What's in this Guide?

This guide is not a set of standards. It is a collection of tips and notes specifically related to developing applications using LANSA for i.

With the benefits brought about by web development and the expectations of users for more direct interaction with business processes, development has moved, generally, to the Windows platform using LANSA's Visual LANSA.

Information for the earlier application designs, while still relevant, is provided in this guide. The examples and suggestions have been mostly derived from the experiences of existing LANSA RDML users.

The contents have been arranged in three broad categories:

• Chapters 1 to 4 provide tips and examples relevant to designing applications for platforms supported by LANSA but with specific emphasis on the creation of applications for IBM i. Wherever information is platform-specific, it is indicated in Platform Considerations.

• Chapter 5 relates to Portability.

• Chapters 6 to 7 give overview information about basic details such as object naming with tips when designing Processes and Functions. Details on these topics are in the Visual LANSA guides and links to the relevant sections are provided.

• Chapters 8 to 13 provide information specific to designing LANSA for i green screen applications using RDML (as opposed to RDMLX) including producing reports. Arrays, in chapter 12 are redundant but are included for historical purposes.

Refer to the Visual LANSA guides for advice on creating web-based applications.