Re: How to move forward

[Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chuck Ackerman wrote:

> Here's my first piece of advice... Only learn as much about the server
> on the AS/400 as you need to know to get it running.  Once it's running
> you'll seldom need to touch it.  I haven't looked at ours in over a year
> and I'm the administrator.  So, don't pour a lot of energy into it.  Ask
> others how to get it going (Shannon has helped here) and forget it.  

_That_ is good to know.

> Next, get a tool to develop web pages.  Don't do them by hand at first.
> Any basic tool will work such as Dreamweaver, FrontPage, etc.  If you're
> like me you learn by doing.  Once you create a web page or two in one of
> these tools it's easy to learn HTML by seeing what they create.  I think
> graphically so I like graphical tools and not text tools.  

I've got WDSC 5.0.  Wonder if I could use that?  I really have a 
specific "report" in mind that I'm interested in getting up.  It is the 
day's deliveries by route.  Invariably customers call in to customer 
service asking for a delivery time.  By clicking on this web "report" 
link, customer service could see immediately how many prior stops there 
are.  Next the customer will ask "Did I put fries on the order?" THEN 
customer service would click on the invoice number and the .PDF of that 
invoice (which I'm already storing in the IFS via FormSprint) would 
immediately be displayed.

> Finally, if you're serious about producing web pages that show data from
> the AS/400 then get an AS/400 specific web tool.  We use Websmart here
> but there are several good ones out there.  Almost all of them will give
> you a 30 day trial.  Many, like Websmart, will extend that 30 days to
> let you really have a chance to get acquainted.  Also, I've found that
> BCD has helped me with many of the above non-Websmart issues such how to
> do some Javascript, HTML and HTTP server items.  They've gone way above
> the norm with getting me up and running.  If you're going to spend money
> with a vendor make sure the don't limit their support to their specific
> product!

I've used ProGen for years and love it.  BCD's support has always been 
excellent.

Thanks.

--
Jeff Crosby
Dilgard Frozen Foods, Inc.
P.O. Box 13369
Ft. Wayne, IN 46868-3369
260-422-7531

The opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily
the opinion of my company.  Unless I say so.