Look who came to New Hampshire!

Wednesday February 1st

Meeting users needs with free software on IBM i

Are you tired of constantly exporting and importing data for "foreign" applications running on Windows or Unix/Linux servers? Do you wish there was an easy way to keep more applications on IBM i?

This session shows you some approaches that will help you to ensure that modern applications can be deployed on IBM i easily and without breaking the budget.

Exploit the huge world of open source applications and tools that you can easily implement on your IBM i. And what's more, you can easily integrate these applications into your DB2/RPG universe.

Jon will also show you how you can create powerful browser-based database applications in minutes using readily available application frameworks - writing almost no code yourself. And all the data can be stored in DB2 so you can easily integrate these applications into your existing inventory.

Can it all really be that cheap and easy to do? Jon believes so and on this session will discuss and demonstrate a number of open source applications to show just how quickly and easily new web-based applications can be deployed.

Keep your IBM i alive and vibrant and be a hero to your end users by responding quickly to requests for new web based applications.

From subroutines to Procedures & Service Programs - part 1

Susan doesn’t code subroutines any more. She believes that procedures (aka, subprocedures) make great subroutine replacements. They can make your code more obvious, making maintenance easier, faster and more reliable. Take the extra step to package your commonly used procedures into ILE Service Programs and you can share them easily and efficiently among many programs.

In this 2 part session, Susan will explain the advantages of modularizing your code using procedures and she'll cover how to do it.

Part 1 covers the details of coding procedures - both the syntax and the best practices. We'll look at how prototypes are used with procedures and cover some valuable prototype keywords to make your coding life easier.

From subroutines to Procedures & Service Programs - part 2

Part 2 assumes you have either attended Part 1 or already have experience coding internal procedures, defining and using local data and prototypes. In this second session, we'll cover the details of ILE Service Programs - what they are, when and why you should use them, how to package your procedures in them, and shortcuts for using them from your other programs.

These two sessions can form a foundation for writing better modular applications.

The latest and greatest in RPG IV

The V7 releases of RPG have radically changed the language. Among other new features, you can now code RPG in completely free format - and with no 80 columns restrictions!

The latest updates have also extended RPG's error handling model, making it much simpler to ensure that things are "tidied up" in the even of an exception.

In addition to these latest enhancements, Jon will also cover other V7 features including:

• Sorting and Searching of Data Structure Arrays
• Support For Alias Names
• New and Updated BIFs - Including Scan and Replace
• Changes in Prototyping rules
• And last but not least how performance improvements for large return values can make your subprocedures easier to deploy as web services.

Bio's

Susan

Susan's career has spanned over 30 years in the field of application development. She began as a programmer developing applications for corporations in Atlanta, Georgia, working with a variety of hardware and software platforms. She joined IBM in 1985 and quickly developed a close association with the Rochester laboratory during the development of the AS/400 system.

Susan worked in Rochester, Minnesota for 5 years in the AS/400 Technical Support Center. She later moved to the IBM Toronto Software Laboratory to provide technical support for programming languages and AD tools on IBM i.

Susan left IBM in 1999 to devote more time to teaching and consulting. Her primary emphasis is on enabling customers to take advantage of the latest programming and database technologies on IBM i.

Today she is part of System i Developer, the team that hosts the RPG & DB2 Summit events twice annually.

Susan is a regular speaker at user group and other technical conferences around the world and holds a number of Speaker Excellence medals from COMMON.

Susan is a Technical Editor for IBM Systems Magazine and a frequent writer for IBM Systems Magazine and IT Jungle.

Jon

Jon's IBM midrange career started when he fell in love with the System/38 while working as a consultant. This love affair ultimately led him to joining IBM.

In 1987, Jon was hired by the IBM Toronto Laboratory to work on the S/36 and S/38 COBOL compilers. Subsequently Jon became involved with the AS/400 and in particular COBOL/400.

In early 1989 Jon was transferred to the Languages Architecture and Planning Group, with particular responsibility for the COBOL and RPG languages. There he played a major role in the definition of the new RPG IV language and in promoting its use with IBM Business Partners and Users. He was also heavily involved in producing educational and other support materials and services related to other AS/400 programming languages and development tools, such as CODE/400 and VisualAge for RPG.

Jon left IBM in 1998 to focus on developing and delivering education focused on enhancing IBM i application development skills.

Today he is part of System i Developer, the team that hosts the RPG & DB2 Summit events twice annually.

Jon is a frequent speaker at User Groups meetings and conferences around the world and holds a number of speaker excellence awards from COMMON.

Jon is a Technical Editor with IBM Systems Magazine and a frequent author for IBM Systems Magazine and IT Jungle.