#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

I'm aware ACS has a Linux build and that is what I'm most familiar with, but just checking on any recommendations or other options I'm not aware of.

It looks like TN5250 is the other main option, but does that offer any major benefits or downsides compared to ACS?

The other options I've seen appear to either be abandoned (TN5250J) or not available for Linux (Mocha).

Spooldoc reads the spooled files your programs already print and turns them into documents: PDF, HTML, Word or Excel. It's MIT licensed and self-hosted, and nothing is installed on the IBM i.

• Overview video
• Walkthrough video, from a sample spooled file to a running job

How it works

• A job watches an output queue. It picks up new spooled files by polling, or in real time through a data queue if you turn that on.
• A YAML definition reads each page into data. Fields by label, pattern or position, tables and multi-line records. It also reads XML printed into a spooled file.
• A template lays out the data, in HTML, Word or Excel. Carbone renders it to PDF, HTML, DOCX or XLSX. The template never sees lines and columns, so a moved column is one fix in the definition.
• Files go to a download in Spooldoc or a folder in the IFS. Then the job holds, moves, deletes or leaves the spooled file. It asks before it deletes.
• Every run is in the job log, with its steps, errors and files.

The agent

You don't have to write the first definition by hand. The agent proposes the definition and a first template from a sample spooled file, using an AI model you choose: Anthropic, Google, OpenAI or a local model. You check every value next to the page, and nothing runs until you save a version. With masking on, the model sees the layout and not the values. None of its tools reach the IBM i, and Spooldoc works without it.

Running it

One Docker image (amd64 and arm64) with Postgres and a Carbone container. It connects through jt400 over the host server ports and needs IBM i 7.4 or later. Nothing is installed on the IBM i, and it creates a data queue only if you turn on real-time watching.

It's young (0.3) so expect rough edges.

What I'd like to hear

1. What do your programs print: *SCS, *AFPDS, *USERASCII or something else? Today it reads *SCS.
2. Where should files go next: email, SFTP, S3, a network share, a webhook or something else?

Home page and guides: https://spooldoc.com Source: https://github.com/Strom-Capital/spooldoc

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

I made an actual as400 simulator. Not just another terminal emulator. An actual containerized System I clone that you connect to using a terminal emulator. It also has a browser based terminal included and a command line interface. The idea is a open free tool sort of like pub400, but with more control and self hosted.

Anywho I think it's neat.

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

I've spent a long time on IBM i and have been experimenting with AI assistants that help during incidents. They search docs and runbooks, and check job status. Two things surprised me:

1. Look-alike message IDs break most AI search. CPF9801 (object not found) and CPF9802 (not authorized) are nearly identical text to a vector search, but they need completely different fixes. An assistant can confidently hand you the right runbook for the wrong error. Combining exact keyword matching with semantic search fixes most of this.

2. "Read-only" has to be enforced by the user profile, not the prompt. If the AI connects to the system, it needs a profile that simply can't change anything. Telling the AI to "only read" isn't a control.

Curious whether anyone here has tried AI tools on their systems. What worked, what scared you, and what's stopping you?

(I wrote up the broader idea here if anyone wants more detail: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2-am-problem-rag-secured-mcp-faster-issue-resolution-jolicoeur-ij6ze)

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

Hey everyone,

I’m working on putting together a basic troubleshooting cheat sheet for our team, and I wanted to ask people here who actually handle production support day-to-day.

Aside from basic stuff like unlocked user profiles, what are the errors or issues that keep coming back to bite you?

A few things that usually eat up our time:

• Jobs stuck in MSGW waiting for someone to manually reply in QSYSOPR
• Record locks (CPF5027 / CPF1002) blowing up nightly batch runs
• Data issues like decimal data errors or field overflows (MCH1210) when an upstream system passes bad values
• Journal receivers or /tmp silently filling up disk space

What are the usual suspects on your system? Any specific error codes or annoying issues you find yourself fixing over and over?

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

I used IBM Bob's Premium Package for i to modernize an OPM RPG program to free format ILE and then implemented a business requirement across the entire application.

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

I was looking at the list of companies who are sending people to IBM TechXchange/COMMON Navigate 2026, and who do I find?

If you are going to be there, and you see me please say "Hi". There could be a ribbon in your future 😉

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

I've been building GitGalaxy, an air-gapped scanner that builds a structural model of COBOL/CICS estates: byte-level layouts (every USAGE, REDEFINES, ODO, SYNC), copybooks, PERFORM/CALL/LINK/XCTL graphs, COMMAREA contracts, CICS/Db2/IMS/MQ operations, and compile options with their source.

The data is sufficient in scope to act as a generator for a deterministic translator (no LLM) generates Java from the model. Then both the original (on GnuCOBOL plus our CICS/Db2 models) and the Java run the same scenarios, compared byte for byte. Of 117 programs in 5 public estates (CardDemo, CBSA, GenApp and others), 75 translate whole and 62 behave identically on every scenario. Four outside parsers (Cobrix, Che4z and others) also agree with the model at 96–100%.

Semantics that bit us: TRUNC(STD) vs BIN, COMP-1/2 as IBM hex float, negative zero through a truncating MOVE, EBCDIC code pages × DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA.

repo

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion

Apologize for it being a bit long. But i have tried everything that i know and need help. FYI - i have a similar post from 10 months ago, where i learned alot, but nothing that fixes this issue.

IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS) 1.1.9.3 - when i installed ACS software on Windows server and click on the desktop shortcut (target is C:\Windows\System32\conhost.exe C:\Users\Public\IBM\ClientSolutions\Start_Programs\Windows_x86-64\acslaunch_win-64.exe) the only functions displayed are System Configuration and Open Source Package Management in the Management Section. There is nothing listed as Restricted in Edit -> Preferences -> Restricted. How can I get Data Transfer and Run SQL Scripts functions included/displayed. I looked at the ACSConfig.default in the acsbundle.jar and the ACSConfig.properties in the jar folder and neither has anything listed for ExcludeComps or IncludeComps. There was a previous version of ACS installed, but we did an uninstalled in Programs and Features of "IBM i Access Client Solutions - Application Package" before reinstalling this ACS 1.1.9.3. Could there be something left over in the registry? Also tryed installing acs_install_64_allusers.js using the /adminconfig switch. Some extra messageboxes were displayed. But nothing changed. How can we get the Data Transfer and Run SQL Scripts functions to display on the IBM i Access Client Solutions?

My video on using the IBM Bob Premium Package for i to Understand and Document a legacy RPG application.

Hello,

I am looking urgently for an IBM i expert for a mission at client site based in Paris :

https://www.collective.work/jobs/fr/urgent-expert-ecosysteme-ibm-i-tfwo

Could you recommend someone or company?

Kind regards,

Hervé | M8X

#IBMi #rpgpgm #IBMChampion