Re: An odd thing

[Jon Paris <paris@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>> "Jon, from you comments my guess is that any user customizing is done in the
4GL, is that correct?" <<

100% correct.  Not only do you wite all of the code in the 4GL (although you
can of course call programs in other languages) you test within the tool's
environment too.  The tool guarantees that if it works correctly in the test
environment it will work correcly in the generated code.  Hence no need to mess
with the source code.
>> "If so, I guess the difference is that VA RPG doesn't do near as much work
for you as VA Generator. Otherwise, the trade off would be that employees
must learn to use the 4GL." <<

Depends on your definition of "as much", but this is correct in as much as a
4GL tends to do more work for you.  Also the fact that you establish
relationships between components by "drawing lines" as you would in VA Java or
VA Smalltalk tend to reduce a lot of the grunt "move db field to screen" type
stuff.

>> "I don't think that any development tool does all the work for you, but VA
RPG is more like a shell generator and VA Generator is an application
generator. (Unless VA RPG has grown a lot since I last used it).

So, the advantage of VA Generator is the for the cost of learning the 4GL,
most of the development work will be done for you. Sounds good. If, in fact,
the developer need not ever touch the COBOL code (as they will be
customizing in the 4GL)." <<

"does all the work"?  - you wish! <vbg> but it does have the ability to use
pre-built components easily.  It is also an excellent choice where you have a
hetrogeneous environment since the same "source" can generate code for multiple
front-ends and multiple back-ends.  There is a definite learning curve for both
the tool and the 4GL, but you don't ever need to touch the COBOL (or C++ if you
were generating the backend for AIX for example.  It can also generate
green-screen apps as well as Client Server.
>> "Who wrote Generator? I have always seen it as a front end development tool
for hosts." <<

It's currently developed by our Raleigh NC lab.  Can't recall where it
originated - the 4GL and the development environment have different heritages.


Jon Paris - AS/400 AD Market Support - paris@ca.ibm.com
Phone: (416) 448-4019   -   Fax: (416) 448-4414
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