To add to Craig's post - Transportation is the same way. The dispatching
systems have been on green screen for so long, any long-time dispatcher will
refuse to use a GUI. They can keep their eyes on the documents, enter
values, they know exactly when to field exit, how many tabs to hit to move
to the next field when skipping over optional values, and even no-look touch
on the function keys. Extremely resistant to any data entry changes.
Additionally, they resist database changes from native DB2 (with the green
screen) to anything with a separate database (off IBM i) because of
performance speeds - again, the rate of speed they go through the entry
process a couple of second lag to them is unacceptable.
It's all what you've gotten accustomed to over the years and as the older
(er, more seasoned) users begin to go away, the younger crowd refuses to
learn the green screen and everything must offer a GUI alternative,
regardless of the performance, or they will simply move on to another job.
It amazes me the lack of willingness to learn, yes an older technology, and
how companies cater to those demands to spend money to build a new interface
to an old system that's working fine. Yet it happens over and over again.
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L <rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Craig
Richards
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 08:26
To: RPG programming on IBM i <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Tool to Modernize IBMi Screens into GUI
The other side of the coin is, to me at least, is that users used to
the "fast entry" of green screens wouldn't want a web update, but
would eventually use it after the initial shock.
Back in the mid to late 80s I worked for the Bank of New Zealand.
I was visiting our Singapore branch doing some sort of systems upgrade. We
were using the Kapiti International Banking System.
The BNZ was offering decent interest rates on deposits of $50k plus and the
uptake (and turnover) of these deposits was massive.
I remember watching the bank staff cranking through huge amounts of data
entry as deposits were taken or rolled over.
(Although the system offered variable term deposits that could be
auto-renewed, generally the customers insisted on a fixed deposit that would
expire and had to be re-entered afresh) The speed and accuracy of their data
input was astounding. No point in fancy graphics - no one was looking at the
screens...
That memory has often surfaced over the years and while I know that web apps
can be coded in such a way that mouse usage is optional - it's still hard to
imagine the same speed of data entry.
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