IBM Power Ideas Portal
This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Power Systems products, including IBM i. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).
Shape the future of IBM!
We invite you to shape the future of IBM, including product roadmaps, by submitting ideas that matter to you the most. Here's how it works:
Search existing ideas
Start by searching and reviewing ideas and requests to enhance a product or service. Take a look at ideas others have posted, and add a comment, vote, or subscribe to updates on them if they matter to you. If you can't find what you are looking for,
Post your ideas
Post an idea.
Get feedback from the IBM team and other customers to refine your idea.
Follow the idea through the IBM Ideas process.
Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use
Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.
IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.
ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.
"I would refine the RFE to simply ask for an XML-based device independent presentation (DSPF/PRTF) interface that can be leveraged from within any High-level language (HLL); one that could be used on green screen, printed output, and web browsers. One that is "built in" to the system."
This.
Please get the spirit of this RFE.
We need a DDS2.0 (xml or not) as an generic abstract view technology interface that can rendered then in many forms (display, printer, pixels, with different level of capabilities..).
This is the lacking part of IBMi.
This must be INTEGRATED in the system, so it becomes common knowledge (like a DSPF) and a readily available tech in the system.
i = stands for integrated....
IBM does not intend to provide a solution to this request at this time, so it is being closed.
The ILE RPG has quite a long list of requirements that will benefit more RPG programmers than this requirement, so this request is not likely to be implemented anytime soon.
The CEAC has reviewed this requirement and recommends that IBM view this as a medium priority requirement that should be addressed.
However, while the CEAC recommends that IBM implement this requirement, the CEAC also recommends that perhaps IBM work with a partner to provide this as an open source solution.
Background: The COMMON Europe Advisory Council (CEAC) members have a broad range of experience in working with small and medium-sized IBM i customers. CEAC has a key role in working with IBM i development to help assess the value and impact of individual RFEs on the broader IBM i community, and has therefore reviewed your RFE.
For more information about CEAC, see http://www.comeur.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3285
Dawn May - CEAC Program Manager
I voted for this, but it seems that since it is not asking for any real changes in functionality, this could be implemented as a precompiler to the CRTDSPF or CRTPRTF commands. Maybe this would be a good candidate for an open source project.
To expand on Pascal's comment, for an open access file (HANDLER keyword), it would be possible to specify the record formats for the file with some new keyword such as FORMAT('MYFORMAT' : mydatastructure). Any externally-described or program-described data structure could be used for the specified format name. A restriction would probably exist that a program-described data structure be "flat", with only one level of nesting for subfields, although that restriction might only apply if the handler was working in name-values mode.
The name-values structure passed to the handler would give the *dclcase form of the names (see the PGMINFO H spec keyword), with the names of any length that RPG supports. This would make generic handlers more useful.
After a call with Tim Rowe and Barbara Morris it has been expressed that this RFE "as is" would be a significant work and won't be initiated before years as other requests with higher priority are on the to do list.
The core issue to be resolved in this RFE is to avoid DDS to describe DSPF/PRTF.
An alternative has then been thought through:
Using a pgm described file that can be pointed to a DS.
The DS will then represent directly the buffer definition of the DSPF/PRTF.
More investigation will take place on this route.
The CAAC has reviewed this requirement and recommends that IBM view this as a medium priority requirement that should be addressed. It would be nice to see where this falls among priorities of other requests for RPG.
Background: The COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) members have a broad range of experience in working with small and medium-sized IBM i customers. CAAC has a key role in working with IBM i development to help assess the value and impact of individual RFEs on the broader IBM i community, and has therefore reviewed your RFE.
For more information about CAAC, see www.common.org/caac
For more details about CAAC's role with RFEs, see http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/Blogs/i-Can/May-2017/COMMON-Americas-Advisory-Council-%28CAAC%29-and-RFEs/
Dawn May - CAAC Program Manager
This RFE is not exclusive to RPG OA, OA can be used hereafter or not.
In any case, I think a determinant point would be to not restrict this possible XML-based (or JSON) definition to legacy DDS field data type but to open it to any RPG data type and why not to DS too.
also, the RPG compiler does not read DDS when compiling, it opens the object (that was created with DDS) which is simply a specialized program bind to the 5250 protocol.
bravo in advance if IBM comes up with a native XML compiler that you can bind to a RPG program like a DSPF or PRTF
IBM has received the requirement and is evaluating it. IBM will provide a response after evaluation is complete.
that could be great but only if IBM or a BP makes a design tool like SDA/RLU for RDi that would generate the XML
The spirit of this RFE is good, but providing an implementation direction in the RFE may hinder the results. RPG O/A has nothing to do specifically with IBM implementing an XML-based and device independent replacement for DSPF/PRTF DDS.
I would refine the RFE to simply ask for an XML-based device independent presentation (DSPF/PRTF) interface that can be leveraged from within any High-level language (HLL); one that could be used on green screen, printed output, and web browsers. One that is "built in" to the system.