Presented by IBM i Experts - Yvonne Enselman and Scott Klement

How Refactoring Helps Bulletproof Your Application

• IBM i programmers want (and need!) to write better and more robust software. But many don’t know all of the principles needed to make their software fully robust. Do you (or does your manager) doubt the value of refactoring your code into a modular design? This session goes in-depth about how you save time and create higher quality programs by refactoring into small, independent routines.
• We will discuss how this improves your ability to test and maintain your application over time, saving you tons of time in the long run.
• This session is co-presented by expert developer, Scott Klement, and expert tester, Yvonne Enselman to help you see it from both perspectives.

Objectives:
1. Understand why refactoring is critical to creating robust (“bulletproof”) applications.
2. Understand other concepts needed to create robust applications
3. Learn testing principles needed to ensure your applications are robust

Liam Allan

VS Code & IBM i
VS Code and IBM i: everything you probably missed
We’ve seen Visual Studio Code working with IBM i for years at this point, but there’s a load of stuff you might have missed

WMCPA & OMNI - Golf Outing **CANCELLED**

in person at Papa Passero’s
and live on Zoom wherever you like

Celebrate IBM i at 35! *live* from IBM

June 21 marks IBM i’s 35th Anniversary. What an amazing achievement this is and one that everyone in the IBM i community should celebrate! User groups, customers, and partners from around the world have helped to shape the direction of the IBM i hardware and software solutions, a group achievement that calls for celebration by everyone!

Join Ian Jarman, CTO of IBM Expert Labs, in one of three webinar events worldwide, as he engages with a panel of IBM i luminaries, influencers, and users to reflect on the achievements of the community and what they anticipate for the future. No matter what your time zone, there’s a webinar scheduled in your region. Other events around the world are also being organized; ask your local IBM or Partner team for details.

Everyone -- customers, partners and IBMers – are invited to raise a glass of champagne or a cup of coffee and join the celebration in one of these kickoff celebratory events, hosted by TechChannel and IBM.

IBM i Updates Presented by our very own Mike Pavlak

Mike Pavlak will present the current set of IBM i Updates.

in person webcast at Papa Passero’s
and live on Zoom wherever you like

Ask the IBM i Experts Anything!
*live* from COMMON PowerUp 2023 Denver

If you can't get to Colorado for COMMON's PowerUp 2023, be sure to enjoy this exciting first-time-ever collaboration between The Omni User in Chicago and IMUG Users Group in Nashville! The Midwest and Middle South team up to bring you a great IBM i Q&A opportunity from the Mountains of Colorado, *live* from COMMON PowerUp 2023’s Expo Hall Floor.

Submit your most important IBM i questions, we’ll relay them to the top IBM i expert minds, you'll hear answers directly, and be able to submit follow-up questions live in chat!

1. Register with Omni or IMUG to get the Zoom link that will allow you to attend
2. Submit any/all of your IBM i questions in advance (starting now!) by sending them to theomniuser@gmail.com and ask more things/enjoy the dialog during the live event in the Zoom meeting chat
3. Tell us who you’d like to answer your questions and our live-on-the-show-floor Omni and IMUG-TN Users Group moderators will find either that person or another expert to give you the great answers.

with great IBM i panelists...
Tim Rowe, Steve Wolk, Larry Bolhuis,
Justin Loeber, Brian May
moderated by
Mike Pavlak

hybrid webcast at Papa Passero’s
and live on Zoom

Experts roundtable "The Importance of Modernization on Power" WMCPA Panel Discussion Live on Zoom

The Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association (WMCPA) User Group will host their annual Technical Conference at the beautiful Lake Lawn Resort in Delavan, Wisconsin this coming Tuesday-Thursday, March 14-16. On Tuesday night, Omni President Mike Pavlak will moderate a Live Panel Discussion “The Importance of Modernization on Power” featuring some of the most knowledgeable IBM i thought leaders in our community (and the world.) With special permission from IBM and WMCPA, The Omni User will bring this special exciting evening live to all Omni members via Zoom at Papa Passero’s or remote at the location of your choosing!

The panelists include IBM Business Architect for Application Development Tim Rowe, PC Richard CTO Steve Wolk, Service Express Data Center and Cloud Engineer Larry Bolhuis, Kisco Systems IBM i Security Expert Justin Loeber, Profound Logic Product Manager Brian May, and Perforce Software Solution Engineer Mike Pavlak as Moderator.

Zoom Link: The Zoom link will be sent via email only to those who register and are paid 2023 members (Individual or Corporate.) Please register by Monday and renew your membership (if it is not current for 2023) on The Omni User Store on Square. Non-members are welcome to join for $50 and pay for their membership on the Square store in order to receive the Zoom link and attend.

Robert Swanson

Using SQL to pull Web Service data into your IBM i applications
Obtaining information from external systems or data servers has come a long way since the introduction of EDI in the 1980s! Today, publicly available Web Service APIs offer a much more flexible and easier-to-integrate method for pulling pertinent global data into your IBM i applications. Whether it be commodity prices, financial data, current weather information, demographic statistics, or whatever else you can think of, there is no shortage of information available on the internet that could complement certain areas of your company's business, thus adding valuable real-time information to your various user applications.

In this session we'll put this concept to work in a hands-on fashion. The presenter will use real-world API examples to demonstrate how IBM i developers using Db2 SQL can quickly access these valuable Web Service repositories and pull data into an RPG program or UI tool for their users.

Attendees will see two simple 5250-based interactive examples in action, with source code they can try on their own systems.

Learning Objectives:
1. Basic definition of a REST API, and how it differs from SOAP
2. How to find a public Web Service API and understand its inputs and outputs
3. How to structure and execute an SQL statement to pull data from the Web Service

Tim Rowe

Magic of REST APIs
Rest APIs are a key technology in the world of Modern Applications these days. The IBM i operating system has integrated support for easily creating Rest APIs over existing ILE programs and service programs, as well as being able to wrapper SQL statements. In Addition, you can leverage the integrated support to call Rest APIs from your native RPG / COBOL ILE code. This session will leverage live demos to show both side of the Rest API conversation on IBM i.
IBM i Navigator: An Administrators View
IBM Navigator for i is the web based interface for accessing, managing, and monitoring your IBM i. A brand new versions has been released. This session will look at how to get started, how to best leverage this interface for one users or an entire company. We will look at some of the administrative features added to New Nav to help with rolling this out to many users. This include how to set up TLS for you connections and how to limit select users from working with areas within the interface.

Jeff Carey

Don't lock yourself out! Securing Admin Servers
Securing web based tools is increasingly important, even on your own network. Is your network team wanting to close all non-secure ports? IBM continues to provide function via the ADMIN servers, but by default they are not secure. Knowing what these servers do and setting them up securely is important, but care must be taken as some of them control your ability to secure them, so it is possible to lock yourself out!
Learning Objectives: What are the Admin servers and why do I need them? How to secure them and why it is important. Avoiding pitfalls.

Andrew Clark
with Liam Allan

Merlin and VS Code: Powerful Options for Next Gen Apps
What exactly is all of this hype around Merlin, VS Code, and Next Gen Apps? Are you confused about what exactly "Next Gen Apps" really means, how your existing development fits into this new paradigm, and whether you should consider embracing one or more of these new tools? Compare and contrast your development environment(s): SEU, RDi, VS Code, Merlin (and others??) to see what your different options are - then consider each package's inherent strengths and weaknesses as you start to move down the Next Gen path.

Dawn May

IBM i Performance Tools for Application Developers
Application developers should consider the performance characteristics of new and changed applications as part of the development process. After all, finding a performance problem during the test phase is far better than having an issue occur on production. This presentation will review the primary tools IBM i developers have available to them to understand the performance of their applications.

This session will review Wait Accounting, Job Watcher, and Performance Explorer and how these tools can be used to understand the performance characteristics of your applications.

Simon Hutchinson

Recent additions to modern RPG language
Over the past ten years RPG has transformed itself into a modern free form language. In recent the recent releases, 7.4 and 7.5, there have been additions there have been enhancements made that have passed many people by. Simon will demonstrate these features and explain why he thinks these are worth incorporating into your work.

Look at your data from a different (SQL)view-point
Simon will explain how building SQL Views should become a part of your development strategy. He will give examples of the common ways he builds and uses Views to make his own and that of his team easier and simpler. Why do the hard work yourself when something else can do it for you?

Dawn May

IBM i Performance Tools for Application Developers
Application developers should consider the performance characteristics of new and changed applications as part of the development process. After all, finding a performance problem during the test phase is far better than having an issue occur on production. This presentation will review the primary tools IBM i developers have available to them to understand the performance of their applications.

This session will review Wait Accounting, Job Watcher, and Performance Explorer and how these tools can be used to understand the performance characteristics of your applications.

Mike Pavlak

IBM i Updates in 60 mins (more or less)
IBM has recently delivered several hours of updates in their spring marketing cycle.
If you’ve missed some or all of them, rest assured we have a solution.
OMNI’s own Mike Pavlak has nothing better to do than watch countless hours of video content from IBM and has distilled the announcements down to about an hour of content. If you have a really busy schedule or just simply don’t want to burn a lot of time watching each message of IBM i goodness then this session is for you!
Mike will be covering everything at his usual breakneck pace. For those who might want to drill down into greater detail Mike will be including a TON of links littered through the presentation for more information.

Alan Seiden

Dr. Alan's IBM i Web Checkup
IBM i web expert Alan Seiden is here to dispense advice and good IBM i development medicine for Web Applications on IBM i.
Learn from Alan's prescription for fast, future-proof web and API development on IBM i, based on years of experience helping companies worldwide to implement web applications and APIs on IBM i. Alan will explore aspects of web application development that he has encountered including tips on performance, security, language choices and much more.
Alan's unique position of building web applications on IBM i for over 20 years makes him the de facto authority on solutions to the challenges that face the typical IBM i developer as they explore the WWW or "weird world of the web" and work to bring order to what can sometimes appear to be abject chaos.

Charlie Guarino, Pete Massiello,
Tim Rowe, Alison Butterill,
and Simon Hutchinson
moderated by Mike Pavlak

“Business Value of IBM i” WMCPA Panel Discussion Live on Zoom

The Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association (WMCPA) User Group will host their annual Technical Conference at the beautiful Lake Lawn Resort in Delavan, Wisconsin this coming Tuesday-Thursday, March 15-17. On Tuesday night, Omni President Mike Pavlak will moderate a Live Panel Discussion on “Business Value of the IBM i” featuring some of the most knowledgeable IBM i thought leaders in our community (and the world.) With special permission from IBM and WMCPA, The Omni User will bring this special exciting evening live to all Omni members via Zoom!

The panelists include previous WMCPA speakers and IBM Champions Charlie Guarino & Pete Massiello, IBMers Tim Rowe (Business Architect of Application Development) and Alison Butterill (Offering Manager for IBM i.) New to WMCPA is IBM Champion Simon Hutchinson, who runs the recently formed Central Texas IBM i User Group and hosts the popular RPGPGM.com site.

“Business Value” has been a central focus since the IBM i platform came into existence as the AS/400 and even earlier in the System/3x. All of that is ancient history, as today’s IBM i has so many modern and powerful features that the Business Value provided might sometimes get a little lost amid the speeds and feeds. In this panel, Mike will solicit questions from both the live audience and remote Omni User attendees to sort through the hype, find the reality, and bring us all back to the core Business Value of one of the greatest computing platforms ever conceived.

Zoom Link: The Zoom link will be sent via email only to those who register and are paid 2022 members (Individual or Corporate.) Please register by Monday and renew your membership (if it is not current for 2022) on The Omni User Store on Square. Non-members are welcome to join for $50 and pay for their membership on the Square store in order to receive the Zoom link and attend.

Steve Pitcher

Title: Uh Oh, I think my IBM i has been breached

Scott Forstie

Check out Scott Forstie's - GIST @ GitHub

IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS) - Every database feature explained and demonstrated

Robert Swanson

Use Native IBM i SQL to Retrieve Web Service API Data

Obtaining information from external systems or data servers has come a long way since the introduction of EDI in the 1980s! Today, publicly available Web Service APIs offer a much more flexible and easier-to-integrate method for pulling pertinent global data into your IBM i applications. Whether it be commodity prices, financial data, current weather information, demographic statistics or whatever else you can think of, there is no shortage of information available on the internet that could complement certain areas of your company's business, thus adding valuable real-time information to your various user applications.

In this session we'll put this concept to work in a hands-on fashion. The presenter will use real-world API examples to demonstrate how developers, using Native IBM i Db2 SQL, can quickly access this valuable web service repositories and pull data into an RPG program or UI tool for their users. Attendees will see two simple 5250-based interactive examples in action, with source code they can try on their own systems.

Learning Objectives:

Liam Allan

Introduction to Node.js with Db2 and live API Demo

Liam will talk about Node.js fundamentals and how ODBC is leveraged to access Db2 content at the application level.
After a short presentation, Liam will walk us through several aspects of the Node.js environment.
Then, he'll drive all the key points home while showing us how to build RESTful APIs that adhere to OpenAPI Initiative standards that can truly unlock IBM i business logic and provision Db2 content using Web Services.

Marina Schwenk

Service Programs and Unit Testing - The Perfect Pair

Do you have monolithic programs that you have to start breaking up into manageable pieces? Have you been tasked to start unit testing and don’t know where to start?

This session is meant for you. We will work through the benefits to modernizing your code and why you want to adopt unit testing. We will work through breaking apart monolithic programs and how to write their respective unit tests. We will discuss some best practices in unit testing and how you can take some of those best practices and apply them to your everyday development processes.

Dan Magid

Choosing the Right Open Source Language for IBM i
Have you been thinking about taking advantage of Open Source on your IBM i?
Have you been struggling with all of the technology options and wondering which is right for you?
In this Webinar session we will cover the particular strengths of different Open Source languages on the IBM i.

Jim Buck

Darn... Cursored Again!
Using SQL & Cursors in Your Programs This session demonstrates the use of SQL in your programs. After a short discussion of the differences between Dynamic and Static SQL in your programs, we demonstrate the important concepts in creating a robust SQL program. Topics include host variables, data structures, error trapping and using tables with SQL. • Internalize the benefits of using SQL in your programs. • Correct use of SQL and Cursors in your RPG Programs. • Understand error handling in SQL subprocedures and service programs.