WebSmart ILE & PHP Fundamentals Courses in Minneapolis, MN
BCD will be hosting back-to-back WebSmart ILE & PHP Fundamentals courses in Minneapolis, MN in mid-September. Both classes will run for 4 days, from Monday to Thursday.
If you are interested in attending either class, please submit a training request via our website, or give us a call at (250) 655-1766 to discuss your training needs.
Web Development Fundamentals with WebSmart ILE
This comprehensive course will give you a working knowledge of all the key areas you need to master in order to begin developing applications with WebSmart ILE. The course begins with an introduction to HTML (page structure elements, tables, images and links), then continues on to creating simple WebSmart programs. As you familiarize yourself with the tool, you'll add more features to your own application: passing parameters between programs, customizing file access, and then prompting users for input and validating what they enter.
The class concludes with exercises in securing applications, SQL, and using WebSmart’s Change Management interface. This class also includes a session on the WebSmart interactive debugger.
PHP Web Development with WebSmart Course
During the first 2 days of this course you'll learn some PHP fundamentals, and how a WebSmart PHP program flows between the PHP and HTML. Through the use of many hands-on lab exercises, we'll train you to use the WebSmart PHP IDE (the PC development tool) and cover the basic web programming concepts. During the last 2 days you will build a fully functional application with login, validation, and a list of items with features to add, update or cancel orders.
Contact us!
If you have any questions about the course content, or whether the level would be appropriate for you, give us a call at (250) 655-1766. We have chosen this location because it is relatively central and accessible, and because increasing challenges with border crossings and passport requirements have made it more difficult to jump up to our site in Canada.
New Press Release: Clover’s Web Reporting Capabilities Extended to Import & Display Output from IBM Query/400
Watch this 2-minute video on how to import your Query/400 queries.
In a poll conducted by BCD of 80 organizations that own an IBM i, the average number of Query/400 queries they have was between 200 and 500. In fact, 10% of those who responded had 1000! Most of these shops are looking to move beyond the limited output options of Query/400 which can only output reports as spool files, database files or send them to a printer and which has very constrained report design capabilities. Of utmost importance to these IBM i professionals was the ability to retain the query definitions, as rewriting them was often out of the question. In Clover 1.6, the following query options are all retained: selected fields, file joins, calculated fields, sort fields, comparisons and level breaks.They also needed the ability to deliver modern, interactive reports with powerful design capabilities. Some shops had already looked at IBM’s Query/400 replacement offering, IBM DB2 Web Query, and were not satisfied with it. Clover, which has unlimited user licensing, is an affordable and powerful alternative to DB2 Web Query.
When you import your Query/400 query definitions to Clover 1.6, you can transform them into real-time web reports that can be output as dynamic, real-time web pages with prompts and filters, as spreadsheets, graphs and as interactive drill downs. You can further customize and modify the imported queries in the Clover IDE with the codeless SQL wizard. You can also completely update the appearance of your report, overcoming a major constraint of Query/400. End users can then access all these professional looking reports from a browser; no other PC software is required.
Read the full text of the press release at our website or check out our iseries support video.
Presto 1.3 Available for Download
The Presto development team is working on product enhancements (and fixes) at a furious rate, and version 1.3 is now available for download. For a complete list of the more than 20 new features and fixes in this version, please log in to myBCDsoftware.com and select the Presto page from the Downloads menu. If you don't have access to this page, drop Technical Support a note and we'll add you to that access group.
The most exciting development in this release has been the addition of the Presto.Transform & Presto.Insert functions, a collection of powerful & easy to use functions built over the jQuery engine. With these you can convert almost any screen element to dynamic, web-style content. For instance, with one line you can transform subfile options into buttons, fields into radio buttons, input boxes into text areas, dates into datepickers, etc.
As an example, to add a date picker to an input-capable date field on your green screen panel, you would just drop these lines into the bottom of your custom Presto page:
<script type="text/javascript">
Presto.Transform({row: 7, col: 25, to_object: "datepicker", dateFormat: "m/d/yy", showOn: "both", buttonImage: "images/jscalendar.gif", buttonImageOnly: true });
</script>
When you save this change to your page, your field will now support this feature:
Adding a Datepicker to your iSeries Application
The Presto guide includes working examples you can use as guidelines for adding features like this, and we'll soon be publishing many more to our website. The upcoming visual editor will also allow you add features like this to the web/Presto version of your green screen applications without having to edit code manually.
Synchronizing Enhancements with the Visual Editor
A critical aspect of using these functions is that the Presto.Transform functions will also be generated by the upcoming visual editor, so any customizations you add now using these techniques will be fully compatible with the future releases of the software, and editable via the visual editor.
We have also updated the Presto User Guide that ships with this release, and all the examples shipped in the guide updated to reflect the new, recommended approach to customization. An appendix in the guide includes numerous additional examples, and documentation on function parameters.
Finally, if you are interested in Presto or already own the software, you should sign up for the Presto mailing list so you receive immediate notice of the availability of new versions. This mailing list is a forerunner of a new generation of low traffic, product-specific mailing lists for all our tools. Presto 1.4 already in internal QA and set to be available soon, we'll notify the mailing list when it's ready.
New White Paper: Presto - A Staged Approach to Web Enablement of Green Screen Apps
White Paper: Presto - A Staged Approach to Web Enablement of Green Screen Apps
Duncan Kenzie, BCD CTO has written an insightful White Paper that discusses reasons why you should consider modernizing your 5250 applications, and why Presto should be one of the tools in your arsenal to accomplish that goal. To receive a PDF version of the Presto White Paper, please visit our online request form.
New Example Programs and KB Articles
This month features the exciting advent of a whole new example family type! Over the last few months we've been experimenting with different mediums for adding Presto examples to our site, and we have now added two new Presto examples delivered by video:
Running the Presto Example Videos.
The first two examples illustrate a couple of common support questions - how to create new server instances, and how to switch to using a different skin. Over the coming months we plan to start working through our long list of other requested examples!
Remember that we recently moved the source code for our examples behind myBCDsoftware.com, so to access these (and any earlier) examples, you'll need a myBCDsoftware account. myBCDsoftware.com is our client portal which provides you with not only full access to our examples, but also to trial downloads, a listing of your support incidents, a Support Incident Submit form and more. You can get more details and sign up for a myBCDsoftware account from our website.
Knowledge Base Articles
We have also added the following new KB articles this month (among others):
- KB 7861 (SmartCharts) - I am getting scrollbars on my iframe when I try and load a Clover chart into it. How do I get rid of them?
- KB 7860 (Exodus, Spool-Explorer) - When I try to start Spool-Explorer (and this would apply to any BCD tool that uses Exodus), I'm getting an Evoke Error: 0726 User profile disabled. What does this mean?
- KB 7854 (WebSmart) - When using multiple quotes in an SQL Query, for example trim(MAATRN) = '', WebSmart will assume that the '' should be a ' resulting in an invalid SQL statement, trim(MAATRN) = '. How can I work around this?
- KB 7853 (Nexus) - I accidentally deleted a Nexus ECM folder, is there a way to restore this from backup?
- KB 7823 (Catapult) - I'm using Catapult 6, and when I try to connect to the iSeries I get a Read Error 64. What is the problem?
As always, we remind you that any time you are wondering how to do something, you can always check BOTH the example programs list and the online Knowledge Base (in addition to the User Guides).
If you have any questions about any of the example programs or KB articles, please email Technical Support. We're always on the lookout for ideas for new examples, so if there's something you need to add to your website that you're finding a little challenging and which you think others might also want to use, drop us a note and we'll take a crack at building it for you!
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From BCD Professional Services: Free Educational Webinar for Web Developers
Duncan Kenzie, President and CTO of BCD Technical Services will be leading a free educational webinar on June 18th at 12:30 EDT entitled 5 Tips & Techniques Web Application Developers Need To Know. In a spirit of sharing the wealth, Duncan will be passing on knowledge that has mainly originated in the development projects of our Professional Services team, and focusing on 5 tips and techniques that you can use with any programming language including PHP, RPG CGI, ASP, Java and EGL.
Duncan will be discussing these topics:
- How to debug your web app client-side code and AJAX apps
- How to easily create tabs in your web pages
- 5 websites to help you with everyday web development
- Free tools for application project management
- How to reduce the load on your server and save resources
As part of the webinar we will show you real world IBM i web apps created by the BCD Professional Services Group, and take a few minutes to tell you a bit about the services our team offers, and the benefits of using a group of web development experts to create IBM i web apps for you.
If you're doing any web development yourself, or considering rebuilding any of your applications with a web interface, Register Today!
BCD Software Minimum Support OS/400 Release Levels
Over the next few weeks we will be moving all new product development to our V6R1 box. As a result we will no longer be preparing software to run on OS/400 releases earlier than V5R3.
The following software versions are the last that will still run at V5R1; any releases LATER/HIGHER than these will require a minimum OS/400 release level of V5R3 or higher:
- Presto 1.27
- WebSmart 7.2/Clover 1.6
- Catapult 7.0
- Nexus 3.37
- ProGen Plus 9.50
- DbGen 2.50
- Spool-Explorer 4.5
- File-Flash Plus 4.5
- Docu-Mint 6.5
Note that some of these versions are currently in preview availability, and are newer than the releases now in GA. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Technical Support.
Notes on the State of PHP on the iSeries
As a significant player in the iSeries PHP market we are always cheered to see signs that PHP on the iSeries continues to gain momentum. Timothy Prickett Morgan's recent article in IT Jungle ("The State of PHP on the Power Systems i", April 20) was one such  mile marker. Timothy reflects back to 2005 when he stated that PHP would 'almost certainly be native on the iSeries' and looks at several indicators that point to ongoing, continued growth of PHP on the platform up to the present, and growing faster all the time. And it certainly doesn't hurt to see the promise of increasing growth when, earlier this year, Chris Smith at MCPress Online said that ""...perhaps the gold standard for the IBM i world in PHP development environments is BCD's WebSmart PHP with all its templates, wizards, and SmartCharts." (Is IBM Making a Statement of Direction by Bundling the Zend Web Stack with IBM i?).
In his recent recap of the 2009 Spring COMMON, Chris Maxcer quotes Zend CEO Andi Gutmans who shared that since Zend first enabled PHP on the IBM i, they have delivered 14,000 unique downloads to IBM i-focused customers. Gutmans also pointed out that PHP is great for RPG programmers "because it will let them learn the language with procedural coding techniques, but it remains versatile enough to let programmers ease into object-oriented techniques as they gain skill and confidence".
Internally, we continue to see strong PHP requests for information and downloads via our website, with solid interest in BCD CTO Duncan Kenzie's white paper, Rapidly Deliver Web Applications on System i with WebSmart® PHP. BCD also entered the YouTube world with a quick WebSmart PHP demo conducted by Marcel Sarrasin at COMMON a few weeks ago.
So if you're looking for a new development model, one with legs for the future, take a minute to check out WebSmart PHP, or sign up for the next Getting Started with WebSmart PHP webinar on July 9 to learn more.
Since July of 2008 Daniela Kirsch has been a member of our Professional Services team, building dynamic web applications for our customers.
Originally from Bad Hersfeld, a small town in central Germany, Daniela started her career in an apprenticeship at Deutsche Telekom AG, a subsidiary of T-Mobile. Moving to Vancouver Island was the best and easiest decisions she ever made. Three months after arriving she began working for ESDI, and has worked on many notable projects thus far. The largest project she has been involved with is the e-commerce site for Western Glove Works.
In her free time Daniela has a little garden, which seems to be turning out pretty good this year. Other than that she enjoys riding her bike, rollerblading, or just going for a walk. This summer she's playing soccer with fellow staff members Katie, Stephanie and Marc A and she's hopeful that they won't lose every match! Besides that, she enjoys reading books and heading outdoors with her camera. She even has a website for her friends in Germany so she can show them how nice it is here.
Current
BCD Software Release Levels
These are the current release levels for all our products:
If you have any questions about how to get to the latest versions, please contact
Technical Support.
Summary List of Recent Updates
ProGenPlus 9.5
- PG95002 - Ensures that the generation command ZCRTOBJ points to the environment library in order to find the validation module master file.
Spool Explorer 4.51/4.50
WebSmart 7.20
Client Side Release 3111-4989
- Resolves SQL issue that resulted in missing single quotes in where clause in generated source.
Organizations that Recently Purchased BCD Software
Abbott Laboratories • Bangkok Steel Industry • Bridgestone Australia • Casino Rama • Comune di Figline Val d'Arno • Covidien • EMC Corporation • Freedom Acceptance Corp. • H.O. Trerice • Havells-Sylvania • Howard Ternes Packaging • J. Polep Distribution Services • King III Solutions, Inc. • Madison County • Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc. • Montreal Gateway Terminal • Operating Engineers Local 825 • PBR Knoxville LLC • PCM of California •Physician Services • Prada • Sunflower Broadband • Test Equity, LLC • Town of Oyster Bay • United Agricultural Benefits • Voelker, Thompson & Assoc. • Zahid Tractor
Organizations that Recently Contracted BCD Professional Services
Bridgestone Australia • Chambers and Owen • Panhandle Telephone Cooperative
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Effectively Managing Changes to Your WebSmart Applications with Aldon ALM 
