Whether you're just tinkering with source code or doing global updates on databases, tools for composing and correcting source code and databases are more than just handy.
Last month, we covered the list of interactive development environments (IDEs) for IBM Power Systems (IBM i) that can help you build Web applications in "More Tools for Putting Apps on the Web." That article was a follow-up to "Facing the Strain: Web-Enablement Tools for System i," which covered tools that can help you modify existing apps to be Web-friendly.
Falling in between those two categories of application-development aids are editors for manipulating databases and the source code of application programs. Obviously, database file and program editors aren't exclusive to building Web apps, but they can be useful timesavers in building and maintaining the application software that underpins any enterprise's finances, and as such are worthy of a review.
The Hard Right
Source-code file editors have been around the longest, having descended from binary and hex-code editors that programmers originally used to alter machine code. As higher-level languages came into vogue for business applications, editors for directly altering source code became a critical tool for building new apps. Although the industry has moved on to IDEs and more automated forms of building code for apps, the file editor remains a useful tool on the programmer's workbench.
Generally speaking, you can be sure that all file editors provide certain basic functions. These include providing designers with the ability to create, edit, and print source members as well as to copy records from another source member or spooled file. They also offer a variety of commands for controlling function-key operations and code displays, checking syntax, and inserting breakpoints for code-debugging operations. What distinguishes file editors from their competitors is the number and depth of additional bells and whistles, which in turn affect how well they can be adapted to each programmer's individual coding style.
The Left Hook
Database editors are nearly as important as file editors for IBM i shops because the strengths of the platform make it particularly good with database-intensive apps, and many enterprises play to that strength. This symbiotic relationship can make file and database editors the big punches for programmers looking to knock out application problems, particularly in situations where more advanced programming tools are unaffordable due to the size of the business.
Features common to all database editors are the ability to add, change, delete, and display records in any file; global search-and-replace or deletion tools for individual records; security features that restrict access and change authority to designated users; and the ability to generate audit logs and reports of all change activity.
If you're in the market for a file or database editor, the product names, descriptions, and links to vendor Web sites below will help you focus your initial research. The brief descriptions provided here highlight some of the features each product offers that go beyond standard features expected in any file or database editor. However, the summaries here don't cover all features each product provides. You should consult the links for each product and contact the associated vendors for a more complete picture of what each product has to offer.
You should also be aware that the articles on Web app building tools referenced above contain links to IDE products that, in nearly every case, incorporate source-code and database editors as part of their standard features. The products listed below are standalone editors that are available at lower prices because they don’t include the other features that are part of IDE solutions. They also generally offer more editing features than editors included within IDEs.
And as always when looking for products or services, be sure to check the MC Press Online Buyer's Guide.
Source-File Editors for IBM i
Application Development ToolSet for AS/400 Source Entry Utility (SEU)
IBM Corporation
SEU is the granddaddy of all System i source-code file editors, providing developers with a variety of commands to find and change character strings, set up user-defined line commands, hide selected code lines, tailor editing sessions, and create custom prompts.
EngInSite PHP Editor
LuckaSoft
PHP Editor is an IDE and code editor for Zend Corporation's PHP language. The product lets designers create, edit, debug, and run programs written in PHP4 and PHP5. Features include auto-completion for common lines of code, a hint system that knows 3,076 major PHP functions, the ability to set breakpoints in scripts while running the main form of an application, HTTP server environment emulation within the editor, and user-defined color schemes for code displays. The editor also supports use of Unicode, UTF-8, and CVS code in programs.
Mozilla Skywriter
Mozilla Labs
If you're brave enough to try a more experimental, cloud-based editor, there's Mozilla Skywriter, formerly codenamed Bespin. It's an all-platform browser-based source-code editor still in beta, for which Mozilla is currently looking for more testers. Skywriter Embedded lets developers use it on their own Web sites, and Skywriter Bookmarklet enables programming on any Web site. Because programming in the cloud is likely to be a significant method of the future, here's your chance to get in on the ground floor of some cutting-edge editing technology.
RPG-Alive
Profound Logic Software
The RPG-Alive product family consists of two solutions for editing and analyzing code on System i. RPG-Alive for SEU augments IBM's SEU to add graphical features within Client Access or a 5250 emulation environment, such as automatic highlighting for conditions and loops, and graphic illustration of RPG III/IV syntax. RPG-Alive GUI is an RPG code editor for PCs that helps developers generate ILE RPG and CL programs that run on System i machines. Both products outline RPG code as it's built; automatically connect CL DO/ENDDO statements; highlight comments; and auto-complete names of keywords, built-in functions, and previously defined custom subroutines and subprocedures.
Database Editors for IBM i
DataLens for DB2/400
Information Consultants
DataLens is a realtime database editor that gives users the ability to determine relationships between database files and fields, dynamically create new access paths to selected data, parse and edit records without fields, set up rules for record selection, and execute specific or global operations against database records.
Database Utility (DBU)
ProData Computer Services
DBU is a versatile database editor that operates interactively or in batch, offers a choice of GUI or 5250 interface modes, provides a wizard-based access and security setup, lets users export SQL data definitions to support migration of DDS-based files to SQL tables, and enables complex searches using SQL. DBU supports multiple national languages, DDM, ECS, and display of database triggers on physical files.
File Edit Utility (FEU)
Applied Logic Corporation
FEU is a database editor and data-manipulation tool. It lets users execute inquiries and global file updates, delete records, restore deleted records, convert and export spooled files to a variety of formats (e.g., HTML, PDF, XML), create and save custom database views, and work with record lengths up to 32K.
File-Flash Plus
Business Computer Design International (BCD)
File-Flash Plus lets end users view, edit, query, and print DB2 database files without requiring an RPG program. It also lets users export data to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, make field changes in databases, change data on the fly, customize and save settings for working with files, and print selected fields and records.
Surveyor/400
Linoma Software
Surveyor/400 is a database tool and file editor for the IBM i. It offers a drill-down interface, displays of relationships between physical and logical files, and filters for selecting records for global updates or other changes. Surveyor/400 gives users the ability to query, display, and edit file records; enter, run, and test SQL statements; create, copy, modify, and test stored procedures; display and change data areas; duplicate objects between systems/LPARs/IASPs with a few mouse clicks; and graphically design custom reports that can be executed, saved, and reused.
QuestView
Touchtone Corporation
QuestView works on physical and logical files to enable inquiry, maintenance, debugging, and analysis of a DB2 database. It also is a database- and program-generation tool for building interactive data-retrieval programs. The product features a GUI designed for IBM Rational Developer and WebSphere Development Studio users, works with large-object fields, can scan for different values in different fields simultaneously, sends audits to the user's choice of spooled or database files, and obeys any restrictions imposed by trigger programs.
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