Business Computer Design, Int'l. Inc. (BCD) yesterday released its new V6.6 of WebSmart ILE that the company says far surpasses anything previously offered to System i shops that are engaged in developing Web applications.
Cross-Platform Data Access
WebSmart ILE V6.6 includes new built-in templates that allow users to create programs that connect to either Microsoft SQL server databases or to MySQL databases residing on Windows, Linux or Unix platforms, as well as DB2. This new feature is regarded by the company as WebSmart’s most significant because it gives the award-winning solution cross-platform database capabilities that help to streamline multi-platform data access.
Another new template lets a developer define the JDBC database connection parameters–IP address, user profile, password, etc.—so the information can be encapsulated in one program and called by many. This enables the developer to easily change the connection at any time for an entire suite of programs simply by changing one program.
Visual HTML Editor
WebSmart ILE now can create powerful, custom Web applications using a new visual HTML editor with drag-and-drop design aids. The WYSIWYG HTML editor allows developers with little Web application development experience to create business-class Web applications with what the company calls "stunning ease," and significantly accelerates Web page design for those with more extensive skills.
WebSmart ILE's new visual HTML editor offers:
- Drag-and-drop control of images, fields, and text
- WYSIWYG instant feedback
- A "database-aware" editor that allows you to drag-and-drop database fields directly onto the visual view
- A button to toggle between the HTML source code view and the visual design panel
- Program changes that are instantly reflected in editor panels, further simplifying the entire development process
- Generated HTML that conforms to the latest standards, is lightweight, and uses CSS (cascading style sheets) for presentation.
Intelliprompting
A new timesaving feature called Intelliprompting offers real-time prompting for PML names as you work in the code editor. PML is WebSmart’s optimized programming language. For example, if you type the letter "g," all functions starting with that letter appear, along with a descriptive line for each function, showing any parameter types and return values. As you continue typing, the list is further subsetted. For example, typing "get" shows a list of all functions starting with "get," such as "getparm," "getrcd," etc.
New Templates for creating HTML, JavaScript and CSS files
New templates, available in all template families, make it easy to create straight HTML Web pages, JavaScript files, and CSS style sheets. These new templates build upon the powerful editing functionality of WebSmart’s IDE and make it a viable alternative to Web development tools for Windows environments.
Other new features include:
- Field Renaming
- Open Multiple Definitions and Files in the IDE
- Ability to "launch" HTML files
- Improved structure and simplification of ILE templates
- Support for the += operator for both alpha and numeric values
- Improved "Program Attributes" screen design which is sensitive to CSS use
Since its initial release years ago, WebSmart ILE has had a major impact on traditional RPG shops, and the System i market in general. In part, WebSmart ILE has been a big success because other products often have either very large footprints that require significant system resources and/or are incredibly complex for RPG developers to understand. WebSmart changes all that. BCD is proud to have WebSmart have won 13 industry awards for software excellence, more awards than any other tool in the System i marketplace.
Recently, BCD announced a new edition of WebSmart called WebSmart PHP. The software is for System i shops that want to develop in multi-platform, non-proprietary 100 percent PHP code with the same ease. Interestingly, WebSmart ILE and WebSmart PHP share the same IDE, so even though the PHP edition is relatively new, it is as stable as its close cousin, WebSmart ILE. Users may choose to develop in the WebSmart ILE edition, WebSmart PHP edition, or both.
Availability
To obtain a fully working copy of the WebSmart ILE 6.6, visit Trial Download.
For questions or to view a hosted demo of WebSmart ILE, WebSmart PHP, or BCD’s complete integrated System i modernization suite call BCD at (630) 986-0800, or forward your request to
Organizations looking to modernize their applications and business processes with a complete integrated modernization solution will be interested in BCD’s modernization suite which includes WebSmart (ILE and/or PHP), Nexus Portal, Clover Query (shares the same IDE as WebSmart), Catapult and SmartCharts. The promotion price for the entire suite ranges between $14,500–$26,500 for single partition and more for unlimited partition usage depending on System i family tier. SmartCharts is included with either edition of WebSmart license free and maintenance free.
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
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