Chapter 1: WebFacing Tool Introduction

The goal of many iSeries programmers is to catch up with the latest technology and create Web-enabled graphical user interfaces for their iSeries programs. The WebFacing Tool is designed to convert your DDS-based user interface descriptions to Web-based user interfaces for use in an Internet browser. The conversion process generates JavaServer Pages (JSP) and XML files that replace the existing DDS code. The WebFacing Tool is one of the main components of IBM WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries (Development Studio Client). This chapter outlines Development Studio Client, and then covers WebFacing Tool concepts, to give you a general picture of WebFacing conversion and runtime activities. The chapter also explains how to install Development Studio Client, Version 5.0, and how to install the sample application included with this book, which you will use during most of the hands-on exercises.

WebSphere Development Studio Client

This book is based on WebSphere Development Studio Client Version 5.0, which is the second release of this product. ^[1] If you are still working with Development Studio Client Version 4.0, you do not need to worry; the WebFacing Tool user interface has remained fairly consistent and you should be able to follow the exercises with no problems. I have added special remarks and special sections where I found the differences between the versions sufficient to confuse the reader.

Development Studio Client is not the first workstation-based product for the iSeries host or for AS/400 application developers. The first product was CoOperative Development Environment for AS/400 (CODE/400), released in 1992. IBM followed with a second product, VisualAge RPG, two years later. At that time both products were running on OS/2. In 1997, Windows versions of these products were released. In the year 2001, IBM consolidated the application development tools for iSeries and combined the host-based products, Application Development Tool Set (ADTS) and the RPG, COBOL, C, and C++ compilers, with a set of workstation-based application development tools. This new packaging of iSeries application development tools was intended to support the iSeries programmers with tools for both traditional applications and the new Web-based e-business applications. The workstation tools came on the market under the WebSphere brand with the name IBM WebSphere Development Tools for iSeries Version 5.1 (WDT). WDT included the following components:

1. CODE, a set of workstation-based tools that programmers could use for traditional iSeries application development, instead of green-screen -based tools such as Program Development Manager (PDM), Source Entry Utility (SEU), Screen Design Aid (SDA), and Report Layout Utility (RLU).

2. VisualAge RPG (VARPG), a tool for developing graphical user interface (GUI) client/server applications, featuring easy connectivity to the iSeries host and a low learning curve for RPG programmers.

3. VisualAge for Java (VAJAVA), a tool supporting the complete cycle of Java development for Java server and client applications.

4. WebSphere Studio, a tool for developing Web sites and e-business applications in conjunction with VAJAVA.

5. WebFacing, a tool to give traditional green-screen applications Web enablement along with an attractive graphical user interface.

That's right, the first release of WebFacing became available in WDT Version 5.1. At this time, IBM wanted to consolidate all application development tools for all platforms, and the team responsible for iSeries development tools decided to base a new generation of iSeries-specific tools on this platform. The framework for these new tools is called Eclipse, originally developed by IBM and then donated to the Open Source Consortium. The Eclipse framework is now managed by the Eclipse.org consortium.

The advantages of basing the iSeries development tools on a nonproprietary standard are manifold . First of all, you can reuse platform-independent tools without change. This applies to many iSeries-specific functions and components. Because these iSeries tools can act as plug-ins to an open-source framework, the tools' behavior and user interface is not platform specific, even if some of the functions are specific. For example, the iSeries unique perspective lists iSeries objects, but the Properties views of these objects are similar to those for other platform objects. This allows iSeries programmers to work with tools that programmers on other platforms use as well. It also means that other programmers can easily switch to iSeries development, since the tools behave the same way.

Development Studio Client Version 4.0 was the first implementation of this new tool base. The current version, 5.0, has many enhancements over Version 4.0 and gives you an even greater set of development tools:

1. The Remote System Explorer, which provides enhanced tools for traditional iSeries application development

2. The IBM WebFacing Tool, with its latest release fully integrated with Version 5.0 of WebSphere Application Server (WAS) and the Web project structure it requires

3. Web tools for developing e-business applications, with enhancements to support iSeries-specific features

4. Java tools for developing Java and Web applications for any platform

5. XML tools, for creating XML descriptions of interfaces to make them available in a nonproprietary format

6. Web services tools, for creating the descriptions of Web services

7. Many wizards that guide programmers through the creation of Web applications and help them get started even with a limited skill base in the Web environment

Figure 1.1 shows a graphical view of the Development Studio Client product and how it is packaged with an unlimited usage license inside WebSphere Development Studio.

Figure 1.1: Product packaging of Development Studio Client Version 5

The Client section represents the Eclipse environment. All of the tools inside the Client box are plug-ins to the Eclipse framework. The Classic tools, CODE and VARPG, are positioned outside of the main section, since they are not plug-ins to Eclipse. They can be invoked from Eclipse-based tools but run outside of the Eclipse workbench. The lighter-shaded boxes in the Client section represent tools that are part of WebSphere Studio Site Developer (WSSD). The darker boxes represent the tools that the team in the Toronto Laboratory developed for iSeries application developers.

An advanced edition of Development Studio Client Version 5.0 is also available. WebSphere Studio Application Developer is the base for this edition. It provides the same end-to-end support for the creation and maintenance of J2EE applications and Web services. In addition, it provides extensive support for Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and for Java Message Service.

The advanced version of Development Studio Client also provides additional capabilities for the WebFacing Tool, including the ability to generate the run-time elements conforming to the Struts framework and to work with Print services. Some of the User Interface elements can also be generated as JSP custom tags.

This book will guide you through the WebFacing Tool, and it will also introduce other tools in the Development Studio workbench, for example, that you will use:

• The WebSphere Application Server (WAS) Test Environment, to run and test the WebFaced application inside the workbench without having to deploy to a server.

• Web Tools, to enhance the look of the initial Web page created by the WebFacing Tool.

• The Remote System Explorer, to change and re-create an RPG program to adapt it to the WebFacing environment. Typically, you do not have to adapt the RPG and COBOL programs for WebFacing, but sometimes it is handy to add extra functions that enhance the Web interface.

• The integrated iSeries Debugger, to help you debug your application.

The coverage will begin with a look specifically at the WebFacing Tool.

^[1] Development Studio Client Version 4.0 was announced in June 2002, and shortly afterward delivered to customers. It is the follow-on product to WebSphere Development Tools for iSeries Version 5.1. The version of the WebSphere Studio Client products aligns itself with WebSphere Application Server. Development Studio Client is unique because it is shipped with an iSeries product called WebSphere Development Studio (WDS), which aligns itself with the OS/400 versions. So Development Client Studio Version 4 and Version 5 are working with OS/400, Version 5.1 and 5.2.