Re: Consuming RESTful APIs from RPG/COBOL ILE

[B Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx>]

There's always GETURI as well:

www.bvstools.com/geturi.html.

It's similar to HTTPAPI, but there is a command line interface as well as a
callable API.  Data can be returned to a stream file in the IFS, a PF
(which I don't recommend but some use), or if you're using the API the data
can be returned to the program.

There is a yearly cost which is around $300, but that's pretty cheap for a
product plus support.

Bradley V. Stone
www.bvstools.com
MAILTOOL Benefit #13 <https://www.bvstools.com/mailtool.html>: The ability
to use an IFS stream file as the body of the email (either text or html).

On Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 2:02 AM Kelly Cookson <KCookson@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi,
>
>
>
> We are making a list of options for *consuming* RESTful APIs from an RPG
> or COBOL ILE program. I am hoping to get help building the list.
>
>
>
> Here are options on our list so far:
>
>
>
>   1.  HTTPFunctions in SYSTOOLS. Right now this is the top of our list,
> but things can change.
>
>
>
>   1.  IWS. Tim Rowe recently pointed out that IWS can consume RESTful web
> services as well as expose them.
>
>
>
>   1.  HTTPAPI utility. I found this on Scott Klement’s website (
> https://www.scottklement.com/httpapi/ ).
>
>
>
> We know how to use Node.js to *expose* RESTful APIs on the IBM i. However,
> if we want to consume an API from a COBOL or CL program, we only know of
> one way to call a Node.js script: use a QShell command. The QShell command
> does not appear to have a way to return data from the Node.js script. We
> can’t get the data from the API we want to consume. We thought about having
> the Node.js script consume the API and write the data into a database file
> or data queue, which would then be available for processing by the COBOL or
> CL program. But…ugh! It just seems like a clunky workaround.
>
>
>
> We would prefer not to use PHP or Java. Nothing at all wrong with these
> languages. They work great. This is just a preference of our particular
> shop for non-technical reasons.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Kelly Cookson
>
> Senior Software Engineer II
>
> Dot Foods, Inc.
>
> 217-773-4486 ext. 12676
>
> www.dotfoods.com
>
>
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