How to become a Rational Developer for IBM i Power User

© 2014 IBM Corporation
1691, How to Become a
Rational Developer for the i
Power User
Kenny Smith, Strongback Consulting
Edmund Reinhardt, IBM
Alan Boxall, IBM

About Us: Strongback Consulting
• IBM Advanced Business Partner
– SVP certified
– Strongly focused on DevOps, enterprise modernization and application lifecycle
management
– Key Industries Served: Finance, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Government
– Rational Design Partner
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Please note
IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change
or withdrawal without notice at IBM’s sole discretion.
Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general
product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.
The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment,
promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality.
Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any
contract. The development, release, and timing of any future features or
functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion.
Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM
benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance
that any user will experience will vary depending upon many factors, including
considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user’s job stream,
the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the workload processed.
Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve results
similar to those stated here.

3
• First, learn to crawl – know how to navigate around, and use the skills
you have from SEU/PDM
• Then walk – get proficient with the RSE, jobs, filters, and remote
compilation
• Next run – basic debugging, master the LPEX editor
• Finally, FLY! – master refactoring, software archaeology tools in RDi,
code templates, snippets, advanced debugging, application viewer
Overview

• Workbench basics
– Views, perspectives
– Workspace preferences
– editors
• Set your LPEX editor to SEU profile
• Find the information to help you learn more about the tool
– Help system
– InfoCenter
– RPG Hub
– Various other links
Learn to Crawl

• Views
• Perspectives
• The Workspace
• Workspace Preferences
• The LPEX Editor
• Remote System Explorer Perspective
• iProjects Perspective
• Connecting to the i
RDi Basics

Navigate the Workbench
Editor
Pane
Live
Outline
iProjects
View
Remote
Systems
Command
Results
Perspectives

• Easily import connections from your peers
• Connect using the wizard in the remote systems view
Connect to the i
1
2
3
4

The Help System
8
Search Bar
Table of
contents
Index page
Search Results
Navigation Bar
Content
pane
Personal
bookmarks

• LPEX editor can emulator other editors (SEU, ISPF, vi, emacs)
• Open preferences → LPEX → Appearance → Set profile to SEU
Make your editor act like SEU
Line
commands
Command
area
Context
Menu

• Remote system explorer
• Creating filters
• Manage jobs
• Discover the editors
• Remote compilation
Learn to Walk

• Objects
– Navigate objects using filters
• Commands
– Create compile commands
• IBMi Contexts
• Jobs
• IFS Files
• Spooled Files
• Qshells
– Unix like shell to interact with IFS
Remote Systems Explorer

• Filters allow you to view only what you need to work with
• Isolate to specific libraries, jobs, or files for a given project
• Apply filters to libraries, jobs, spooled files, IFS files
• Filters can have one or more filter strings
Create Filters

• Drill down on a subsystem
• Right click to access the job’s context menu
• End, hold, or begin live debugging of a job
Manage Jobs

• All the functions you have in a CL command you have here
• Create quick shortcuts to handle your most common functions
– This is where your productivity really starts improving!
Remote Commands

• Create filters to isolate specific directories on the IFS
– i.e. /QIBM/UserData/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles
• Change permissions on files via the context menu
• Navigate the IFS, into directories and add/remove files just like a
windows file structure
• Also, launch a mini-terminal Qshell, with command line help
Manage IFS Files

• Screen Designer
• Report Designer
• Master the LPEX editor
• Debugging
Learn to Run

• WYSIWYG Designer for developing your display files
Screen Designer

18
Use properties view to
modify attributes and
keywords for the file,
records and fields.
Outline view for
navigating in the editor
and selecting the file,
records and fields.
Design area
Design, source and
preview modes
Screen controls allow you to
specify which records should
be visualized together in the
design area.
Palette: drag and drop
parts from the palette to
the design area.
Screen Designer

• Convert your code to Free Form RPG
• Filter your code
• Use the Selection tools
• Hex Edit a line
• Master Keyboard shortcuts
• Use the LPEX source prompter
Master the LPEX Editor

• Use SCM / CLM
• iProjects
• Application Diagram Viewer
• Create Web Services
Learn to Fly

• Most vendors have plugins to RDi to manage your source
– Team Concert (of course!)
– Arcad
– Turnover
– MKS Implementer
– Aldon
• SCM Should be planned as part of your RDi rollout
– Begin using the tool with SCM and your life will be much easier
– Using different libraries for different versions is NOT SCM
– Using save files for historical capture, is NOT SCM
SCM = Source Code Management

• Compare source to previous versions
• Lock a member from editing (optimistic, or pessimistic)
• Have traceability to work items, and to requirements, and trace a
specific version of a source member to production
• Have your source automatically compiled right after you check it
in (continuous integration)
What you can do with SCM / CLM

• The core of any SCM tooling
• Your source is pulled down to the local workstation
• You edit code, and check it back in
• The SCM server puts in the correct target libraries
• SCM will store a history of all of your edits
• iProjects allow for remote/disconnected development
iProjects

• Create a mental map of the application
• Linked to the editor
• Navigable
• Save to documentation
Application Diagram Viewer

27
– Provides developers with a graphical overview of the structure of their native IBM i applications
• Call graph showing subroutine, procedure, and program calls
• ILE program and service program bindings
– Currently supports ILE RPG, ILE COBOL, CL, programs and service programs
Application Diagram

28
Application Diagram
ORDENTR member
expanded to view a
call graph
Subroutine WrtDtaQ calls
program QSNDDTAQ
Subroutine ChgOrder calls
something inside the
ROUTINES member
Subroutine RqsPart calls
subroutine Process

29
ILE Program and Service
Program Bindings
Program QQFENDSVR
binds to service program
QQFUTILS
Modules WFVTACC and
WFVTSVR are bound
into program
QQFVTSVR These *SRVPGMs were
not part of initial user
selection so details are
not shown
Selecting a node highlights
it’s incoming and outgoing
connections

© 2014 IBM Corporation
Alan Boxall
30
IBM Debug Architect
- Debugging using Rational Developer for i
- Analyzing Code Coverage of your testing

• Rational products use a common debug technology for compiled
languages
– Products Include Java debug
• Multi-platform, multi-language debugger
– Common user experience
– Adapts to the capabilities of the debug engine running on the host
– Multiple debug sessions on multiple hosts
• Integrates into product to deliver a seamless Edit/Compile/Debug
experience
Technology Overview

Technology Overview
AIX
(C,C++,
COBOL, PL/I)
zTPF
(C/C++, ASM)
JVM
(Java, JSP)
Java
Debug Model
Debug Tool
(COBOL,C,C++,
PL/I, ASM)
dbx
(C,C++)
Linux x86 Linux PPC
iSeries
(RPG, COBOL,
C/C++, CL)
Debug Client
Compiled Lang.
Debug Model
RDz/RD A&L/RDi/RAD
(Eclipse based UI)
Integrated z
Debugger
(COBOL,C,C++,
PL/I)
Probe
Debug engines

• Key features of the RDi debugger
– Supports debugging in multiple environments
• Batch
• Interactive
• Multi-threaded
• Attach to a running job
– Service Entry Point
• Debug program without knowing how it got started
• Set and debug session starts when the program is called
– Full integration with source editor
• Use source navigation features e.g. outline view
Debugging Your Application

Debug Perspective
Debug View
•Process
•Threads
•Stackframes
Detail Views
•Variables
•Monitors
•Programs
Source View
Language sensitive editor
Current location marked

• Debug views can be placed in any perspective
• F-keys provide shortcuts for stepping/resuming
– With focus in Source view program can be stepped
• Breakpoints
– In breakpoint view
– In Source view
– Global enable/disable
Debug Perspective
Skip all
breakpoints

• Types
– Line – stop on a specific line
– Watch – stop when a variable or memory location changes
• An expression is converted to an address
• Conditional
– Stop when an expression is true
– Use language of program
• Thread and loop specific
– From/every/to
• User label
– Why did I set this breakpoint?
– Saved and restored with breakpoint
Breakpoints

• Service Entry Points for ILE on V5R2 or later
– You know the program
– You know the userid
– You don’t know the job name
• Setting SEPs
– From Remote System Explorer
– From SEP view
– From Editor
Service Entry Points

Variables View
• Variables visible at current location
• Can change representation to show hex
• Move to Monitor view so that variable remains even when out of
scope

• Monitors are restored next debug session on same program
• Details pane is new in v9.1
– Supports very long values
• Indication of changed variables
Monitors View

• Programs current being debugged
• Option to display non-debuggable programs
• Add and remove programs
• Navigate to entry point in program
Programs View

• Multiple ways to look at memory
• 1 or 2 renderings can be displayed at same time
• Map memory using xml layout
• Indicator when memory changes
Memory View

Code Coverage Technology
• Determine the effectiveness of automated or manual tests
– Make best use of test effort
• See coverage at the line level
• Help focus additional testing on code paths that have not been
executed
• Determine if testcases are unnecessary
• Detect dead code

Code Coverage Technology
• iSeries support added in v9.1
• Built using Debug technology
• “If you can debug it, you can capture CC results”
– No additional build steps.. Just ensure it is debuggable
• Multiple levels of CC
– Program/Procedure/Line
• Several report types
– RDi
– HTML
– PDF (new in v9.1)
• Tag results with testcase ID
• Source is annotated with results

Launching Code Coverage
45
Popup menu
on selected
Program

Code Coverage annotated in the editor

Code Coverage HTML Source View

Code Coverage Customization
These results can be accumulated see the
coverage of the total suite of tests as well as
speeding up the analysis of subsequent test runs.
Can track the coverage at the higher level of
procedures or programs
Option to generate HTML and PDF at time of run.
Reports can be generated later.

Code Coverage Program Level
• IBM i program (SRVTESTP2) invokes another service program
(SRVTESTSV). Both of the targeted programs were covered in this
run.

How to become a Rational Developer for IBM i Power User

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