Re[2]: "extract" command enhancement

     Sounds suspiciously like VisualAge for RPG!!  I don't suppose there's 
     any way to take all those nice visual "parts" and port them back to 
     the green screen...naw, thought not.
     
     Whatever about the 5250 data stream enhancements (and I don't see them 
     happening), I reckon much of what you desire could be provided using a 
     good DSM wrapper service program.  It's a project I've had in mind for 
     quite a while now, but never had time to even start the groundwork on.
     
     And then there's UIM...
     
     ____________
     Paul Cunnane
     The Learning Company
     


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: RE: "extract" command enhancement
Author:  boothm@ibm.net at InterNet
Date:    20-09-99 8:22 pm


ah man, off we go.  More %bif stuff.  Sorry, but I can't see where this 
really offers much value to the programming community.  These %bifs may be 
fun and really good for trivia tests and certification exams, but if 
there's all this energy to burn why not some energy directed to the green 
screen which is far from dead?  Why not subfiles that ordinary programmers 
can write from scratch in less than two days?  Why not windows that act 
like windows and don't need extensive programming  to set pushbuttons or 
footers for the window?  Why not a simple way to leave the underlying 
screens undisturbed during and after the window's display? Why not some 
way of using all of the colors without those damned column separators?
     
Don't get me wrong  -  I like %found.  I like Eval.  I like longer field 
names.  There's lots of things I like, but day in and day out I have to 
deal with presenting subfiles to users and frankly I am finding that even 
with a family of generic templates a subfile still takes a couple of hours 
or more to get "just right." 
     
Having a %bif that was a "subfile part" coupled with a  %bif that was a 
"window part" that included the border, heading area,  message line (or not) 
and the F-keys as text or mouseable pushbuttons (not hot spots!) and choice 
of colors without column separators would make my programming a lot more 
effective than  %bif-your-date will in a dozen years.
     
That is a personal opinion, not expert testimony.
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