Strategic Modernization with PHP on IBM i

www.SeidenGroup.com 
 
ZendCon 2016  
https://joind.in/talk/218b9
Strategic Modernization  
with PHP on IBM i

Strategic Modernization with PHP on IBM iSeiden Group
Seiden Group and Club Seiden
Alan is a leader and expert in PHP on IBM i; leader, Zend’s PHP Toolkit
for IBM i; and “Performance guru of PHP on IBM i” 
 
Seiden Group is a team of experts available for  
mentoring/troubleshooting/project advice/development.
seidengroup.com, alan@seidengroup.com
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Contact information
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Alan Seiden
alan@seidengroup.com
201-447-2437
www.SeidenGroup.com
twitter: @alanseiden

DB2 database at its heart
• DB2 built in
§ Transaction processing workhorse
§ Database implemented below operating system level!
• IBM i’s “Machine Interface (MI)” between OS and hardware
§ Journaling, auditing, commitment control very commonly used
§ Never corrupted
• Doesn’t lose data even if knock out power plug
• Database often taken for granted
§ Self-managing such that DBAs are rare
• MySQL also supported (Zend DBi)
§ Can connect to DB2 via “DB2 Storage Engine”
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Data and programs last forever
• IBM has been dedicated to legacy app longevity and
data longevity
§ RPG (and occasionally COBOL) running for 30-40 years
§ DB2 data evolving 30-40 years
§ Middleware insulates applications from hardware changes
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IBM i Heritage chart from Trevor Perry
http://blog.angustheitchap.com/?p=415

Long-serving back ends, new front ends
• What does this mean to you? 
§ RPG and DB2, mature and evolving for years, can be part of your
data model, accessed by PHP
§ Create web GUI interfaces and web services around these venerable
resources
• Business logic is encapsulated in RPG/COBOL/DB2
• You can keep your hands somewhat clean of business details 
§ Case studies later in this presentation
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Nondisruptive business growth
• Scales vertically
•One system can handle large and diverse workloads
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), including reduced operator costs, is said
to be competitive or cheaper than assembling server farms
•Can activate additional processors without restarting system 
• Dependable
•Resistant to viruses
• Object-based system since the 1970s
•Journaling, commitment control, replication, high availability
•Security features galore
•Keeps on running
• You will sleep soundly at night
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PHP runs on IBM i, runs everywhere
• Available for IBM i, Windows, Linux, Mac…
§ Open source, widely used, millions of sites
§ Facebook, Wikipedia, too many to name
• Runs simply on IBM i
• Direct access to DB2 and RPG
§ Accesss LIVE DATA, which we value on IBM i
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Easy to start small
• My first professional PHP code was one line to send an
email message
• No need to know everything. Start gradually and learn
• PHP is mainstream. Information on php.net and
elsewhere
• A track record of over 20 years of community
+corporate collaboration
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Integration with IBM i
• PHP Toolkit
§ Call RPG, COBOL, CL
§ Access data queues, data areas, etc
• DB2 and SQL
§ ibm_db2 included on IBM i
§ PDO_IBM may soon be another option
• Zend Framework 2 support of IBM i DB2
§ For larger applications
§ Simulation of LIMIT/OFFSET for easy pagination
• (Db2 has now added real LIMIT/OFFSET, though)
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Support for APIs and web services
• Web service capabilities in PHP
• Native SOAP functionality
• for REST: json_encode(), json_decode()
• cURL (http and more…talk to the internet) now a native,
included extension
• APIs
§ Using Apigility, PHP can serve “correct” REST APIs,
handling errors, versioning, links
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Zend/IBM’s commitment from 2005-6
from 2006: “[Andi] Gutmans says Zend intends to port
all its products to System i, treating the platform's users
as first-class citizens.”
http://mcpressonline.com/programming/web-languages/zend-brings-php-to-ibms-i5os.html
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PHP: Open + Enterprise
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• Community-driven open source
• Enterprise-ready capabilities from Zend
• Professional support with SLA (Rod/Shlomo)
• Tools in Zend Server
• Monitor
• Code Trace
• Z-Ray
• Job Queue
• Deployment
• Remote debugger
• Zend Studio IDE integrated with Studio
• Developer and production “black box” tools

IBM + Zend
• IBM i systems ship with Zend Server (PHP)
• PHP on IBM i packaged and supported by Zend
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IBM booth, ZendCon 2010 IBM’s Tony Cairns and Alan S. 
working on new toolkit, ZendCon 2011

Community
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Zend Server for IBM i
• Download Zend Server 8.x
• http://www.zend.com/en/products/server/downloads-ibmi
• Easy upgrade from 6.x and 7.x 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• Editions
• http://www.zend.com/en/products/server/editions
• Basic (free), Professional, Enterprise
• Same download, different license
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Flow-ruining technical topic
CCSID
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Modernize IBM i with CCSID
• CCSID (coded character set identifier) for conversion of
EBCDIC<—>ASCII, Unicode, etc.
•Required when using non-native languages such as PHP or
communicating with the outside world
•An essential component of modernization
• DSPSYSVAL QCCSID
•Anything other than 65535 is OK
•Change with CHGSYSVAL SYSVAL(QCCSID) VALUE(n) 
• or in Apache config: /www/zendsvr(6)/conf/httpd.conf
• DefaultFsCCSID 278 
CGIJobCCSID 278
•For your CCSID, check the list of “Job CCSID”:
• http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/software/globalization/default_list.html  
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PHP basics: Step 1
• Learn some basic HTML
• Try http://w3schools.com/html
• Tables (<table>,<tr>,<td>) useful for business data
• “View Source” in browser to borrow bits of HTML 
• Then learn these as you go
• Javascript
• Adds dynamic functionality to pages
• Cascading style sheets (CSS)
• Modern way to specify colors, fonts, style
• Later…try Bootstrap CSS (getbootstrap.com)
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Step 2: Try a simple PHP script
• PHP scripts are text files that reside in the IFS
• Edit using notepad or Zend Studio for Eclipse
• Example: /www/zendsvr6/htdocs/helloworld.php
• Run in browser: http://yourIBMi:10080/
helloworld.php
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<?php
// simple script to test PHP
echo “Hello, world!”;
?>

Step 3: Access db2
• See Zend Server sample application
• Connect to db2 on i
• Select records from a db2 table
• Output the records into an HTML table
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What else happens when PHP is used?
• Spurs modernized database
• More modular RPG
• New demographics in IT
• IT can “own” innovation again
• Business owners get a taste of what can be done
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Z-Ray, to speed development
• Shows every query and time for each
• Toolkit extension for Z-Ray shows each program call,
input/output, timing
• Save time otherwise spent hunting in debug logs!
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Who can program PHP?
• RPG developers who know SQL or can learn it,
especially if they’ve used other languages, too.
• (RPG Free is similar to PHP and most modern
languages, though!)
• Don’t expect great UI, but often nice internal apps
• Outside or new PHP developers
§ Often have broader view of user interface, but still
need to collaborate with RPG/DB2/IBM i person who
understands the data. The combination can work
well.
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Open source
applications
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Quick return on investment: open source
• Install open source applications; change the
perception of your IBM i
• Your IBM i will instantly seem “modern.”
• PHP-based content-management systems an easy
place to start
• Joomla, Drupal
• Wordpress
• Mediawiki
• They use MySQL database (included with Zend Server)
§ Can be linked to DB2 using DB2 Storage Engine
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COMMON Europe: Joomla
• Videos
• News
• Social media widgets
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Data3: Wordpress
• News-style theme
• Themes are easy to download
• Some free, some not
• Excellent at blogs 
but also good at general 
content management
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COMMON.org: Joomla on IBM i
• Zend Server on IBM i
• Manages a great deal of information and media
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Extend green
screens to the web
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Call RPG/COBOL: adapt 5250 logic to the web
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Screen #1, Order header
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Screen #2, Order detail
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Screen #3, Content package from detail
(Option 4 from order header)
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Screen #4, Notes from order detail
F9 key launches this
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Web page combines all 4 “green screens”
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Allied Beverage Group
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Original 5250-mode order entry process
• Aimed at expert customer service users
• Sales reps accessed it using Jadvantage java applet in
browser
§ Better than nothing
§ S-l-o-w logon
§ Forced reps to have expert knowledge of system
• Dicey wireless signals on the road = lost sessions
• RPG was powerful but too complex to be updated with
major new functionality
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Intro screen
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Intro with error message (customer)
• f
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Intro with error message (“return to number”)
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Main screen
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Search for a product by description
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Select a product
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Help!
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What Allied wanted in web-based order entry
• Good for sales reps and customers
§ Keep speed while making it easier for newcomers
§ Reps can copy from past orders
§ Lots of information at fingertips (fewer clicks) 
• Users can save drafts of orders
§ Drafts are brand-new functionality
§ We use the old RPG logic, but we’re not tied to it
• No problem if temporarily disconnected
§ Stateless web connection can easily resume later 
• Overcome 90-item limit
§ So we didn’t have to treat that as an error
§ Internally we split order into 90-item bunches and sent multiple orders to RPG
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Web ordering intro page
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Web with account type/search box
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Web Mode #1: Quick Order Entry
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Search results
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Web Mode #2: Standard Order Entry
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Notice message ﬁle messages WP00041 and so on!

AJAX loads dynamic info
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New web apps
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ICE award-winner
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Scotsburn Dairy Group: visitor kiosk
• Front desk kiosk-mounted touch monitor
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Scotsburn Dairy Group: visitor kiosk
• “Visiting” box has autocomplete
• Saving money on supplies
• Reducing paper use a company goal
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H-P Products: executive decision tool
• Not pretty—but—
• Enables company to measure time spent on each customer
• Can better set prices appropriate to each customer
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Mobile
applications
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Mobile delivery tracker
• Delivery tracker for a building
supply company
• Web application optimized for
mobile phones
• For construction contractors at a
job site
• Live IBM i data from DB2, RPG
• PHP, Apigility, ZF2, AngularJS/Ionic
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Scrap metal ordering system on iPad
• Exciting blend of RPG, DB2, PHP, HTML5,
mobile device capabilities
• Developer: Adam Shirley, Sabel Steel, Alabama,
USA
• Spurred by government regulations for record-
keeping
• See video
• Slides to follow:
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Scrap metal system: log in
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Scrap metal system: read license card
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Scrap metal system: autofill ID
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Scrap metal system: take photo of card
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Scrap metal system: save photo to IFS/DB2
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Web services
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PHP can provide and consume
• Many examples of web services with PHP (See http://
alanseiden.com/presentations for more) 
• Here is a recent example
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PHP + JSON: Pennock Floral
• Challenge: connect RPG applications to third-party e-
commerce web services using JSON
§ IT wanted to use IBM i but did not know how
§ Simplest solution would keep RPG in control 
• Executives doubted IBM i
§ Were about to seek a solution outside of IT
§ IT needed quick success to prove IBM i could handle HTTP + JSON 
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PHP + JSON: Pennock Floral (slide 2)
• Solution: Use PHP as “glue” to connect RPG to the
JSON-based web services
§ RPG remained simple, easy to manage
§ RPG called PHP, which handled the JSON easily
§ Pennock’s head RPG developer was then able to add new service
consumers himself with RPG and PHP
• “You turned lead into gold”—IT Director
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Enhance RPG
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PHP can even enhance RPG green screens
• Graphs, PDF files, Excel spreadsheets
• RPG can call PHP
• PHP can generate and email these graphical items
• Details and code in “PHP Tricks for RPG Programmers”
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E-mail pie chart from RPG
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E-mail PDF from RPG
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Advanced and
future
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PHP grows with you
• “Procedural style” PHP works, generally easiest for RPG
programmers to learn
• We all start with procedural PHP
• Object-Oriented (OO) syntax: more advanced
• Structure for reusing code, maintenance 
• Frameworks, APIs
• Zend Framework, Apigility help structure applications
• Learn after becoming comfortable with OO style
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“PHP Renaissance” and PHP 7
• Speed boost (at least with popular apps and CMSes…let’s
see about business apps)
• Spurred by competition with Facebook’s “Hack”
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Summary
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How to start
• Get PHP by downloading Zend Server for IBM i
§ No charge for Basic license; prefer pro/enterprise if mission critical
app
• Use RPG and DB2 as solid foundation for business
logic.
• Works best if the logic is modular (smaller
programs or procedures)
• Training and help are available. Free and paid
resources
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Be creative—change perceptions of IBM i
• Adopt open source, no-cost software
§ Joomla, Wordpress, many others 
• Extend green screens with a GUI
§ Web and mobile applications engage a wider audience (e.g.
customers)
§ Re-use business logic. RPG still valuable
§ PHP Toolkit enables this
• New applications: choose IBM i
§ Automate manual processes
§ Executive dashboards to improve business decisions
§ Working with open source demonstrates commitment to your chosen
platform and your career as a whole
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Contact and tips
Alan Seiden
Seiden Group
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ
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alan@seidengroup.com ● 201-447-2437 ● twitter: @alanseiden
Free newsletter:  
http://seidengroup.com/tips
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Strategic Modernization with PHP on IBM i

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