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

Kevin

you are quite right about building a JSON string but you also have to do
some thing with
it afterwards.

But I agree passing inbound JSON is tricky.

In relation to COBOL I have never seen much demands in that field.

On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 9:11 AM, Kevin Turner <
kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Yes, apart from the fact that cgicbldev2 has no built in JSON support as
> such - you would have to roll your own. Building JSON strings for output is
> not difficult - it is parsing inbound JSON strings that is tricky.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 13 May 2015, at 06:28, Kelly Cookson <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > 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>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> --
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Regards,
> >>> Henrik Rützou
> >>>
> >>> http://powerEXT.com <http://powerext.com/>
> >>> --
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