iSoftwerks.factory

Odds and Ends

The iSeries machines that have been the mainstay of my application career offers a pretty incredible variety of development tools and disciplines. In addition to Higher Level Languages (HLL) such as RPG, COBOL, and Java, there are tag languages (UIM) and CGI script elements that find their way into iSeries development efforts.

UIM is an IBM function that has been around for a number of years. It is a tag language which takes advantage of Presentation Manager. The source defines the data and functions that are to appear, and Presentation Manager contols the display (presentation).

NetData is IBM built CGI script tool that exists on the iSeries. It is similar in structure to PHP, creating a method of generating dynamic web pages using SQL and HLL applicaiton programs.

XML is becoming a much more prevalent form of data exchange. The example here is an X12 EDI ASN (856) document based on a FIDX schema. The unique thing about this document is that it was written by an RPG application program!

Some people think check digits are a pain in the neck. Quite frankly, I have a much lower opinion of them. The idea of a check digit is not new, but that hasn't stopped certain organizations from trying to re-invent them.