AS400 RPG Simulator

Question

Hi,

I have a urgent requirement to call an RPG Program from java. As suggested in this http://stackoverflow.com/questions/184864/accessing-rpg-on-iseries-from-java question. I am planning to use JTOpen. But unfortunately I dont have access to any of theses systems. So is there any way I can test the java program ? Are there any RPG simulators for Windows?

Any help or ideas will be highly useful

With Regards, Srinivas

Answer 1

You can get free access to an iSeries at Innovative Systems. On their machine you can experiment with RPG.

Some other remarks,

• You can call iSeries programs from java including RPG programs. But if you really want to interface (use parameters/arguments) you better use ILE RPG. ILE RPG supports anything you need to interact with java including the correct datatype (including pointers)
• JTOpen is the open source class library. That one runs fine on the as400. But in the iSeries world the normal way to install this class library is as an "License Program". Don't be scared by the word License. It is just the iSeries way like apt-get on Linux. See IBM Infocenter for more information
• At last but not least, JTOpen is a regular java class library. You can test and try that library on your local machine. Ofcourse, you can not open a iSeries data-area but you get the feel for this class library.

BTW I think you can forget about a RPG simulator for Windows. Maybe some compiler may be around that I don't know off. But that is not the specific thing about RPG, it is the fact that it runs on a iSeries. And unfortunaly no iSeries emulator is available.