After installing Python 3.9 side-by-side with Python 3.6, one of our friends observed, “I noticed that the newer version, Python 3.9, became the default on my IBM i system. How does the default version get set?” I thought this was a good time to explain how IBM uses the update-alternatives program to set the default version of Python and other open source software packages.
Setting up the open source environment on IBM i from Access Client Solutions (ACS) is usually easy, but sometimes you can run into problems. The most common error is when ACS claims that the environment is already set up (“bootstrapped”), when in fact it isn’t. Confusing!
Visual Studio Code is a widely used IDE in the non-IBM i world. Recently we released Code for IBM i, a freely available extension for VS Code that supports RPGLE and COBOL development for IBM i. You can read about the basics of Code for IBM i and about code coverage functionality in my previous posts.
Today I’m going to cover three additional tips for using Code for IBM i. Of course, for any of this to work, you need to install Code for IBM i.
If you download files onto your system using PHP, Yum, RPM, or other tools, there’s a good chance curl is involved, be it part of a library (such as PHP’s curl extension and the Guzzle HTTP client) or called as its own program.
While curl is very reliable, there’s a specific scenario that can trip it up: lack of threading in a job. IBM i PASE provides a version of curl that speeds up common tasks like DNS lookups by using additional threads. When threading support is not available, however, curl fails.
This is the second post in my series on RPG and COBOL development using Visual Studio Code and Code for IBM i. Today’s topic is Code Coverage.
This stackoverflow answer explains precisely what Code Coverage is:
Visual Studio Code is an IDE and platform for developers to write backend, progressive web apps, frontend, and everything on the spectrum of development. I have created an extension for VS Code, called Code for IBM i, that allows users to work on and maintain their IBM i code. VS Code is the best IDE for extensibility, which is why I wanted to take on such a task.
While Visual Studio Code was built to work with all languages, in my opinion it didn’t have much support for RPGLE or COBOL on IBM i until this point. We’re streamlining RPGLE development in terms of tools and speed for our users. We want to make developing RPGLE and COBOL easy for everyone in the most efficient way possible.
Python on IBM i has proven itself as a tool for building utilities to create/read Excel files, transfer data, automate processes, call REST APIs such as Salesforce and ServiceNow, monitor applications, and more. What was missing was an easy way to use the power of Python from CL and RPG.
In 2019 we introduced you to the PYRUN command for running Python scripts from CL and RPG programs.
In this post we introduce you to QSHPYRUN, the next generation of PYRUN and part of Richard Schoen’s open source QShell on i Library – QshOni. QSHONI makes it easy for traditional CL and RPG programs to call Python utilities and use their output. This is supported via the QSHPYRUN command. QSHONI also supports general calls to other QShell, PASE and bash calls via the QSHEXEC and QSHBASH commands. This means QSHONI commands support calling Python, Node, PHP, Java and all things open source, making QSHONI much more versatile than the standalone PYRUN command was. The QSHONI commands can safely live side-by-side with the PYRUN command because they live in different IBM i libraries. This allows for migration to QSHPYRUN to happen as needed. Read more →
We’ve been hearing from clients wondering whether they need commercial connectors to integrate open source technology with Db2, RPG, and COBOL data.
Liam Allan has shown the power of using open source tools that are available to everyone. He recommends accessing IBM i business logic and data using open source tools, without proprietary connectors.
(Co-authored by Gautier Dumas and Calvin Buckley)
When we use open source languages such as PHP, Python, and Node.js on IBM i to help companies build and access APIs and other resources, we expect these resources to be protected with encryption (for example, the https:// protocol). Further protection is provided by an SSL / TLS certificate that can be authorized, or signed, by a popular certificate authority such as Verisign, Comodo, or Let’s Encrypt, or signed internally by the company itself.
Self-signed certificates are most useful in situations where public trust of a certificate is unnecessary, such as:
This guide will outline writing your first Node.js application. Node.js is a packaged version of the V8 Javascript engine, created by Google and shipped in Chromium. Although Node.js is cross-platform, specific tips for IBM i are given in section 8.
