July 2007

• Industry Observer -
• SOAP, WDSL, HTTP, XSD? What? - Web services can strike fear into the heart of all but the most well-prepared RPG programmer. But don’t let the acronyms throw you — behind the alphabet soup is a useful (and burgeoning) technology that can make life easier for you and your business partners.
• Web Application Development Overview - Browser user interfaces may be more complex than their green-screen counterparts, but that shouldn’t deter you from creating them for certain applications. Start by deciding which apps are candidates for BUIs and which technologies to use to develop them.
• A Road Map for System i Testing - Having an understanding of the various tests, techniques, and documents you can use to conduct effective and efficient system testing is a first step in implementing a successful system testing strategy.
• Crafting an Application Architecture with Java Frameworks - A staggering array of frameworks exists for creating application architecture — but which one will work best for you? From containers and user interfaces to testing and reporting, this article reviews the options to help you make your decision.
• The Basics of Cascading Style Sheets - Using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) within an HTML document can help you create jazzier web pages. The fundamentals presented here will get you started.
• JavaScript and DOM - Dynamic web applications don’t necessarily require you to learn Ajax. With W3C’s Document Object Model (DOM) and JavaScript, you can do a lot — this article shows how to manipulate HTML forms and divisions and then populate a sortable table from an XML file.
• Avoid Trigger Program Locks - Do you lose sleep trying to modify trigger programs on frequently used files? Use this program to avoid trigger locks and wrestle control of your schedule from your system.
• The Prototype JavaScript Library - Are you having JavaScript nightmares? The Prototype JavaScript Library is easy to install and eases the development of dynamic web applications. Go beyond this library’s Ajax functions and begin using its JavaScript tools.
• Monitor Your Web Environment Performance - Managing a web environment on your System i can take all of your time and energy. There has to be a better way. And now there is. The new Web Performance Monitor collects performance and transaction data for the jobs that compose a web environment.
• The New Look for HMC: Not Just Another Pretty Face - The HMC you know and love is now even easier to use, with more functionality and a more efficient user interface. See what's new and what stayed the same.
• Dump Main Memory Information - System i memory and memory usage make for a complicated maze. Do you know what is consuming your memory? DMPMEMINF dumps information about pages of main memory to a file and can be a very powerful command to analyze system performance.
• Feedback - 2 More Things to Add to DB2 on the i5; Elephant in the Room; System i Cobol; Cascading Style Sheets Clarification; Don’t You Read Your Own Articles?
• Marty McFly Says Hello to AS/2007 - With its recent announcements (Vertical Industry Program, models 515 and 525), IBM may finally have found the perfect marriage of "exact-fit" software applications with a "perfectly priced" technology platform.
• A Virtual State of Mind - Server virtualization might be hot — a “mega-trend” and a “sea change” — but it still has some imperfections that are definitely not hot.
• f.y.iSystem - Two Minutes with Farr on WDSc: Some Answers; IBM Adds Concurrent User Pricing to 515-525; DB2 Web Query Draws a Crowd; There's a Reason the p Got the Screamin' POWER6 First; News in Brief
• IBM Announcements -
• AS, VIP, History, and the Glory of Repetition - IBM's Vertical Industry Program is a study in the art of refinement, and it's destined to generate new sales for the System i this year.
• A New Channel for Solutions Information - Product Lines is a new blog on SystemiNetwork.com that explores some of the issues users must confront when selecting third-party software products in the System i market. This excerpt from the first installment explains the blog’s mission.
• Hot New Products -
• Virtual Workers: Today’s Bedouins, Part 1 - More companies are embracing telecommuting, finding that teleworkers are often more productive and that they save the company big bucks. But to gauge whether someone is a good fit for telecommuting, you need to look for a few key traits.
• Score with Agile Software Development - In the game of increasingly complex software development, managing scope-creep and keeping team members focused might seem next to impossible. Agile software development, one of today’s hottest software development concepts, offers a game plan for building a successful, productive methodology.
• System i System Messaging Product Roundup - When things go bump in the middle of the night, or any other time, on your System i, solutions that offer automated messaging, escalation, and response to system messages can be a lifesaver. See if one of these 17 operations solutions is right for you.
• ProData Helps Adidas SLD Group Score on the Web - Adidas SLD group struggled to provide employees with customer information — until they used ProData’s RPG Server Pages to improve web-based access to critical data.
• Killer Club Tech - Search System i Support Made Easy; Calculate a Data Area Name at Runtime; Target Spool Files with *SELECT
• Dr. I Doctor - Dr. I Doctor discusses the current and future state of Wi-Fi security and explains how to use SSL for i5/OS HMC phone-home operation.
• Tech Tips - 10 Techniques Guaranteed to Make a Development Project Fail