What's new in V6R1 in regard to development tools...

With this new version, and after much trial and error, IBM takes us on the way to what is likely our ten-year future in terms of development on the System i platform. We find, in no particular order, a strong SOA orientation; the emergence of two major languages (rather than one) in Web development: Java and PHP; and a more coherent and ever more powerful offer in terms of tools.

This new version must first establish generalized use of the WDSc development environment, which, by the way, was renamed RDi (Rational Developer for System i). With IBM, it is no longer just a name change, but rather it is consistent with organizational change since the IBM System i developers have been integrated with the Rational brand. This is likely to be the beginnings of greater integration with other tools in the Rational range.

Experts estimate that 25% of System i developers have adopted this development environment, but they do not have very specific data since it is delivered free with compilers. They also believe that another 50 percent will switch in the next two years. The latest Webcast on the subject (sponsored by ARCAD Software), led by Susan Gantner, attracted over 300 people. That's encouraging.

On the native languages side, it is noteworthy that RPG and COBOL both continue to evolve. We are not going to describe all the changes here in detail, but we’ll mention that, finally, we do not have to concern ourselves with re-entrant program calls in RPG. Whew!

On the SOA side, V6R1 finds expression in the appearance of a specific package, including both RDi and the development environment, called RBD (Rational Business Developer) allowing EGL language coding. The goal here is simply to respond to customers with simple requirements in terms of Web development.

IBM also stresses major interest by System i customers in PHP language, which is now integrated into the Eclipse environment. In other words, the same environment allows you to code in RPG or COBOL and PHP. It is also very good news for ARCAD Software because it means that PHP code can be managed in the exact same configuration as native code. Indeed, ARCAD in its repository manages cross-referencing between PHP code and tables or programs accessed on the System i. That's the kind of information that can synchronize teams and put diverse components on different platforms in production simultaneously.

Modernization of the user interface is not forgotten with HATS and WebFacing common runtime. These tools have reached a maturity they lacked at their debut. They deserve that you devote them some new time in view of the relevance they bring. If they do not satisfy you, you can always turn to a plethora of offers on the market.

It should be noted that IBM puts special emphasis on the need for a software configuration management tool for all people who want to control the process of integrating new technologies. Indeed, ARCAD Software is regularly cited by IBM in this field.

In conclusion, we can say that we believe IBM gives us a lot with this new version, which well deserves that we change the version number rather than simply the release. What would have changed if it was called V5R5 rather than V6R1? We might have missed the sign that it was high time to accelerate the pace of technological change "if we want to stay in the race."

ARCAD Side, What's new...

The new version of the ARCAD products, V 8.7, contains many new enhancements, with no less than two solutions in the ARCAD-Qualifier Suite that were completely “redesigned.”

The ARCAD-Verifer solution allows creation and management of functional non-regression tests. Among the noteworthy changes in this suite are:

• Implementation in the form of an Eclipse plug-in, allowing strong integration within IBM’s WDSc and Rational products,
• Management of test campaigns,
• More flexibility in the management of data contexts (a test environment with an initial data set) allowing:
  - More independence in relation to version management (ARCAD-Skipper)
  - Simple comparison of two executions carried out in different environments
  - Addition of a data management method using journaling (in addition to the trigger mechanism)
• More comprehensive execution reports (including a new report showing the results from comparing spool files), and
• A new emulator that is more flexible to use.

ARCAD-Extract, the solution dedicated to extraction of data sets, has undergone a major overhaul, with extensive enhancements to the data model analysis engine, the engine shared with the ARCAD-Open Repository and ARCAD-Observer. It now features more analysis functionality based on data types, naming rules, and even reference files, embellished with an analyzer of integrity constraints.

This solution is now also available as an Eclipse plug-in, or as an independent client for better integration with the IBM IDE. It provides a graphical interface that greatly improves ease of use.

ARCAD-Skipper also has a number of new features including:

• Integration of JD Edwards (ORACLE®) components in the ARCAD-Changer change processes for both standard objects (*PGM, *FILE) as well as related parameters (such as Dream Writers).
• A 4GL integration level for SYNON components in addition to the existing management already in place for sources/objects generated by this CASE tool.