This newsletter features a Web site that every IBM i manager should read, an upcoming Webcast, some programming tips, a cool new Windows utility, and a great book deal.
Happy Holidays
All of us at ASNA wish you and yours the happiest of holidays and a very good new year!
Take your RPG programs from green to great
Wings transforms dreary green screens into modern browser pages that can be served on either the Internet or your local network. This 60-minute hands-on session shows how Wings works and how easy it is to modernize your RPG programs. Wings extends the value of your RPG application portfolio, provides quick results, and is built with industry standards.
This session covers:
- How recrafting your RPG UI gives life and value to your IBM i applications
- IBM’s Open Access — Wings’s key enabler
- How to import RPG display files into Wings
- How Wings’ built-in 5250 emulator works
Free 60-minute Wings Webcast, Thursday, December 9th, 1pm CST Register now at the link below: https://asna.com/us/lp/wings-2457878-us
The decade of crisis for the IBM i and RPG
By 2030 (only nine years away!), the average RPG programmer will be 80 or rapidly approaching it. For many IBM i shops, these programmers nearing retirement are responsible for the business being able to deliver its unique business value. For unprepared shops, the loss of these programmers to retirement will be devastating. We’ve written an online white paper about many aspects of this issue. For our customers facing similiar challenges, this is an important topic.
The Decade of Crisis for IBM i and RPG
The coolest Windows utility you aren’t using
A little more than a year ago, with very little fanfare, Microsoft sneaked a very cool, very powerful little utility into Windows. It’s called the Windows Package Manager or winget for short. Not only is winget a great way to install apps on Windows, it allows easy scripting so that you can easily spin up a new machine with your favorite apps. Click the link below to read the full article about winget.
The coolest Windows utility you aren’t using
Update on Visual Studio 2022 support
Microsoft released Visual Studio 2022 on November 8th. Since 2003 we’ve worked hard to keep our products current with the latest releases of Visual Studio. Indeed, some came easier than others. Some Visual Studio releases made subtle, under-the-cover changes that caused us major issues. With Visual Studio 2022, many COM interfaces used by ASNA tools were changed, and in some cases, broken – a big deal-breaker for compatibility. This change presents a substantial challenge for us. Many of our Visual Studio internals, like Microsoft’s until now, are COM-based. This includes features such as Intellisense, debugger interoperability, form designer integration and many others. We’ve been coding away trying to keep up with Microsoft on its march to 64-bits. It turns out that Microsoft’s programming team has more resources than ours and they flat beat us to November 8th. Integrating our products with Visual Studio 2022 is a high priority for us but, being realistic, we won’t have anything ready until Q2 2022. We know this might present a challenge for you and apologize for the inconvenience. However, we think full transparency is the best way to go. We want you to have the information you need to plan for a solid Visual Studio 2022 upgrade.
Extending ASNA Visual RPG with C#
AVR can do most things that C# can do, but it can’t do all of the things that C# does. This video shows how to use C# to extend AVR. The example shown here uses C# asynchronous capablities to add multi-threaded capabilities to AVR. Note that this video is not an asynchronous programming tutorial. The video includes links where you can learn more about asynchronous programming in .NET. Since making the video, I found a very good YouTube video on asynchronous programming by Tim Corey. A link to that video is below.
Get the code shown in the video
C# Async/Await video by Tim Corey
A great deal on programming books
HumbleBundle.com is a discount site that sells software and digital resources. Not only does it occasionally offer a programming book deal, but some of HumbleBundle’s proceeds go to charity. This detail includes books on C#, Python, unit testing, JavaScript, SQL, and several other topics. You can buy four books for $1 USD or get the whole enchilida (14 books and six videos) for $18. This is a great deal. If you’re feeling generous you can also bump up your contribution to increase the amount given to charity. Some of the books are a bit dated. The Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja was published in 2016, but much of it stills applies. Despite their age, there is a ton of value in the books offered.
HumbleBundle programming book deal
ASNA’s Professional Services team can help you
ASNA’s worldwide services team has what it takes to make your project a success. From small Web sites all the way to million-line enterprise RPG application migrations, from providing a little direction and guidance to doing 100% of the work for you, our team can help you. The ASNA Services team is available to help with any phase of your project, from design to deployment. Contact us at info@asna.com for more info.
