Re: open and fill a new ACS window/session from an already open ACS session

Hi Patrik


On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 10:38 PM Patrik Schindler <poc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello Evan,

Am 09.03.2020 um 03:33 schrieb Evan Harris <auctionitis@xxxxxxxxx>:

If you improve the 5250 interface by adding scroll bars rather than

converting it to a modern interface then you are just doing the user and
the platform a disservice.

I heard that assertion before and I still think it's not entirely valid.

It's completely valid; keeping people chained to a terminal interface
because you can gussy it up is what is invalid. Too many green screen
programmers have found reasons to continue with 5250 when a web interface
would have been better. In my estimation the primary reason is always that
it is easier for them to extend or repeat what they already know, rather
than starting again learning a new paradigm. I get it, it's hard to go back
to being a beginner when you are an expert ins something.

You are just providing more scaffolding and excuses not to move to a

modern interface and making the platform look old and outdated into the
bargain.

The same over and over again. We need to modernize for the sake of
modernizing, to make the system look brand new and shiny to the decision
makers with ties but no understanding of technology, and to not appall new
users.

It's not just for the sake of modernizing; you need to do this stuff to get
web services and other modern interfaces. And by that I mean, start
thinking beyond green screen apps. The same skills required to deliver a
browser based application are required to deliver a web service. You need
to have the system playing with other systems using modern services so the
CIO doesn't classify it as a brick holding the business back. Whether you
like it or not, or agree with it or not, the CIO looks at those green
screens as primitive devices holding his users and their productivity back.
That guy who wears a tie signs the checks, and to him it's not a technology
problem, it's a business problem. If I want the IBM i to be a viable
solution to him, then it needs to offer the same services and interfaces
the other systems offer - and BE VISIBLE about it. people investing in
green screens don't tend to have web services as part of their solution
strategy - they are still stuck at FTP.

While a lot of people out there make a living from exploiting this
attitude, the basic recursive meaning behind that thing appears just
ridiculous to me. With all due respect to all of you struggling to keep the
boat floating.

Personally I would rather see a customer stay on IBM i, so if I have to be
honest about how the green screen looks to the outside world, then I am
happy to do that. If I have to go to the CIO or CFO to get that system
modernized and keep it viable, well that's actually my livelihood.

Would you write a program for any kind of actual widespread business use
that ran in DOS on a Windows PC ?

No. Invalid comparison error detected. DOS has *technical* limitations way
beyond it's default character based interface, while 5250 is a character
based interface with proper technology behind it to support stuff you'd
need to program yourself for DOS. Networking. Database. Screen elements and
positioning. And more.

The point here was that you wouldn't use DOS when there was a perfectly
good alternative *on the _same_ box*. By the way, DOS or more accurately
cmd.exe has access to all sorts of technology behind it just like a green
screen has - it's accessible from any decent programming language (I used
to do this stuff in perl).

:wq! PoC

PGP-Key: DDD3 4ABF 6413 38DE - https://www.pocnet.net/poc-key.asc


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