Joe,
I'm quite conversant with the "underlying technologies" you mention and fairly good with Apache.
But I guess I'm one of those older guys who learnt and still gravitate toward cutting all code via a text editor or SEU. I can use Excel when I have to.
Attempting to roll out software that requires client installation and licensing costs per seat in an organization that administers a form for everything has always put me off.
I fear that first I may have to find/install/learn an "Eclipse" framework, then find/install/learn a "Websfear" framework before being able to do "easy" rich GUI stuff with EGL.
In such a small shop I'm the someone who is expected to understand "what's in there" when things don't work.
It would be nice if it was all just easy, right, and I bet it's not free.
But I may be prepared to give RDB 8 a go if I am able to explain some well defined steps to getting started, which I hope is what you were suggesting you may produce.
BTW. I found RDB 8 on the download section of the RDB website and it's not small, of course, so IBM's suggestion to expedite this with their Download Manager seemed like a good idea.
Then I rediscovered that, unfortunately, installing anything on a PC is difficult in a company that jealously guards admin rights and has a firewall that can confound subsequent connections.
Nothing is ever "easy".
I thank you for the time and expertise you provide.
Cheers, Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joe Pluta
Sent: Monday, 22 November 2010 5:01 a.m.
To: Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: [WEB400] Great new Rich UI features in RBD 8
Hi Peter!
Sorry I didn't answer this right away; it takes me a while to catch up
after speaking at DevCon.
It's hard to pick a framework much less learn it. One of the real
problems with a rich UI project is just pulling the trigger on which
framework to use. In order to do that, you have to learn those various
frameworks. And in order to do that you have to become pretty
conversant with all the underlying technologies, from HTML to XML, from
JavaScript to JSON.
Thin client is a bit easier - you tend to go JSF or Spring, and there's
a ton of information out there comparing the two. But there are dozens
of Rich frameworks, and many of the differences are pretty technical.
With EGL, you have fewer choices but all the plumbing is done for you.
You end up with a great default framework of IBM's widgets and Dojo
1.5. That's more than enough to start a pretty solid application
framework. As time goes on, IBM will probably add frameworks, but if
you decide that you just can't live without some component, you can then
bite the bullet, learn the JavaScript behind it, and write your own EGL
wrapper. EGL is all about extension.
As to installing, it's a little difficult because RBD 8 isn't released
yet. But as soon as it comes out I'll write an article on
installation. Have you installed any Rational products yet? RDi or
RDP? If so, I can give you the 20-second overview:
1. Download RDP version 8. Install into a new package group.
2. Download RBD version 8. Install into the same package group as number 1.
You're done!
Getting started is a little more involved. You could buy my book on
EGL, which takes you end to end developing a multi-tier application with
both thin and rich clients. Unfortunately, you just missed iSeries
DevCon, where I usually have at least one session and one lab on EGL
development for the i. The truth is once you get started, it's pretty
simple. EGL is about as easy a language to use as you can find (put
your data is in records, and pass those records from one place to
another), and attaching to RPG on the back end is almost trivial.
Joe
Joe,
Thanks a bunch.
This could be the impetus we, as a small team (6), need to finally decide to adopt an industry strength UI framework.
My worry is that, without one, our more recent developers have been coding evermore complex (and perhaps unsupportable) code at both the client and server, to resolve issues that such a framework may now provide.
These days I sometimes feel taking the elevator makes more sense than proving how fast I can mount the stairs.
BTW, is there a document which illustrates that getting started/installing etc is equally as simple?
Cheers, Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joe Pluta
Sent: Friday, 19 November 2010 10:51 a.m.
To: Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries; Websphere Development Studio Client for iSeries
Subject: [WEB400] Great new Rich UI features in RBD 8
If you're interested in Rich UI development, I've just written an
article for IBM Systems Magazine on the new Rich UI features in RBD 8.
RBD 8 will be available in a couple of weeks, so you might want to take
a look at the article and see if you want to make some time to look at
the new version. It's really pretty stunning.
Basically, IBM has taken everything they've learned with their thin
client WYSIWYG designer (which is one of the best inthe business, IMHO)
and applied it to their rich client technology. This is the sort of
thing that really puts EGL at the forefront when it comes to business
application development. There are lots of GUI tools out there, but
EGL's focus on removing the complexity (i.e., taking care of the
plumbing) allows green screen folks to concentrate on the business rules
without having to become an expert on the many underlying technologies.
The article is in two parts:
http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/ibmi/enewsletterexclusive/35233p1.aspx
http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/ibmi/rbd8_part2/35144p1.aspx
Joe
midrange.com
