Re: JSON Programming within RPG

[Pete Helgren <pete@xxxxxxxxxx>]

It is a great time to be doing this because there are so many great 
tools, types and protocols that allow data to move easily between 
systems.  JSON is, or was, primarily a client-side format.  I would say 
that it was a "browser-centric" format because JSON is an acronym for 
JavaScript Object Notation.  Before the advent of node.js, JavaScript 
was almost exclusively a browser thing.  These days it is equally used 
at the browser and the server but the real value is that when a JSON 
file or stream is consumed by JavaScript it "becomes" an object.  And 
from that point working with objects within the JavaScript world makes 
life easy.

It has utility as a data transfer format but the real power of it is in 
consumption by JavaScript.  So, I would expect that your customer would 
prefer a JSON formatted file or stream to be available for them to 
consume which means a web service (or some sort)  available on your IBM 
i.  How they would return that JSON stream or file would be up to them:  
They provide a web service you access or they use some other method for 
transmitting the JSON back to you.

I'd start with mapping out what they would need to consume and how to 
expose it.  Then I'd look at how they would want to make the changes 
available to you.  Securely making the services available is probably 
the biggest challenge.  Providing and consuming the JSON formatted data 
is the "easy" part (IMHO).


Pete Helgren
www.petesworkshop.com
GIAC Secure Software Programmer-Java
Twitter - Sys_i_Geek  IBM_i_Geek

On 3/1/2019 7:42 AM, Debbie Panco wrote:
> I am an RPG/Cobol programmer on the ISeries.  I know nothing about interfacing with the web.
> I am a newbie.  We here are looking to have a web application where we will pass customer
> data from the ISeries, allow the customer to make changes, receive that data back to the ISeries
> and updata our ISeries data file with the changes.
>
> I was assigned the task of researching what it would take to do this particularly using JSON.  What
> I am looking for at this point is not specifics.  I am looking for learning materials.  A good JSON
> book that someone could recommend that I could use as a reference.  Maybe some good
> reference material of how JSon is used in an RPGLE program (an IBM reference manual maybe).
>
> Perhaps a basic explanation as to the best way to accomplish it.  IE: what happens between the
> web application and the ISeries.  SQL?  Something else?
>
> I'm just researching because I am very green at this point.