Alan Seiden

Compare Source Code with VS Code for IBM i

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Code for i’s source comparison feature recently helped me find a bug. While comparing old vs. new versions of an RPG program, I discovered that a CHAIN had been changed to an SQL SELECT, which was fine, except that an important column name had been forgotten. I created a “before and after” Code for i screen shot for the programmer, who then fixed the mistake.

As documented on the Code for i “Tricks” page, comparing source code takes only two steps. This technique works both for traditional source members and stream files stored in the IFS.

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Alan Seiden

“BOB” for IBM i: Demonstration by Edmund Reinhardt

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At Seiden Group’s September 13, 2024, Code for i Fridays meeting, IBM’s Edmund Reinhardt presented a one-hour tutorial on the Better Object Builder (BOB).

This comprehensive demo was given by request. A regular attendee had asked for a complete demonstration, start to finish, of how to use BOB to compile source in VS Code; prepare a make file from scratch; and to use Source Orbit. These tools can help developers who wish to use Git with stream files instead of traditional QSYS-based source members.

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Alan Seiden

Code for IBM i Fridays: A Free Seiden Community Event

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The Code for i extension to Visual Studio Code (VS Code) has become ever more popular and powerful. It’s also free and open source.

Seiden Group has been hosting online gatherings to share, learn, solve problems, and contribute improvements to Code for i. Hosted by Alan Seiden, the meetings often include guests such as Liam Allan, the originator of Code for i.

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Alan Seiden

Read-only Mode in VS Code for IBM i

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Code for IBM iIf you are using the Code for i extension and would like to “browse” or view certain source members without the risk of modifying them, use the “Read only” or “Protected” capability.

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Alan Seiden

VS Code for IBM i Repositories

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VS Code for iThose of us who help support Code for i, the popular IDE for IBM i based on VS Code, often need to look at the code that makes it work.

Fully open source, the code that runs Code for i is available on Github repositories. From there, the code can be viewed and even enhanced by the public.

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Alan Seiden

Using SSH Keys with VS Code for IBM i

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VS Code for iTo make our IBM i servers more secure, our system administrator has configured our SSH services to require public key authentication rather than password-based logins. To comply with this security policy, we also set up our Visual Studio Code for i connections to use SSH keys.

This article explains how to set up an SSH key with Code for i.

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Alan Seiden

How to Report an Issue with VS Code for IBM i

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If you believe you have found a bug or other issue with the Code for IBM i extension, you can post it to the Code for i issue tracker. The maintainers are very good about resolving issues.

Before reporting an issue, though, we recommend checking for (and applying) updates. It is very possible that your issue was already resolved.

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Alan Seiden

How to Update the Code for i Extension

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Code for IBM i has been moving quickly. As the popularity of this Visual Studio Code extension has grown, updates and enhancements have arrived regularly.

If you encounter a bug or issue, installing the latest update may resolve it. Updating Code for i requires only a restart of VS Code. Here are some details to clarify how to restart as well as how to roll back the update, if desired.

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Amy Lantz

Debug RPGLE and COBOL with VS Code for IBM i

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Our Twitter feeds recently rang out with this long-awaited news from Liam Allan:

“Debugging ILE COBOL and RPGLE inside @code like it’s any other day! I’m pumped for this release #ibmi.”

As reported by Alex Woodie in IBM i Debugger Comes to VS Code, IBM decoupled their RPG/COBOL debugger from RDi after years of encouragement from Liam. It’s now available as a Debug Service to the thousands of IBM i developers who have downloaded Visual Studio Code for IBM i. Read more →