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ILE application development tools and utilities

Is there a way to use the source-level debugger on an ILE program which has been spawn()'d from another?

STRSRVJOB works quite well. STRSRVJOB is also used for SBMJOB or secondary threads (kernel threads).

Can executable program objects be stored in QOpenSys (in the integrated file system (IFS))?

It depends. OS/400 PASE directly supports storing executable programs in QOpenSys. (In fact, it is recommended.)

ILE executables must be stored in the QSYS.LIB file system. OS/400 does support symbolic links in the other file systems that can link to the executables in QSYS.LIB, hence you can create your executables in the QSYS.LIB file system and put a symbolic link to the executable in the IFS root (/) or QOpenSys file systems. Symbolic links to executables can be used in the spawn() API and in the Qshell and shell programs.

For example, a symbolic link

/home/smith/hello.pgm

can be created to point at:

/QSYS.LIB/SMITH.LIB/HELLO.PGM

My program sources have tabs used for indentation? Should I expect any problem while taking the sources to OS/400?

When you will load the sources to OS/400, they will not have proper indentation. Each tab will appear as a highlighted block in OS/400. However, the programs will compile and run fine and you will not encounter any problem due to those tabs.

What editors are available in ILE?

You can use one of the following

  • The Source Entry Utility (SEU) allows you to edit file members in the QSYS.LIB file system.
  • The Edit Files (EDTF) CL command allows you to natively edit both stream files and QSYS.LIB file members.
  • A mapped network drive to an iSeries system allows you to edit files using your favorite PC editor. You can map a drive using iSeries Support for Windows Network Neighborhood (iSeries Netserver).
  • Use one of the UNIX-like editors included in the iSeries Tools for Developers PRPQ.

What debuggers are available in ILE?

The System Debugger and the C++ Cooperative Debugger (a graphical debugger) can both be used on any compiled C code. The system debugger has both a graphical client and an OS/400 command line interface. The C++ Cooperative Debugger is shipped as part of the WebSphere Development Studio Client.

Does OS/400 ILE support PERL programming?

Freeware is now available for download that will allow you to run Perl scripts on OS/400. For more information about how to download PERL, see PERL on iSeries. More generally, see also the iSeries PERLs of Wisdom whitepaper.

Is there a version of zip available for OS/400?

There are several programs you can download or purchase to zip and unzip files in OS/400. They include:

  • GNU zip or gzip (Freeware). A version of the gzip GNU compression utility is available from IBM, along with other unsupported GNU utilities for the iSeries. These utilities run from the Qshell Interpreter (qsh). You can see a list and download the GNU iSeries utilities at GNU Utilities Download.
  • The UNIX qar utility is available in the iSeries Tools for Developers PRPQ.
  • Another version of gzip is available from the Free Software Foundation. This version is functionally the same as the IBM version, but is implemented as a program callable from the iSeries command line. You can download it at gzip for iSeries.
  • Zlib (Freeware). zlib is a free, general-purpose compression library. You can learn more about zlib at zlib homepage, and download an iSeries version at UZAEMON Homepage.

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