RPG - Software Architecture / Best practices

Hi everybody,

My name is Charles Martin.
I am a french software architect, in dotnet mainly.
I am not used to program in RPG, but I am working in it.

I have been asked to help RPG programmers to work in a different way, using best practices, design patterns, etc.
I am looking for advices, which could help me to get in the right direction.

Here is the context :

· 6 rpg programmers

o They are used to work using one monolithic program, doing

· Environment:

o IBM i v5r4

§ Seems tough to migrate to a new version, because we don't have anymore the sources of some programs and can't be compiled in the new environment (not sure about that).

o SEU

§ I will try to get RDp in the future (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/rational/products/rdp/)


What I would like to achieve is :

· Use a layered architecture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitier_architecture)

o Presentation Layer

o Business Layer

o Data Layer

· Do TDD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development)

o And later, BDD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_driven_development)


I am doing a Proof of Concept with my colleagues, using the "Service programs" to do the layering.
That would be a good start.
I could not find something similar on the net.
Does that seems a good idea to you, the RPG experts ?
How would you do that ?

Best Regards,
Charles Martin