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

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>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
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> >>>>
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> >>
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> >
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