Re: Does the eRPG SDK template system support JSON? -- WEB400

The comments in this thread lead me to think that CGICBLDEV2 would better help us leverage our existing COBOL skills because CGICBLDEV2 is written in COBOL, eliminating some of the problems of trying to use CGI packages written in RPG. 

Am I mistaken in this view?

Thanks,
Kelly


-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon Paris
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2015 3:14 PM
To: Web400@Midrange. Web400
Subject: Re: [WEB400] Does the eRPG SDK template system support JSON?

For the most part Brad COBOL can do anything that RPG can - but it is more work.

Imagine RPG in the "bad old days" without Protos and the CONST keyword.

In RPG by using that one facility I can define a field as 60 long and pass a literal, a 20 char field, a varying field, a function, etc. etc.

In COBOL I would have to determine that I did indexed need an X(60) - set up a temporary one, and then move the value I wanted into it before passing the parm.

Similarly COBOL has no Options(*String) so any C-type function that requires passing a pointer to a null terminated string is a pain in the .

And on and on.

When I first had to go back and do this stuff "by hand" it may me appreciate just how much work the RPG compiler was doing for me. 

The COBOL syntax is also rather verbose since without the protos you need to specify the way in which the parm is passed on each call for each parm.



Jon Paris

www.partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com

On May 11, 2015, at 8:58 PM, Bradley Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I wondered the same thing, Henrick.
> 
> I haven't done COBOL since the 90s but a search shows this answer from 
> Bruce Vinning:
> 
> http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/itanswers/calling-rpg-proc-f
> rom-cobol-ile/
> 
> I guess I just assumed that with ILE things worked as ILE... If CONST 
> ruins that relationship maybe it should be more "publicized".  :)  I 
> plan too look further into this issue that's for sure as it's the 
> first I've heard of it.
> 
> Brad
> www.bvstools.com
> 
> On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 2:03 AM, Henrik Rützou <hr@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>> I know nothing about COBOL interface to RPG service programs, what is 
>> the difference (besides the /copybook) ?
>> 
>> On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 5:04 AM, Kelly Cookson 
>> <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Thanks Jon. There are a number of tools for mobile development on 
>>> the IBM i.
>>> 
>>> However, our shop has decided to develop mobile client interfaces 
>>> using responsive web sites and hybrid apps (Cordorva/PhoneGap). This 
>>> is because all of our current mobile developers are coming from a 
>>> background of Microsoft .NET web development. Our shop has spent 
>>> years developing websites that connect to the IBM i using web 
>>> services written in .NET and using the .NET Data Provider.
>>> 
>>> For our IBM i COBOL developers (including myself) to become web and
>> mobile
>>> developers, we will have to use HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, AJAX, JSON 
>>> and Cordova/PhoneGap to develop client interfaces. I was hoping to 
>>> use
>> Node.JS
>>> on the IBM i to give our COBOL developers a path to web services 
>>> without having to learn .NET. Node.JS isn't going to work for us at this time.
>> But
>>> we can: (a) use our shop's standard technologies to develop web and
>> mobile
>>> client interfaces, and (b) hook up the client interfaces to web 
>>> services developed with COBOL CGI programs. This gets our IBM i 
>>> COBOL developers into web and mobile development without having to 
>>> learn .NET, and it leverages our existing expertise in COBOL.
>>> 
>>> I have designed an architecture for CGI programming on the IBM i 
>>> that conforms to REST architectural constraints as described in 
>>> Fielding's dissertation. I am now gathering information on tools 
>>> available to help
>> us
>>> with the COBOL CGI programming. Next step, proof of concepts...
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> Kelly
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon 
>>> Paris
>>> Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2015 9:36 PM
>>> To: Web400@Midrange. Web400
>>> Subject: Re: [WEB400] Does the eRPG SDK template system support JSON?
>>> 
>>> For Mobile development with COBOL you should really take a look at
>> Lansa's
>>> LongRange http://www.longrangemobile.com
>>> 
>>> I know that works pretty well with COBOL because I helped translate 
>>> a few of the RPG examples into COBOL.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Jon Paris
>>> 
>>> www.partner400.com
>>> www.SystemiDeveloper.com
>>> 
>>> On May 10, 2015, at 8:00 PM, Kelly Cookson <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I will look for the template system in CGICBLDEV2 when I get it
>>> installed and start playing around with it.
>>>> 
>>>> I literally just started looking at CGI tools. I recently learned 
>>>> that our shop will not be adopting Node.JS on the IBM i at any time 
>>>> in the foreseeable future. Kind of a bummer. But the same reasons 
>>>> for not adopting Node.JS make CGI using COBOL programs an 
>>>> attractive alternative. (Every shop is different, and I'm sure 
>>>> Node.JS will work wonderfully for a lot of shops. It's just not a 
>>>> good fit for us at this time.)
>>>> 
>>>> I'm still committed to helping our IBM i COBOL developers become 
>>>> web and mobile developers as well. ;-)
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Kelly
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon 
>>>> Paris
>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2015 7:30 PM
>>>> To: Web400@Midrange. Web400
>>>> Subject: Re: [WEB400] Does the eRPG SDK template system support JSON?
>>>> 
>>>> CGICBLDEV2 uses a template system too Kelly.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Jon Paris
>>>> 
>>>> www.partner400.com
>>>> www.SystemiDeveloper.com
>>>> 
>>>> On May 10, 2015, at 12:55 PM, Kelly Cookson <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks Jon. I am looking at CGICBLDEV2 as well. And I'm looking at
>>> other solutions such as the CGI interface to XMLSERVICE and iWebSrv.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The thing I like about eRPG SDK is the use of a template system to
>>> format data for return to the client. This seems to me a potentially 
>>> intuitive way for developers who only do COBOL and DDS to deal with 
>>> returning JSON data. Still, I am also looking at other options for 
>>> JSON with COBOL (YAJL, PowerEXT, Redvers COBOL JSPN Interface).
>>>>> 
>>>>> The client interfaces we develop will using jQuery AJAX to make 
>>>>> GET
>> and
>>> POST requests, and they will be expecting data formatted in JSON as 
>>> the response. By keep the contract between the client and the web 
>>> service uniform (AJAX GET and POST requests, JSON responses) we can 
>>> develop
>> client
>>> interfaces that can easily switch between IBM i back ends and 
>>> Windows
>> back
>>> ends. We just need to point the client to a new URL to switch back ends.
>>> This is one of the benefits of the uniform interface constraint of
>> RESTful
>>> architecture.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Kelly
>>>>> 
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon 
>>>>> Paris
>>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2015 10:23 AM
>>>>> To: Web400@Midrange. Web400
>>>>> Subject: Re: [WEB400] Does the eRPG SDK template system support JSON?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Kelly,
>>>>> 
>>>>> You might want to also look at the COBOL interfaces for CGIDEV2 (
>>> http://www.easy400.net/cgicbldev2p/start.pgm).
>>>>> 
>>>>> No disrespect to Brad's eRPG but some RPG-oriented interfaces can 
>>>>> be
>>> very difficult to use in COBOL. Reason, in part, is that such 
>>> routines
>> tend
>>> to take advantage of the facilities offered by prototypes - for 
>>> example
>> the
>>> keyword CONST allows you to specify a literal instead of a variable.
>> COBOL
>>> has no such option and therefore the fields usually need to be 
>>> passed exactly as specified in the called routine. That usually 
>>> requires quite a bit more work and makes the examples hard to follow.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Giovanni has already done the grunt work and provided documented
>> native
>>> COBOL interfaces to CGIDEV2 routines that make it much easier.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Just a thought.  Unless Brad has added a lot of new stuff to eRPG 
>>>>> that
>>> I am unaware of, I think that the capabilities of CGIDEV2 are a 
>>> close
>> match.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jon Paris
>>>>> 
>>>>> www.partner400.com
>>>>> www.SystemiDeveloper.com
>>>>> 
>>>>> On May 10, 2015, at 10:46 AM, Kelly Cookson 
>>>>> <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks Brad.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I assume I wouldn't have any problems implementing this in ILE COBOL.
>>> I've seen several tutorial examples of creating JSON in RPG, which 
>>> is
>> made
>>> easier by built-in functions (like trim) and by  the new += 
>>> assignment operator. Unfortunately, RPG is not a standard language 
>>> in our shop. So
>> I'd
>>> need to use eRPG SDK in ILE COBOL.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Kelly
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
>>>>>> Bradley Stone
>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2015 8:10 AM
>>>>>> To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [WEB400] Does the eRPG SDK template system support JSON?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hi, Kelly.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The eRPG SDK is a template designed system, so if you create JSON
>>> templates the eRPG SDK would work the same as if it was using XML, 
>>> HTML,
>> or
>>> pretty much anything else.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> It doesn't know what type of data you're creating using the 
>>>>>> templates and replacement variables.  :)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>> www.bvstools.com
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Sun, May 10, 2015 at 2:15 AM, Kelly Cookson 
>>>>>> <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Suppose I want to develop a CGI program in ILE COBOL using eRPG SDK.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Can the ILE COBOL program read a DB2 table and use the eRPG SDK 
>>>>>>> template system to return a JSON string?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Kelly Cookson
>>>>>>> IT Project Leader
>>>>>>> Dot Foods, Inc.
>>>>>>> 1.217.773.4486 ext. 12676
>>>>>>> kcookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:kcookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> This is the Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries) (WEB400) 
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>> .
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
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>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
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>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> This is the Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries) (WEB400) 
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>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> This is the Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries) (WEB400) 
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>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
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>>> 
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>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Henrik Rützou
>> 
>> http://powerEXT.com <http://powerext.com/>
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>> 
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