SoftLanding Systems, a leading provider of software management solutions for System i and multi-platform development, today announces its contribution of three new plug-ins to the RSE Extensions project, an open source initiative dedicated to offering free add-ons to the Remote System Explorer (RSE) view within WebSphere Development Studio Client for System i (WDSC).
Designed to speed System i code analysis, development and debugging, the new plug-ins include graphical source compare and merge editors, a dialog for editing data areas, and the ability to display data queues. Each utility runs entirely from within the WDSC 6.0 environment.
According to Mark Phippard, Director of Development at SoftLanding, WDSC users frequently discuss the need for a graphical source compare/merge engine for System i code in online forums. "Eclipse provides very powerful compare/merge options for Java code, and native System i developers wanted something similar," he recalls. "In order to meet this need, we figured out a way to apply the core functionality of the Eclipse source/compare engine to System i code."
The resulting plug-in allows users to compare two System i source members in either edit or browse mode, or to interactively merge two source members. The graphical nature of the editors lets users see and resolve conflicts quickly. Unlike more traditional System i-based compare/merge utilities, the RSE Extensions utility works even with source members that come from different System i systems.
SoftLanding has also updated the RSE Extensions to include a custom dialog that lets users see a data area's attributes and edit its value, as well as a custom dialog that displays data queue attributes and the first entry in the queue. Until now, WDSC developers had to open a 5250 session to accomplish these same tasks.
IBM's WDSC development team supports the work being done via the RSE Extensions project. Don Yantzi, Technical Release Lead, WebSphere Development Studio & WebSphere Development Studio Client for System i, encourages the WDSC community to use the RSE Extensions and contribute back to the open source project.
The new RSE Extensions plug-ins are SoftLanding's third major contribution to the open source community in just over a year. The RSE Extensions project, established by SoftLanding in September 2005, comprised an initial contribution of three original plug-ins for accessing spooled file output, working with System i messages, and viewing dual source editing windows simultaneously within WDSC. The open source version control tool Subversion for OS/400, developed by SoftLanding and released in April 2005, is the foundation for TurnOver/SVN, TurnOver’s integrated, PC source version control solution.
In March 2003, SoftLanding introduced TurnOver for WebSphere Studio, the first set of software configuration management plug-ins to support development and deployment of both native System i and Web applications under a single process. Today, the entire TurnOver Change Management solution runs over Eclipse, with or without WDSC. Companies that need to manage Java, PC, and Web development in conjunction with traditional System i development, and those who are facing compliance audits, benefit from TurnOver’s unified software management process. Its single System i audit database consolidates all information regarding software changes to applications, regardless of platform, into one place.
"Our goal is to provide the most up-to-date tools to help System i-centric shops implement unified software management practices throughout their IT organizations,” says Steve Gapp, President and CEO of SoftLanding. “We see our free plug-ins and open source initiatives as important steps to enhance the extensibility of the WDSC development platform for the entire System i market."
Availability and More Information
The RSE Extensions Plug-in, documentation and its source code are freely available for download from SoftLanding’s Website at http://www.softlanding.com/Solutions/WebSphere/RSE-Plugins.aspx. For more information, call SoftLanding Systems on +1 603 924 8818 , or email info@softlanding.com.
About SoftLanding Systems
SoftLanding Systems, a leading provider of software management solutions for System i and multi-platform development, specializes in solutions that streamline the entire software development and maintenance process, resulting in enhanced productivity, higher quality software, and improved application availability. SoftLanding's strength is in creating the ideal software management solution for any software environment, regardless of complexity, by drawing on expertise and tools in the following areas: software change management, database change management, issue tracking, application testing, and deployment.
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