Pre-Conference Workshops

The following Pre-Conference workshops will be availabe at the 2012 Annual Meeting and Exposition.

WORKSHOP: (LAB) RSE/RDP Jump Start

Speakers: Jon Paris and Susan Gantner

Price: $445 for Members / $495 for Non-Members

Session Abstract:
Don't get left behind - RSE (The Remote System Explorer as packaged in Rational Developer for Power Systems) is the tool for editing and working with today's RPG/COBOL applications. Now that IBM has stopped updating SEU for new language features, it's more critical than ever to move to more advanced tools.

Get a jump start to using Remote System Explorer (RSE) to edit your code in this hands-on workshop. Experience for yourself the productivity advantages of using this modern editor. Use the Outline View to find definitions of all your files, fields and subroutines and get a complete cross-reference of where they are used. Learn to find “compile time” errors in seconds without ever looking at a compile listing. Use filtering to remove old commented out lines of code from your view. Perhaps best of all, experience the joys of unlimited levels of undo when editing your source code. Step into the modern worlf of programming on IBM i and find out what you’ve been missing all these years.

In the lab, you will use the latest version of RSE as packaged in Rational Developer for Power Systems (RDP). However, the RSE features you will use in the lab are also applicable to RSE in RDi or WDSC. The example code used in the lab is RPG IV and DDS.

Learning Objectives:

Replace SEU with RSE for editing RPG/CL/DDS code.
Learn installation and customization tips for RSE
Enumerate the advantages of using RSE over SEU

Audience:
The workshop is aimed at experienced IBM i programmers who currently use SEU/PDM for writing their code.

Workshop Syllabus/Agenda:
Overview/demo of RSE Toolset Packages containing RSE Installation hints and tips Creating your first connection Using the RSE Editor and related tools - Outline View - Error feedback - Filtering - Nested Logic assistance - Language reference help Lab time to experience all these features and more.

WORKSHOP: Systems Management

Speaker: Larry Bolhuis

Price: $345 for Members / $395 for Non-Members

Session Abstract:

The IBM i systems administration workshop will cover many of the key topics that system administrators must understand to keep IBM i running at peak efficiency. We will focus on maintenance items that are often ignored by administrators.

Workshop Syllabus/Agenda:

HMC what it is, what it does, and general care and feeding.
FSP updates, why, when, and how (two ways: with and without HMC).
PTFs for i5/OS, getting them, loading them, and knowing what you have! (including Fix Central overview).
VMI ‐ Tape and Optical. The care and feeding of image catalogs and how to clean a virtual tape drive.
Management central ‐ performance monitoring, PTF distribution, central site inventory.
Storage Management ‐ How much disk is enough (rhetorical question!). Figuring out what is using it with a focus on the IFS and improving its performance.
RCLSTG and when you might need one or how to avoid one.
Various System values.
Spool file maintenance including use of iASPs, Joblog Servers, and disconnected spool file functions.

WORKSHOP: Web Services and XML for RPGers

Speaker: Scott Klement

Price: $345 for Members / $395 for Non-Members

Session Abstract:
Web services have taken the world of IT by storm. Many RPG shops are planning to utilize them either as a consumer, for example to track UPS shipments, or as a provider, to provide an alternative interface to existing application functionality. One of the core technologies in a web service is XML.

In this seminar, Scott will provide an introduction to the world of web services, explaining how they work and demystifying some of the buzz-words like SOAP, REST, XML and WSDL. He will also explain the structure of an XML documents, and terms like tag, element and attribute.

After studying the basics of XML and web services, you will learn how to parse XML with RPG's built-in XML-INTO and XML-SAX opcodes, as well as Scott's open source HTTPAPI tool kit. Then you will learn how an RPG program can be used as a web service, and finally how web services can be accessed (or "consumed") by an RPG program utilizing Scott's free HTTPAPI tool.

The session provides code examples of all of the functions discussed, and provides live demos.

Learning Objectives:

Understand XML and how to read and write XML from RPG
Understand Web Services, and how to provide them from RPG
Understand how to call Web Services from RPG

Audience:
Intermediate to Advanced RPG programmers who have a need to use Web Services.

Workshop Syllabus/Agenda:
- Introduction - XML basics - Advantages of XML over other document types - Reading XML from RPG with XML-INTO - Reading XML from RPG with XML-SAX - Reading XML from RPG with HTTPAPI - Comparison of XML Parsing Techniques - Writing XML from RPG - Writing XML using CGIDEV2 Templates - Testing for Well-Formedness - Web Services basics - Concepts for REST Web Services - Providing a REST Web Service with RPG - Testing REST Web Services - Consuming a REST Web Service from RPG with HTTPAPI - Consuming a Third-Party REST Web Service from RPG - Concepts of POX Web Services - Providing a POX Web Service with RPG - Testing POX Web Services - Consuming a POX Web Service from RPG with HTTPAPI - Consuming a Third-Party POX Web Service from RPG - Concepts of SOAP Web Services - SOAP and WSDL Basics - Providing a SOAP Web Service from RPG with IBM's Integrated Web Services - Testing SOAP Web Services with SoapUI - A More Advanced SOAP Example with IBM's Integrated Web Services - Consuming SOAP Web Service from RPG with SoapUI and HTTPAPI - Links to More Information