Simple questions about AS400
Herbert Groot Jebbink
nu...@NOJUNKMAIL.workhorse.trandes.com (Ahn Nuzen) wrote:
>1/ If I want to connect a dumb-terminal (something like a DEC-VT100)
>to the AS400, can this be done? What do I need? Is there an IBM equiv.
>of the DEC-VT100?
Yes, that are the green screens (5250)
>Is there a max limits of many ascii terminals can I
>connect to any give AS400 machine ?
Depens on the type AS/400
see
http://as400bks.rochester.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/bookmgr.cmd/BOOKS/5486MST/5.0
http://as400bks.rochester.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/bookmgr.cmd/BOOKS/5486MST/35.0
>2/ What is the system language for AS400? Cobol?
RPG
>3/ Where can I find more info about AS400? Books? Web resources?
http://www.as400.ibm.com
http://www.as400.ibm.com/techstudio
http://as400bks.rochester.ibm.com/
Greetings, Herbert
---
The Trans-Siberian Railroad Page, http://www.xs4all.nl/~hgj/
Alistair Rooney
Ahn
The equivalent of the dumb terminal is the 5250 family of terminals, these
are not, however, ASCII terminals as the AS/400 uses EBCDIC.
This shouldn't be of any concern to you unless you have a room full of
VT-100's lying around. In this case there is a option to connect ASCII
terminals to the AS/400 but I've never done this. Maybe someone else can
pick up on this.
There are max limits depending on the machine model type.
The "system" language is generally accepted as being RPG.
However many industry visionaries see Java coming to the fore here.
The best place to start your information search is from
or you can check out
http://users.iafrica.com/a/ac/acrooney
Alistair
(email spamming will attract an agressive attack on the originating server)
Ciaran McCarthy
In answer to the first part of your question. There are at least 2 ways to
connect to an As400.
1. Buy an IBM ASCII card for the As400 which will support ASCII terminals
e.g. VT100....
2. Use 5250 emulation software running on a UNIX server to connect to the
As400. Have a look at www.Starquest.com which may help with this.
--
Ahn Nuzen wrote in message <87921486...@wagasa.cts.com>...
>Hi Folks, I have a few questions about the AS400 -- since my
>background is UNIX not AS400, please be patient with me.
>
>1/ If I want to connect a dumb-terminal (something like a DEC-VT100)
>to the AS400, can this be done? What do I need? Is there an IBM equiv.
>of the DEC-VT100? Is there a max limits of many ascii terminals can I
>connect to any give AS400 machine ?
>
>2/ What is the system language for AS400? Cobol? Software development
>Kit to develop ASCII terminal based applications?
>
>3/ Where can I find more info about AS400? Books? Web resources?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ahn.
>
>
>
Howard F. Arner Jr.
Ahn Nuzen <nu...@NOJUNKMAIL.workhorse.trandes.com> wrote in article
<87921486...@wagasa.cts.com>...
> Hi Folks, I have a few questions about the AS400 -- since my
> background is UNIX not AS400, please be patient with me.
>
Then you are going to love the 400! (my backgroud was pc and unix!)
Most 400 people program in RPG. Since you are Unix, you should get the IBM
C compiler, IMHO. You will find it is very good, however it has some
quirks about case that will really irk you. The SQL Precompiler for the C
compiler works great and is the best way, again IMHO, to deal with the 400
file system. You will also find all of the familiar Unix API like sockets,
streams, etc.
There is a JAVA for the 400 but right now it is slow. (isn't all Java ;-))
Howard.
hfa...@adspies.com
<promotion!>
www.sqlthing.com for free trial version of AS/400 query tool and FREE ODBC
class objects for VB development. There fast, there powerful, fool your
friends, as seen on TV, etc as nauseam.....
<end promotion>
Jeffrey M. Carey
Ahn Nuzen wrote:
> 1/ If I want to connect a dumb-terminal (something like a DEC-VT100)
> to the AS400, can this be done? What do I need? Is there an IBM equiv.
> of the DEC-VT100? Is there a max limits of many ascii terminals can I
> connect to any give AS400 machine ?
The AS/400 native dumb terminals are 5250 - most common is the IBM
3196. These connect to a workstation adapter using twinax cable (unique
to the 400 - like coax, but with two pins). An ASCII workstation
controller can be used to connect VT-100 type terminals, but
funtionality is a question, since 5250 terminals have 24 "F" keys, while
ASCII terminals have 12 (as I recall). The AS/400 also supports both
Ethernet and Token Ring LANs (Fast Ethernet coming in a few months).
Different models of AS/400's support different numbers of ASCII or 5250
terminals - here is the range:
Least ASCII = 0; 5250 = 7 (model S10)
Most ASCII = 3,150; 5250 = 7,000 (model 650)
> 2/ What is the system language for AS400? Cobol? Software development
> Kit to develop ASCII terminal based applications?
There are many languages and tools available on the AS/400. The most
popular are RPG (70%) and COBOL (30%). C and JAVA are also supported.
Tools you might want to look at are Appl. Dev. Toolset (program
5716-PW1, Appl. Dev. Toolset C/S (CODE/400, 5716-CL3).
> 3/ Where can I find more info about AS400? Books? Web resources?
Bob Gilsdorf
Ahn Nuzen wrote:
>
> Hi Folks, I have a few questions about the AS400 -- since my
> background is UNIX not AS400, please be patient with me.
>
> to the AS400, can this be done? What do I need? Is there an IBM equiv.
> of the DEC-VT100? Is there a max limits of many ascii terminals can I
> connect to any give AS400 machine ?
>
> Kit to develop ASCII terminal based applications?
>
>
>
> Ahn.
The ASCII workstation controller works fine to connect VT-100 terminals.
The keymapping is a little funy. Twinax terminals connect the best like
the 3477FC.
COBOL works on the AS/400. RPG is more common. C is availible too.
The IBM softcopy manuals are at
http://as400bks.rochester.ibm.com/bookmgr/home.htm
--
R. Gilsdorf
AS/400 System Engineer
Sophisticated Systems Inc.
R...@centuryinter.net
Ahn Nuzen
OSITim
>Subject: Simple questions about AS400
>From: nu...@NOJUNKMAIL.workhorse.trandes.com (Ahn Nuzen)
>Date: Mon, Nov 10, 1997 21:16 EST
>Message-id: <87921486...@wagasa.cts.com>
>
>Hi Folks, I have a few questions about the AS400 -- since my
>background is UNIX not AS400, please be patient with me.
>
>1/ If I want to connect a dumb-terminal (something like a DEC-VT100)
>to the AS400, can this be done? What do I need? Is there an IBM equiv.
>of the DEC-VT100? Is there a max limits of many ascii terminals can I
>connect to any give AS400 machine ?
IBM makes ASCII controllers and Twinax controllers for the AS/400 which support
various ASCII devices (such as VT100's) and 5250 devices (such as 3196, 3486,
etc)
>2/ What is the system language for AS400? Cobol? Software development
>Kit to develop ASCII terminal based applications?
The "system language" is called CLP-Control Language Program. The AS/400 also
supports REXX. (Contrary to other opinions RPG is not *the* system language)
The system also offers a number of other High Level languages such as C, RPG,
Pascal, PL/I, Basic, Cobol
The AS/400 offers a high degree of device indepence, any application programmed
for a 5250 style display will work with no modification on an ASCII terminal.
The closest thing to a software development kit is SDA (screen design aid),
SEU (source entry utility), PDM (programming development manager), RDA (report
design aid)
There is no operating system limit to the number of attached devices. However
there are some hardware limitations based on the model of AS400
>3/ Where can I find more info about AS400? Books? Web resources?
>
http://www.as400.ibm.com is the AS/400 home page
http://as400service.rochester.ibm.com/as400/service.html is the page that has
knowlege bases and manuals on line.
>Ahn.
>
Paul Nicolay
Hi Howard,
Even for people with a Unix background, I wouldn't suggest C. Doing so,
they will again have problems with pointers, memory allocation, lot's of
code compared to RPG, ... all things that an RPG programmer never heard of,
and never cared of.
For administrative software, and that's what 99% of us use their AS/400
for, I don't see NO reason at all to use C. Instead I would recommend RPG
(without or without embedded SQL) which is far more superior and easier to
use, in the mentioned area, than C is.
Anyway, he will love the AS/400 once he knows what he has been missing all
time on Unix... talking about a modern OS :-)
Kind regards,
Paul
_______________
Howard F. Arner Jr. <hfa...@adspies.com> wrote in article
<01bceed1$30cf7890$1fede226@howard>...
>
>
> Ahn Nuzen <nu...@NOJUNKMAIL.workhorse.trandes.com> wrote in article
> <87921486...@wagasa.cts.com>...
> > Hi Folks, I have a few questions about the AS400 -- since my
> > background is UNIX not AS400, please be patient with me.
> >
> Then you are going to love the 400! (my backgroud was pc and unix!)
>
> Most 400 people program in RPG. Since you are Unix, you should get the
IBM
> C compiler, IMHO. You will find it is very good, however it has some
> quirks about case that will really irk you. The SQL Precompiler for the C
> compiler works great and is the best way, again IMHO, to deal with the
400
> file system. You will also find all of the familiar Unix API like
sockets,
> streams, etc.
>
> There is a JAVA for the 400 but right now it is slow. (isn't all Java
;-))
>
>
> Howard.
> hfa...@adspies.com
>
> <promotion!>
> www.sqlthing.com for free trial version of AS/400 query tool and FREE
ODBC
> class objects for VB development. There fast, there powerful, fool your
> friends, as seen on TV, etc as nauseam.....
> <end promotion>
>
>
>
The contents of this message express only the sender's opinion.
This message does not necessarily reflect the policy or views of
my employer, Merck & Co., Inc. All responsibility for the statements
made in this Usenet posting resides solely and completely with the
sender.
Fred Kulack
Paul Nicolay <paul_n...@merck.com> wrote in article
<01bcef53$3c973dc0$6e03...@merck.com>...
> Even for people with a Unix background, I wouldn't suggest C. Doing so,
> they will again have problems with pointers, memory allocation, lot's of
> code compared to RPG, ... all things that an RPG programmer never heard
of,
> and never cared of.
Boy, I'd never recommend RPG to a unixhead. 8-) They're already use to the
pointer/memory allocation problems... They have them in every application
they write. 8-)
The differences with pointers, memory allocation etc. are all
understandable (yeah, sometimes they tick you off). But if explained from
another Unixhead (feel free to ask me. 8-)), you can deal with them.
Things like uninitialized, wild pointers, etc are caught by the machine
much more quickly than on Unix or another platform where a pointer is
simply a 'dumb integer'.
All of the system SPIs and services are available from C just as they are
from RPG, and a great many of the API's you'd use in Unix/C are available
on the AS/400, and NOT in RPG.
The environment is quite a bit different than unix, but if that's your
religion, stick with what you know instead of learning both OS/400 AND RPG
at the same time.
--
REMOVE THE X! FROM MY MAIL ADDRESSES TO RESPOND
"Isn't sanity just a one trick pony any way? I mean, all you get is
one trick... rational thinking... But when you're good and crazy,
anything goes!" -- The Tick
Fred Kulack Open Systems Enablement - AS/400 PThreads & Unix APIs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
IBM in Rochester, MN (Phone: 507.253.5982 IBM Tie line 553-5982)
mailto:kulack@X!us.ibm.com Personal: mailto:kulack@X!infonet.isl.net
#define DISCLAIMER (The views expressed are mine, not IBM's)
Fred Kulack
OSITim <osi...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19971112000...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
> The closest thing to a software development kit is SDA (screen design
aid),
> SEU (source entry utility), PDM (programming development manager), RDA
(report
> design aid)
IDE on windows.
danh...@millcomm.com
In <01bcef53$3c973dc0$6e03...@merck.com>, "Paul Nicolay" <paul_n...@merck.com> writes:
>Hi Howard,
>
>Even for people with a Unix background, I wouldn't suggest C. Doing so,
>they will again have problems with pointers, memory allocation, lot's of
>code compared to RPG, ... all things that an RPG programmer never heard of,
>and never cared of.
>
>for, I don't see NO reason at all to use C. Instead I would recommend RPG
>(without or without embedded SQL) which is far more superior and easier to
>use, in the mentioned area, than C is.
>
>Anyway, he will love the AS/400 once he knows what he has been missing all
>time on Unix... talking about a modern OS :-)
Though RPG is certainly preferred for most business applications, you
shouldn't discourage the use of C for some of the things C is
traditionally good for. A lot of C system builders love the 400 since
things like uninitialized pointers are easily diagnosed/debugged, and
because the 400 C compiler is an excellent test of ANSI conformance. But
C programmers do need to change their style somewhat from the traditional
UNIX hacker's approach.
Dan Hicks
Hey!! My advice is free -- take it for what it's worth!
http://www.millcomm.com/~danhicks