Re: accessing QS3F data by utilities and 4GLs - where do they see thefield layout ?

From: Joe Pluta
Having done this sort of thing in the past, I have to warn that it's not
as easy as it looks.

Regarding the work involved in converting "I" specs to DDS or DDL, you make a good point. In addition to the issues you've raised, I've seen RPG II programs that altogether rename file fields in some programs. Other's mentioned multi-format files. So there may be a number of issues to resolve. That doesn't seem insurmountable to me. But it would give me pause to consider alternatives, such as migrating the data to SAP or some other DB.

Which brings me back to the cloud option. For example, the same company (Symmetry) which is hosting Aaron Bartell's IBM i partition, also offers a hosting solution for SAP. If they're experts on SAP, and can offer it in an IBM i partition for a reasonable monthly rate, then why not spend your modernization dollars on writing programs that export your S/36 files to SAP's database?

Not to pick on Steven Spencer, but his situation could be characteristic of a significant number of shops which are still running in the S/36 environment. They may have already attempted to modernize by going with a tool like FileMaker which they hoped would make development 10 times more productive. But for whatever reason, they're dissatisfied with it after a period of years. It just leads to duplicate data in disparate databases, which leads to more problems. No inter-operability between the legacy system and other systems because the legacy DB is only internally defined in RPG II specs.

There may be less than 1 FTE maintaining the legacy system. No budget for a serious modernization effort. Nobody to replace the guy maintaining the legacy code. Risk of that guy getting hit by a bus, or retiring. Little time or interest in learning to develop and maintain Web interfaces. Complaining that IBM has not provided an easy modernization path from A-Z.

It sounds like this is a case that is just ripe for migration to a new DB, if not a new platform. I hope they wouldn't go to a new platform. But something like SAP on an IBM i partition sounds pretty reasonable to me. You would at least preserve some of your investment in IBM i skills. It's not like you'd be learning a completely new runtime environment.

If there were an interest in customizing SAP, you could still do that with ILE RPG. Sound reasonable?

-Nathan