In this post we’ll take a closer look at how IBM i developers can use the QSHCURL command to easily reach out from CL or RPG and talk to internet-based services and APIs, then consume the resulting data, without a lot of extra effort.
First we’ll provide a short curl intro, and then we’ll look at an example of how to use the PASE-based curl command with an RPG program.
If you download files onto your system using PHP, Yum, RPM, or other tools, there’s a good chance curl is involved.
The version of curl provided in IBM i PASE uses multiple threads to speed up common tasks such as DNS lookups. When threading support is not available, however, curl fails.
The 5733-OPS package discussed in this post is obsolete, replaced by RPM-based open source packages. Updated instructions are provided at
How to Set Up the IBM i Open Source Environment