But it could have
been glorious, and the IBM'ers who knew how to support HTML at the OS level
were smothered by blue suits and white shirts.

Sigh. I'm just gonna ride 'em on down.

On Thu, May 22, 2025 at 8:03 PM Robert Roland via MIDRANGE-L <
midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

One prime example I see of this is the web apps I work on every day - we
don't pay attention to tab order, or any concessions to rapid data entry. I
personally find the green screens faster to work with, like CLIs on UNIX.

This seems to be borne out of focusing on the aesthetics of the GUI, vs
the actual usability.

Ugh.

- Rob

On Sat, May 17, 2025, at 4:56 AM, Infodorado InfoDorado via MIDRANGE-L
wrote:

The trick is to keep USERS in mind when you do a graphic type interface.

The green screen forces the developer into coding in a way that has a
shorter learning curve for new users. You can do web pages that way but
that takes more developer or management discipline.

--Alan

On 05/16/2025 6:41 PM EDT Jack Woehr via MIDRANGE-L <

midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm 100% with you on those insights, Roger.
I mentored a young fellow, 31, who had boot-camped his way into web

development at 29.

He was sad. "I wasted 7 years after college before finding web

development," he sighed.

"What did you do in those 7 years?" I asked.
"I worked in oil & gas in Louisiana. What should I do to boost my

career now?"

I told him, "Go back to Louisiana. I've done development for oil &

gas. They can find developers, but their challenge is finding developers
who understand oil & gas!"

He took my advice and is doing quite well today.

________________________________
From: MIDRANGE-L<midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of

Roger Harman<roger.harman@xxxxxxxxxxx>

Sent: Friday, May 16, 2025 16:32
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <

midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Subject: RE: Costco still on IBM i?

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do

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I have always had the opinion that the IBM I programs/interfaces were

done by people with more real-world experience - having worked in whatever
industry or similar. That gives you more insight into what is needed to
perform the function(s).

Again, just my opinion but I think most of the web stuff is designed

by people who never worked a retail counter, dealt with inventory, etc.

Roger Harman
COMMON Certified Application Developer - ILE RPG on IBM i on Power



Jack Woehr
Independent Consulting Programmer

303-847-8442

jack.woehr@xxxxxxxxxxx

www.procern.com

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