Common Connect - August 2009

Technology (PHP + db2 + RPG)
eBiz@ABG;was;one;of;the;first;IBM;i;sites;to;be;built;with;Zend
Framework,;which;is;the;leading;PHP;framework.
PHP;itself;was;brought;to;the;i;in;2006;by;IBM;and;Zend,;at;the
behest;of;the;COMMON;Americas;Advisory;Council;(CAAC).
With;PHP’s;power;and;popularity,;we;at;Strategic;believe
that;the;good;old;“AS/400”;can;now;match;other;servers;(e.g.
Windows;and;Linux);in;functionality,;while;keeping;operations
simple.

To;develop;eBiz,;we;used;these;products;and;technologies:

•;Zend;Core:;PHP;and;the;i5;Toolkit,;free;for;IBM;i;users

•;Zend;Framework:;free,;open;source;PHP;framework

•;Zend;Platform:;software;tool;to;speed;performance;and
streamline;deployment

•;Zend;Studio;for;Eclipse,;i5;Edition:;IDE,;free;for;IBM;i;users

•;Dojo:;free,;open;source;javascript;library,;including;AJAX

•;db2;(yes,;good;old;db2)

•;RPG:;We;re-used;hundreds;of;lines;of;Allied’s;existing;RPG
code;containing;complex;business;logic.;We;adapted;the
RPG;and;then;called;it;with;PHP’s;i5;Toolkit.
A team effort centered on the “i”
The;Allied;eBiz;team’s;collaborative;process;was;helped
by;the;stable,;easy-to-manage;IBM;i;environment.;For;me,
it’s;a;pleasure;to;develop;with;modern,;flexible;PHP;web
technology;on;the;reliable;“i.” While;end-users;may;not;be
aware;of;such;details,;they;know;that;eBiz;blends;smoothly
with;the;older;systems;still;in;use,;making;it;a;complete,
dependable;source;of;information;and;functionality.

Product resources

Zend;Core

www.zend.com/products/core/core-for-i5os

Zend;Framework

framework.zend.com

Zend;Platform

www.zend.com/products/platform

Zend;Studio;for;Eclipse,;i5/OS;Edition

www.zend.com/products/studio/for-i5os

About the Author

Alan Seiden, a writer, speaker, and consultant on PHP and Zend Framework on IBM i, leads the PHP/i team at Strategic Business Systems, Inc., in Ramsey, N.J. Alan served as a consultant for the IBM manual “Zend Core for i5/OS” and was the first in the “i” community to be certified on Zend Framework. Recently he cofounded the first Zend Framework Meetup group, which meets in New York City.

Contact: alan@alanseiden.com. Tips on PHP and more:
www.alanseiden.com.

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