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I would think the larger shops would be running a HA solution and would thus be easier to migrate than a smaller shop that means a weekend of downtime. Need, or 'so much better' are a matter of perception and I've got some projects to do versus argue that point. 'As far back as practical' is another matter of perception. Take this perception. If you write an application that only runs on a supported version of OS (which leaves only V5R2 and V5R1) then that application is now something that is 'so much better'. The possibility that you could have dumbed down the code to get it to run on something unsupported is not a factor. Again, there are numerous shops out there that would love their software vendors to say they only support versions of the OS currently supported by IBM. Especially ones with legal requirements like tax tables, W2's etc. Then they could use that as ammunition to get management to finally upgrade. Is there something in older versions to stop the compiler from supporting versions that IBM is no longer making money on? Well, rather than have IBM spend money to find out if they can support people they are no longer making money on, I'd rather they add further features to the compiler. Rob Berendt -- "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin "Bob cozzi" <cozzi@xxxxxxxxx> Sent by: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx 11/17/2003 03:34 PM Please respond to RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To "'RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries'" <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> cc Subject RE: RPG IV release levels and complexity Most (all?) software for the Windows platform will run as far back as Win98. Microsoft releases runtime support for those older platforms because they know that a software vendor's Market Share depends on it. With the ability to leverage, for example, the latest HTML parsing engine on all reasonable Windows versions in use, a software vendor and decide to update their product to take advantage of the new features. Often those new features can run on all available platforms, but occasionally they only work on the new releases. For the later, they usually mimic the capability in their code or issue a message that says, "To use this you need Windows xyz". Large companies that have to go through large efforts to get a new system approved or upgrade the existing one don't have the luxury of a small shop where one person decides, "Hey, I think I'll upgrade this weekend." When the business is based on the system working the same way tomorrow as it does today, upgrading is often a necessary evil, not a luxury. And what exactly is there in V5R2 that is so much better than V5R1? I can't think of a single thing off hand? In fact, accept for the Apache web server, I can't think of a single feature in V5R1 that is "better" than V4R5. I'm sure there's a few esoteric or critical things that some shops need. But is there really something in those releases that would prevent IBM from offering a compiler that does not rely on the OS release for runtime? Meaning, sure you could require V5Rx for compiling, but any feature in the compiler should run as far back as practical (V4R4 probably). Bob Cozzi Cozzi Consulting www.rpgiv.com -----Original Message----- From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of rob@xxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 2:08 PM To: RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries Subject: Re: RPG IV release levels and complexity Bob, I think that it is more of a problem of people redefining 'broke' so that it doesn't include doesn't have any of the new features of the latest operating system. Redefining it this way allows them to smugly say "why should I upgrade when what I run isn't broke" as the swamp slowly rises above their heads. V5R1 has reached it's end of support (unless you have certain contracts or agreements, even with those it expires in less than 6 months). Isn't it time they just upgrade. I do NOT want them slowing down features in the compiler to dumb it down to older versions of the operating system. Just as much as I do not want software vendors dumbing down their RPG so that it will compile on V2R1. If it in anyway, shape, or form, slows down enhancements to the compiler to allow one version of the compiler to support multiple versions of the operating system then I oppose that. The frustration of waiting on a new enhancement outweighs the frustration of not being able to run that enhancement on an older version of the operating system. The people with the older version of the operating system already have a solution - UPGRADE! How much market share would a vendor who made software for W2K or XP lose if they only marketed solutions that ran on Win3.1 also? Lots. Why do iSeries people insist on such a solution? Rob Berendt -- "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin "Bob cozzi" <cozzi@xxxxxxxxx> Sent by: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx 11/17/2003 02:39 PM Please respond to RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To "'RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries'" <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx> cc RPGIV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject RPG IV release levels and complexity Is it me or is it just too difficult to track all the different subtle enhancements to the RPG IV compiler on every new release. Iâm consulting at a shop that is on V5R1 and another that is on V5R2. Yet most people are still on V4Rx. In reading articles and going to training Iâm finding all of the developers essentially abandoning RPG IV enhancements because they can never relay on their release being the one on which the feature is offered. Three contemporary examples (but things like this happen literally every day as we move this shop to RPG IV): Someone is all hot to use the new UPDATE %FIELDS() capability to replace and EXCEPT opcode with Output specsâ They spent  day trying to get that to work. Oops, sorry, that feature is in V5.2 not V5.1 :-( Another one was trying to use qualified data structures. Theyâre at V5.1 so thatâs greatâ but then when trying to take advantage of the Data Structures as Arraysâ the get compiler errorsâ Oops sorry, thatâs a V5.2 feature, not V5.1. Another one happened when on a V4R5 machine they tried to use qualified data structures. Once againâ Oops, that a V5.1 feature. There are but a very few of the daily occurrences going on in the shops where Iâm consulting. Granted many people on this list donât have these problems because they try to stay in touch with the latest and greatest, butâ Is this a widespread issue or is it just me? I mean a few months ago I advocated that IBM either stop enhancing RPG IV on every release and only do it once per Version. That way at least if youâre on V5, you have the latest and greatest compiler features, or you can upgrade to it. As far back as the year 2000 I met with the RPG compiler manager from IBM Toronto and suggested the separate the compiler from the version and just ship Version X of RPG IV which will run on OS/400 Version Y release Z and later. For example, the ship version 2.0 of the RPG IV compiler and it runs on OS/400 Version 5.1 and later. So it would work on 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. This would give everyone on V5.x (any release) the same set of features. To me this is the only solution to this dilemma. >From where I see things, a major inhibitor to getting shops to move to RPG IV is when they set out a few recon programmers to find out if its feasible, you want that frustration level as low as possible. The way the compiler is today, that is just not possible. And forget that argument about why it canât be done, who cares why it canât be done. I want to know if it is I a problem for us developers or if this is an isolated situation. Thanks! Bob Cozzi _______________________________________________ This is the RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries (RPG400-L) mailing list To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at http://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l. _______________________________________________ This is the RPG programming on the AS400 / iSeries (RPG400-L) mailing list To post a message email: RPG400-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/rpg400-l or email: RPG400-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives at http://archive.midrange.com/rpg400-l.
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