So what is Orion on IBMi ? Orion is an open source development tool from the Eclipse Cloud Development team.
Very Simply to use and share , it is a real basic browser-based tool written in JavaScript.
IBM has ported this tool into option 8 of the Open Source Licensed Programs 5733OPS and provided us with a RPG verifier as a syntax checker.
IBM has integrated this open-source Editor into IBM i Series services and incorporated syntax highlighting for RPG, COBOL, etc. Orion automatically saves your source of data whenever you make changes.You can use this code editor if the source is in the IFS. It’s a little lean but proves competitive against Notepad++. It has also been included in the 5733OPS option and has built-in support for Git.
Two standard questions we put to customer programmers guys:
- Are you still using PDM/SEU/RLU?
- Does your source reside on the IFS?
Installing
Even though I have the latest operating system 7.X installed on my IBM i, take care that the install standard media did not contain the Orion development tool.
This is provided by loading PTF SI65641 .
Starting
Once the PTF had been installed, we need to start the Orion server.
Running a QShell command: QSH CMD ( ‘/ QOpenSys / QIBM / ProdData / OPS / Orion / Orion’)
This command can be added to your startup programs, if you require it always to be available.
We can then see the Orion jobs running in our QHTTPSVR subsystem.
If you need to stop the server, run the command: QSH CMD ( ‘/ QOpenSys / QIBM / ProdData / OPS / Orion / StopOrion’)
After starting ORION and linked it via URL on port 2025 (http://MyIBMiIPAddress:2025) next step will be "register a user".
Unfortunately, there is no link here between our user profiles and Orion.
After registering, we need to create a new project. choosing the project a name.
Once the project is created, let us create a new RPG source.
Where find information on Orion Project
Here you can find deep information how to start using ORION : https://www.mcpressonline.com/programming/rpg/techtip-shoot-for-orion-with-your-rpg
In my opinion It’s important to understand that Orion does not replace RDi.
RDi is very feature-rich and very "IBM i aware."
If you are looking for a complete and full of functionality take care of new MERLIN IDE projects based on OpenShift and Arcad aware solutions.