Re: Access Excel formulae from an RPG

["Raul A. Jager W." <raul@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Easy: you create a "web page" with just a table and excel will load it
as a spreadshit.
Or, you can create a file in the iFS with excel format.

Dave wrote:

> Thanks
> It's not that I have a problem with using RPG for the formulae. My
> problem is that this is effectively code that is duplicated and
> unnecessary testing. I wasn't really proposing using Excel for a web
> service either, but just wondering how rpg could access the user's
> rules for the calculations. Maybe, it should be the reverse : a set of
> rpg procedures that define the rules, and then the user uses our
> service programs instead of formulae in his own spreadsheet. But then
> how would his spreadsheet communicate with the service program?
>
> Le 16 mars 2012 00:56, Don <dr2@xxxxxxxx> a écrit :
>
>
> > Pardon my ignorance, but why couldn't these formulae be written in free
> > format RPG and handled just as easily as they would have been in Excel?
> >
> > I've written A LOT of insurance code, statistical analysis stuff, eco system
> > simulations, etc., and I don't see why this was so complex of an event...
> >
> > DR2
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
> > On Behalf Of Nathan Andelin
> > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 7:27 PM
> > To: RPG programming on the IBM i / System i
> > Subject: Re: Access Excel formulae from an RPG
> >
> > @Dave
> >
> > You deserve credit for thinking outside the box. I probably never would have
> > imagined using Excel to host web services. I shouldn't be surprised. Some
> > people think they can download almost all their data and nearly run their
> > businesses on Excel.
> >
> > I don't know if Excel Web services are possible. And I doubt that it would
> > be good at it, even if it were possible. I do understand that Excel is
> > terrific at handling formulas. But in the case of insurance tariff
> > calculations I don't understand how it would be more complicated in RPG.
> >
> > I view tariff calculations as procedural intensive (step by step) as opposed
> > to formula intensive (math). I view tariff calculations as applying weights
> > and factors and percentages to data in records in procedural fashion. What
> > am I missing? If it really is formula intensive, I'd still wonder how it
> > would be more complex in RPG, which might reference SQL and other math
> > functions.
> >
> > We have procedures for calculating student grades. And I was surprised at
> > the number of factors, weights, percentages, and steps involved in grade
> > calculations. But the reason for coding them as procedures was so we could
> > evoke them from a lot of different programs; which we do.
> >
> > I don't see anything wrong with using Excel to double-check your RPG
> > procedures. In fact I see good in that. But if you still think calculations
> > should only be done in one place, I'd still recommend RPG at this point. If
> > you were to go that route, then you might considering providing a browser
> > base UI to your users that looked and behaved like a spreadsheet as opposed
> > to 5250.
> >
> > -Nathan.
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Dave <dfx1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: RPG programming on the IBM i / System i <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Cc:
> > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 3:19 PM
> > Subject: Access Excel formulae from an RPG
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Today I was presented with the most complex set of mathematical
> > instructions in an rpg program I have ever seen. (insurance tariffs).
> > I was not involved in the development but as I was involved in other
> > tests on the product, that used these calculations, I was asked to
> > control the tariffs that were shown during the course of my own tests.
> > The user had supplied an Excel spreadsheet which we could use to enter
> > any test amounts to get the different details of the tariffs. So, to
> > test the rpg code, we are basically creating a client on a 5250 screen
> > and checking the displayed tariffs calculated by the rpg program with
> > those obtained with the spreadsheet. It doesn't seem right to me that
> > we have basically 2 copies of the formulas needed for the
> > calculations, the user's in the spreadsheet and ours in the rpg
> > program. The rpg code used to reproduce the excel formulae is very
> > complicated, and the programmer who wrote it is using the debugger to
> > be able to see the result of the different steps in the calculation!
> > How could the rpg program access directly the user's formulae? I
> > thought web service, but I would not really know where to start.
> > Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
> > --
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