The visit counter service this site uses went awol for a week a little while back, but still it's up a couple of thousand from the
last check below. I guess it has been helped by another newsletter mention :) This time it was in the
March 13th Midrange Developer in an Open Source article.
10/02/02. Happy Birthday Heather - my daughter is three today. On to more technical matters now. Only just discovered that an
Open Source iSeriesNetwork article I was expecting has already been up for a fortnight!
Linux Not Likely to Grow iSeries Install Base, Sources Say
for those that are interested.
24/01/02. What a busy day yesterday was! WRKUSROUTQ was mentioned in an iSeriesNetwork's
newsletter (Club Tech iSeries Systems Management for Jan 23) and the site had its biggest one day visit count by far. The previous
best, shortly after launching the site, was 149 - yesterday reached 560. Already this morning (06:30) there have been 47 visits which
is more than the typical day's count. I hope people liked what they found. The guestbook got another six entries, and I received a
handful of emails too.
Now at 11413 visits :-)
17/01/02. I've added the ability to search spool files to my WRKUSROUTQ tool. As well as subsetting a
list of spooled files by file name and/or user and/or user data, you can now specify a search string, and only files containing that
will be listed. Not yet packaged altogether, it's available as an add-on to the existing tool. The full package will include some
much needed error checking too ;-)
We now have a mailing list dedicated to Open Source Software on the AS/400 / iSeries. If you want to keep in touch with what's
happening with these and other OSS projects elsewhere on the net, or want to contribute/test/discuss OSS code and the issues that
surround it, then pop along to the handy subscription page over at
http://lists.midrange.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/oss400. Do join us and get involved :-)
05/01/02. Updated the CRTCSVDTA package. Added a one step CRTCSVSTMF command to combine CRTCSVDTA & CPYTOSTMF, added support
for varying length fields, included the progress meter to give you something to look at and repackaged the utility in CMD.xml format.
See the CRTCSV page for more details.
23/12/01. Minor update to the main page to reflect another year gone by - see if you can spot it ;-)
The visit counter reached five figures early Friday morning - Thanks :)
14/12/01. Just a few tweaks to the links page to update some of the entries, and to add a new one. David
Morris has recently launched the iSeries-toolkit project with a host of GPL'd
utilities. Well worth a look (and a download). The main page has been updated a bit as well.
Halfway through the month with just two hundred visits required. Keep 'em coming :)
02/12/01. Minor update to EXCSQL which now has in-built sort sequencing to allow for case-insensitive string comparisons.
It's now packaged in CMD.xml format to match Craig's software, as it's used by one of his utilities. See the
EXCSQL page for more details.
With visits at just under 9500 now, the big 10,000 is getting closer. Tell your colleagues about this site and see how soon it
can get there ;-)
08/11/01. Moved EXCSQL to its own page to make it easier to link to - see the page for more
info.
Last month saw double the usual average traffic, with over 1000 visits. Now on 8670, I wonder if it will reach five figures
by the year end :)
25/10/01. Well, Microsoft may have released a new version of Windows today, but I can go one better - a new release of the
progress meter ;-) It now supports solid colour progress bars as well as the original character based method. There's another
screen shot on the progress page to show the enhanced look. Still only 13k ;-)
24/10/01. A progress meter routine added to the extras page. Give your users something to look
at while you load a subfile or process a large batch of records.
Seems to have been busy again today for some reason, with around double the usual visits. Not that I'm complaining ;-)
18/10/01. Another update today :) PRGOUTQ (on the extras page) got a mention on the News/400
Club Tech newsletter today. It's pushed the total to over 8000 anyway, with over 130 visits so far today. Hopefully people
have found something of use here.
18/10/01. Uploaded a savfile of the DBG/400 library with all the utilities. This is just the objects to keep the size to a
minimum, so if you want the code too, grab the relevant packages separately. I was asked to do this for Tham in Singapore, who
doesn't have access to an RPG compiler. It may be of use to others too. The library, DBG400NS, is from the NetShare400 AS/400,
though you should be able to restore the library to a different name (DBG400 being the usual, but watch out for comands that
have Product Library [PRDLIB] set to DBG400NS - they'll need changing to the restore library). The save was done using a SAVLIB
with target release V4R4M0. Download dbgsavf.zip bearing in mind it's a big file (2.2Mb /
2349726 b)
Other news: My son, Ben, was four on Monday :-)
18/09/01. New (well, rather old actually) code uploaded :) I was asked for the RUNPGMTRC routine which uses the trace facility
within debug to produce an audit of executed code when a program is run. Unfortunately this only works with OPM (pre ILE) RPG and
CL programs - and we moved over to RPGIV just after writing this (early '97), so it's hardly used - a bargain ;-). See the
extras page for more details.
15/09/01. Hmm. A long time without updates. I've been busy, but doing real work this time :( I've had some input into Craig
Rutledge's XML based source transfer utilities, partly inspired by my own SRCPARSER routine :) Hopefully, I'll get the chance (in
the not too distant future) to update my packages to use the CMD.XML installer too. I've added a poll to the main page, on behalf
Stig Norre's (AS/400 Community Web Ring founder)
Visits seem to be fairly steady at around 500/month, with the total currently at 7161. The new virtual hosting gives me some
nice stats, as well as overall transfer rates. Last month saw around 67Mb transfered, and DBG/400 has been downloaded eight times
this month.
Overall transfer rates might increase now, as I've added a mirror for the brilliant text editor Vim
to the site. I use this quite a bit at work, for all my PC text editing and increasingly for editing RPG and CL code. I've set
up a PDM option to RUNRMTCMD so I can pull up code in Vim for some serious editing. Being able to searches using regular expressions
is a big advance on SEU :) I'm working on a syntax highlighting .vim file for RPG and RPGLE, though the Rexx file is already a very
good match for CL highlighting. The latest Vim (version 6.0) does colour printing too - code listings look much better :)
29/05/01. This page can now be accessed direct at www.dbg400.net/news.html. That
might not seem a big deal, but I've now got this site hosted under my dbg400.net domain. Previously I just had a redirect to the
main page at my ISP's webspace with the site. I don't expect to stick with them too much longer - I'm after cable access as soon
as it's available in my area - so this way search engines don't return too many broken links. I've avoided posting direct URL's for
this reason, so now I can :)
Unfortunately there were a few hiccups in the transfer, with a login prompt blocking access from last night until this morning,
but it seems to be okay now. It may take a little longer for the DNS changes to filter through everywhere, however. One positive
note is that this site now runs on GNU/Linux - check it out here
(another gif creeping in - roll on animated
PNGs)
Some of you may have seen links to a top AS/400 sites list recently. I added this site to the list, but hadn't, until now,
added the code to link to it to get votes. As it is I've already had 66 votes and made it to the top ten (just). If you want to add
yours (please do ;-) just click on the following link.
5213 vists to date - 41 since this morning :) There has been a bit of interest in my CRTCSVDTA utility
as it dynamically parses files at runtime, following a post on the RPG400-L mailing list. The topsites page has also drawn in some
traffic.
19/04/01. A bit more work on the links page and I've added a mini-review
of CoolSpools400 which we've recently bought at work.
Just gone over 4500 visits - the last week has been fairly active for some reason
28/03/01. More tidying up and fix a broken link - Thanks for letting me know, Mike.
24/03/01. Just a HTML code tidy-up, mainly adding alt text to the images, and fixing broken/out of order tags.
Passed the 4000 mark
28/02/01. Finished the documentation and packaging on EDTFLDMAP & CRTCSVDTA so you can check them out
on this page.
I've also uploaded a little time saver for managing spool files - MOVOUTQ. Details and a screenshot available
on this page.
You may have noticed the new graphic at the bottom of the main page - as I've joined the AS/400 Community web ring. I wanted a
different image, as the standard one is a gif, so thought a little xt5250 window would do ;-)
23/02/01. Added a page for my soon to be released .csv tools. See the details on EDTFLDMAP & CRTCSVDTA here.
Still no guestbook entries - has the cat got your tongue? :-) Over 3500 vists now.
15/02/01. Just one extra today, but I think it's a handy tool if you don't already have one like it. EXCSQL is a command line SQL
processor that you can use just about anywhere - see the full details on the extras page. I'm now working
on a file export tool to simplfy getting .csv files created on the AS/400. I currently use a freeware tool to create a generic flat
file in .csv format, then CPYTOSTMF to get it onto the IFS. This doesn't let me specify individual field formatting, such as dates, etc
that look odd as just 102 instead of the more familiar 00/01/02. I recently got a query about some data we send out that didn't appear
to have any year 2000 transactions in it, because the usual six digit date had become just a three digit field. I plan on storing the
choices (against each file selected for export) for field formatting, then use this to generate a more meaningful .csv file. It also
needs to be able to strip out characters that would interfere with the .csv formatting - double quotes and commas in description
fields are a menace ... If you have any ideas for features, now's a good time to let me know.
.
No entries in my guest book yet ... sob, sob ;-)
02/02/01. Two add-ons today. TDYPGMFSET, as mentioned on my last update, is now available on the DBG400 page.
The second tool is PRGOUTQ to delete old spoolfiles on an output queue. This uses routines from WRKUSROUTQ, so you need that as well. See
the extras page for more details & download
It's quite interesting looking at the stats Bravenet supply. Seeing
where people have come from to get here is helpful - I didn't realise that many Netshare users were checking me out ;-)
27/01/01. Finally got round to setting up a site map (of sorts) and improving the navigation between pages. I've added a guestbook
as well, where you
can leave public (or private) comments and feedback if you want. I'm also planning to upload a small extra command to the DBG/400
suite that handles logical files spanning multiple libraries. The downside is it's only useful if you have the source for the
errant logicals. The code should be up here sometime next week - I put it together for internal use, as some of our major files
are join logicals over two or even three libraries :-(
Another day, another hit counter ;-) I've swapped this time because Bravenet offer lots of handy
extras, including a very configurable guestbook (above). They also do forums, which might make a useful addition here. Fill in the guestbook
and let me know what you think. Hits just shy of 3200 now. The new counter tracks visits, not hits, so it should give a better idea of
visitor numbers
22/12/00. Added CHKLVLCHK to the extras page following a posting on comp.sys.ibm.as400.misc. which a few
people followed up on requesting the code - I hope you find it as useful as we have (daily use for six years or so).
Comfortably over the 2500 hits now
27/11/00. Added a section on the main page about running DBG on Netshare400, as John Ross has
kindly approved its use :-) and provided a link to here for interested users.
Weekends are usually very quiet now but 50 hits since Friday has pushed the total to 2134.
24/11/00. Added BLDLIBINFO to the extras page following a posting on comp.sys.ibm.as400.misc.
Hits at 2084 now.
27/10/00. Made a minor change to the installation instructions as they missed out a command required for FTP from a DOS box. Thanks to
those who've pointed this out - it doesn't affect GNU/Linux or AS/400 clients so I hadn't noticed - sorry ;-) It's also been pointed out that
I could do with a site map - I'll see what I can do
Removed the WebTracker stats as they've been up and down all week. Aggregate hits at 1723.
20/10/00. I've added another web counter to compensate for lack of WebTracker stats (when it has one of its turns). It's back up at last,
though, but only at 1600. I reckon this should be 1700 or more - ho-hum.
18/10/00. I've made it into print at last :-) Seamus Quinn's WebWatch column in the October issue of News/400.uk includes a couple
of paragraphs on this site and yours truly. Unfortunately I don't know how many people have come here as a result as WebTracker is down again :-(
The last time I was able to check hits were at 1587. That was on Sunday evening. Judging from past publicity I reckon it should be over the 1700
mark now but I guess I'll never know. Anyone know of a good free hit counter?
3/10/00. Another little utility uploaded to illustrate a subfile view toggle discussed on the RPG400-L mailing list recently. See the Mailing List
section on the samples page.
1387 hits at last check
26/9/00. Uploaded some more code to support another Usenet post on the samples page. I received an email
with a search400.com newsletter attached - One of the Editor's Picks was the 400Times August review of DBG/400. It seems to have generated
quite a bit of additional traffic - around 80 hits since this morning :)
Due to the above mention, hits are at 1222 and rising.
19/9/00. Revamped as mentioned yesterday. Another Usenet related code posting on the samples page
Hits up 20 to 1059.
18/9/00. Added a link to http://www.midrange.com. as David has kindly added a link to here. I think I
need to revamp the main page, as it's a bit big for a welcome screen. I think it could also do with a more organised links page. If anyone has any
suggestions about how this site could be more helpful, drop me a line.
Definitely over the thousand now - 1039 :-)
14/9/00. Added a page for code samples/snippets to go with mailing list & Usenet posts.
The site I use for web stats was down for a couple of days - it reached 943 by Monday evening and went offline, then reappeared last night.
I'd submited some links for WRKUSROUTQ to www.midrangelink.com after that, and there had been a
number of hits from there that weren't recorded. Hits have been around 15-20 a day recently, so I reckon I'm down by around 35 hits or so. As
the hit count now stand at 963, I may well have gone over the 1000 mark already.
9/9/00. I've finally got my WRKUSROUTQ utility ready for download here. As I release each tool I plan to move it to
its own page with screenshots and a tutorial/walkthrough of what it does. Some of the tools will be standalone, others will require DBG/400 to be
installed already.
905 hits
21/8/00. Another utility is available on the extras page (see news 1/8/00). EMS is a simple message system for users on a single AS/400. No other
mail package is required - It's just a more user friendly way that using DSPMSG/SNDMSG. The WRUSROUTQ tool mentioned should be up here
by the end of the week, if I get time.
723 hits to date.
7/8/00. Another day, another update - Version 1.02 now available. I opened an internet AS/400 account this weekend, at
http://www.netshare400.com, and couldn't get MAKEDBG to run through without errors. It failed
trying to compile logical DBGDEP01 over system xref file QADBFDEP, and again when trying to compile program DBG108R4 which uses
DBGDEP01. It turns out this doesn't cause authority problems until you run your system at Security level 40 (QSECURITY). It was another
case of swap the file out for an API (this should be the last one now, honest ;-) ). I also solved a minor bug that meant display & printer files
were copied to your test library, as DSPPGMREF sees them as updated files. The program now correctly only duplicates physicals, logicals
& data areas. I made a few cosmetic changes to the DBG menu, adding an About & License option to the Help dropdown menu. See the
download page for details. DBG/400 should soon be available to use on NetShare's AS/400 if you have an
account there - watch out for it in the Programming Tools section on the home page.
Hits at 586
1/8/00. I've added an Extras page, with details of other utilities available on this site. There is also a list of tools that
could appear here if there is the demand
Hits have slowed down in the last week, but the total has gone over the 500 mark.
30/7/00. The August edition of 400Times is now up and available. DBG/400's review is in the
products section (8.5/10) and also gets a permanent slot in the Open Source index :-).
21/7/00. Version 1.01 released! My long term solution for the problem below was easier to implement than I thought. The field selection routine
now uses the QUSLRCD (List record formats), QUSLFLD (List Fields) and required user space APIs. It's a bit more code than a few lines of file I/O,
but it's the better solution. I've updated the download packages with the new code (now up to a whole 98Kb). For those of you who want to update
your version the one changed member (DBG105R4) is available seperately. It also fixes a few bugs in the original routine - F12 didn't quit and
the F1 didn't get you any help :-(. See the download page for details
A few more folks have had a look - hits now at 390
19/7/00. I had an install problem reported the other day, which I've now duplicated, so I'll take the blame. As stated elsewhere, I'm not a guru
with API's, so when I needed a field selection routine (for the SQL prompting in DBG/400), I used one of the system cross reference files - QADBIFLD
in QSYS. I know it's not good practice, and that files in QSYS2 are a better option, but it was the only one that gave me what I required. What I
didn't realise was that the authority on this file prevents its use by a standard QPGMR type profile. I have *ALLOBJ, so didn't have any problems.
The MAKEDBG routine will fail when it attempts to create program DBG105R4 if the person running it isn't authorised to the file. Even if the person
is authorised, anyone else trying to do field prompting later could hit the same problem (CPF4104). The long term solution is for me to replace it with
an appropriate API, but for now, follow the notes in the install instructions if this affects you.
The count is now up to 356 - it's slowing down, but still getting visitors.
I've been informed that DBG will be reviewed in the August edition of 400Times (see the 12/7/00 update). If you haven't been there yet there's no
need to wait till then - have a look round now.
17/7/00. Well, it's a small world - or maybe just a very well connected one.:-) Leslie's recommendation (see below) has spread far and wide.
I subscribe to a mailing list for the GNU/Linux 5250 emulator (see credits on the main page), and imagine my surprise to see DBG/400 & my name
mentioned in a post there, forwarded from another list altogether. The original message was Leslie's, and it had been forwarded (from someone
on both lists - cheers Sean) because the screenshots show the GNU/Linux xt5250 client (the X version of tn5250). The other mailing list is for James
Kilgore's opensource ERP project (see below again). Both lists are hosted by David Gibbs'
http://www.midrange.com. There are lots of other AS/400 lists available..
If anyone's interested in the SRCPARSER tool used to package the code for DBG/400, then feel free to grab the code
here. It's just a CLP and RPGLE pair of programs to create the single member for distribution.
Hits are now up to 275 ;-) 149 today alone.
15/7/00. I emailed Leslie Russell of http://www.opensource400.org yesterday to see
if he could add a link to my site, as we have a common goal in promoting open source software for the AS/400. He liked it enough
to tell loads of people about it. The hit rate on this site was trickling along at a few a day over the last week, standing at 15 when I
checked late last night. Early this morning it was at 53, and 12 hours later it was up at 93. If you think the name is familiar, then maybe
you read his Open Source article in the July issue of News/400. If you haven't, then follow the link there from his site - it's well worth
reading. There's also a follow up forum discussing it, and the issues it raises.- check it out.
12/7/00. Well, it's half way through the site's first week of active promotion. I've submitted link requests to a number of AS/400 related sites, and they're
starting to appear now. I've also asked the AS/400 e-zine 400Times to have a look at it, and maybe do
a review of DBG/400 in the next month or so. Even if it doesn't make it there, there's quite a bit to look at anyway.
Updates
15/7/00. I've finally got the documentation in download form. Go to the documentation page here and
download the archive of your choice. I've just packaged the existing documentation, so the Home links won't work.
12/7/00. In my enthusiasm to get the site up and running, I missed out some code from the MAKEDBG routine that builds an extra file set for the documentation
system. DBG will still work fine, but if you want to experiment with the editor for anything else, then pick up the latest download from the
download page
Mailing list - if anyone wants an email letting them know when there are updates to the site, or the code, or both - drop me a
line.
