01 - Programming (EN)01d - Rational RDi and other tools (EN)

Rational Developer for i – Rdi – FAQs and tips (EN)

Last Updated on 12 October 2019 by Roberto De Pedrini

Foreword

This is a collection of FAQs and tips from forums and IBM i related websites on Rational Developer for i product. We try to keep update this post with new answers so comments and suggestions are welcome!

Rdi-Faq000: Where to download and how much does Rational Rdi cost?

There is a great installation guide for Rational Rdi at the following link: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21667734

As for costs and versions, there is also a special guide here on our blog “Rational Rdi Licensing and Cost Guide”

Rdi-FAQ-001: How to open sources in “view-browse” by default?

The ability on Rational Rdi to open several sources at the same time and keep them all open in “editing” mode is fantastic and an evolved RGP/Cobol developer can only be pleased with this possibility. Usually, when we open a source with a double click it will be open in “Edit Mode” but we have a flag to choose “Open in Browse/View mode” and switching to edit-mode with a short-cut.

Open in View

I, personally, prefer to set Rational Rdi to always open sources in “view” mode: Preferences- remote systems – IBM i – Subsystem objects and check it to “Open source in view mode”.

Every time I double-click on a source from RSE it will be opened in “view-mode” by default ….

If we need to edit this source we have to open it using mouse right-click and choose Edit-mode.

But we could switch from View-Mode to Edit-Mode (e vice-versa) with Ctrl-Shift-G shortcut!

Rdi-Faq002: How to “share” Rational Rdi configuration to the team (Push (configuration) to Clients)

Rational Rdi’s workspace environment contains several settings: connections, setups, snippets, templates and so on: a team manager can share some settings with his team: https://blog.faq400.com/programmazione/rational-rdi-push-to-client

Rdi-FAQ-003: How to convert HFD specifications to free-format RPG?

The ability to convert the fixed-format RPG code to free-format by Rational Rdi is really interesting… but, unfortunately, Rdi converts only C-Specs to free.

To convert H-F-D RPG specifications to free there is a great utility by Craig Rutledge: JCRHFD utility starts from a fixed-format RPG source and turns it into a news free-format RPG member converting H F D specs in a great way! Thank you Craig!

Rdi-FAQ-004: I’m having trouble with Rdi Debugging

Sometimes our Service Entry Points (SEPs) don’t activate even though the user and program are set up correctly. This is often resolved by restarting the Debug server used by Rational Rdi:

  • From command line with : ENDDBGSVR and then STRDBGSVR
  • From Rdi GUI by right-clicking on the RSE Remote System Exsporer Objects item, choose Remote Servers, Debugging, Stop, and Start

Rdi-FAQ-005: Code coverage … What is it?

When you activate or edit a Service Entry Point (SEP) you’ll have seen the Debug or Code Coverage option: This Code Coverage option allows you to analyze the source of a program once it’s running. Basically what you get is a code coverage report, the subroutines and procedures used, those not used, the lines of code executed and those not executed: you can then see the most used and unused parts of code … maybe remnants of old procedures or sobroutine.

Insights on the Code Coverage feature in this ITJungle post: “Guru: How Thorough Was Your Last Test? RDi Code Coverage Can Tell You”.

Rdi-FAQ-006: Loss of Rdi Remote System Explorer RSE link with IBM i

It can happen that at some firewalls we have an idle-time fixed to a certain number of minutes … if I don’t see traffic within that time they perform a disconnect … By default IBM i’s Keep-Alive time is set at 120 Minutes … but if the firewall is lower (and generally so) it is better to reduce the time in minutes of the “keep alive”… for example in this case I’m going to fix it at 15 minutes:

 TCPKEEPALV(15) 

Rdi-FAQ-007: Which TCP/UDP ports does Rational Rdi use?

The mandatory ports for Rdi are:

 8470, 8475, 8476, 446, 449  

Then there are other ports for Debug, IFS etc:

8473, 8472, 4300, 3825

Official documentation here: Rdi Port Information

Rdi-FAQ-008: Recreate Workspace Rdi (in case of problems)


You may have problems with a Workspace Rdi that, for some strange reason, fails and creates strange problems at Rdi (break points that do not set, or do not stop the program, errors in opening sources and more): in these cases the first thing to try is to create a new clean workspace and check if the problems occur again …

If the problem is solved you have to “repopulate” the new workspace with connections, template templates, fragments and other settings… here’s how to do it:

Create a new workspace (File, Switch to workspace, More…. create a new workspace on a name at this point)
Back to previous workspace
To export template templates (if you use them) go to the Rdi… templates preferences and export templates
To export fragments (if you use them), right click, Customize … and export fragment-snippets folders
Close Rational Rdi
Copy the PRF.* files you find in the [Old_Workspace_Path].metadata.plugins\org.eclipse.rse.core\profiles folder and paste them into the same folder as the new workspace
Open Rdi in the new workspace and import models and fragments with the opposite operation to the export one seen above
References: “How to transfer existing workspace customizations to a new workspace

Rdi-FAQ-009: Debugging with Rdi: Breakpoints no longer work!

It happened to me: Debug and Rational Rdi, I set my Entry Point (SEP), I call my program and Rdi switch to the debug perspective, I set my break points, restart the program and it does not stop at my break points! I lost a lot of time before I realized that probably with my mouse or with the key combination CTRL-ALT-B I activated “Ignore all breakpoints” flag: a very little visible flag from the debug perspective in the Breakpoint view.



Rdi-FAQ-010: Rdi 9.6.0 and Mac OSX Catalina

Moving to new OSX Catalina you may have some issues with Rational Rdi and some kind of message about Java Runtime V.6. It’s a problem due to the Eclipse version of Rdi: you can use this workaround:

Issues with Rational Developer for i V9.6.0.x and macOS Catalina (version 10.15)



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--- Roberto De Pedrini Faq400.com
About author

Founder of Faq400 Srl, IBM Champion, creator of Faq400.com and blog.faq400.com web sites. RPG developer since I was wearing shorts, strong IBM i supporter, I have always tried to share my knowledge with others through forums, events and courses. Now, with my company Faq400 Srl, I help companies to make the most of this great platform IBM i.

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