What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

Hi Robert,

please be aware that it is Visual Studio Code (Shortname VS Code). I mention this because there are many confusions out there because of the two different tools that have nearly the same name.
There is also a Visual RPG , based on .Net which runs inside Visual Studio (the large IDE comparable to Eclipse).
What IBM pushes now is Visual Studio Code with the Add Ons that are running around Code4i.

With Code4i and VS Code you normally use Git.
Of course you can also use other Change Management tools from the different Vendors and all of them are integrating their tools now (somehow...) into VS Code.

Hope that helps.

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

There was a demo, I can't remember where I saw it, which had one in it.  I think it was even a Liam Allen demo.

Hi Robert,

please be aware that it is Visual Studio Code (Shortname VS Code). I mention this because there are many confusions out there because of the two different tools that have nearly the same name.
There is also a Visual RPG , based on .Net which runs inside Visual Studio (the large IDE comparable to Eclipse).
What IBM pushes now is Visual Studio Code with the Add Ons that are running around Code4i.

With Code4i and VS Code you normally use Git.
Of course you can also use other Change Management tools from the different Vendors and all of them are integrating their tools now (somehow...) into VS Code.

Hope that helps.

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

There was a demo, I can't remember where I saw it, which had one in it.  I think it was even a Liam Allen demo.

Hi Robert,

please be aware that it is Visual Studio Code (Shortname VS Code). I mention this because there are many confusions out there because of the two different tools that have nearly the same name.
There is also a Visual RPG , based on .Net which runs inside Visual Studio (the large IDE comparable to Eclipse).
What IBM pushes now is Visual Studio Code with the Add Ons that are running around Code4i.

With Code4i and VS Code you normally use Git.
Of course you can also use other Change Management tools from the different Vendors and all of them are integrating their tools now (somehow...) into VS Code.

Hope that helps.

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

------------------------------
Robert Berendt IBMChampion
Business Systems Analyst, Lead
Dekko
Fort Wayne
------------------------------

Hi Rob - long time no see

As Markus has noted, the primary push is for using git - which is already well supported in VS Code. That would almost certainly have been what you saw Liam demo.  IBM are also supporting BOB (better Object Builder), there's a thread here on Reddit that covers the basics https://www.reddit.com/r/IBMi/comments/1h0ewsv/vs_code_for_i_and_bob_better_object_builder_for/


The core components that Arcasd supplied to Merlin are also available directly in VS Code now. In fact, most of the ISVs in the change management area have either already integrated with git and/or ported their tooling to use the Code for i APIs to integrate VS Code with the IBM i backend components.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the best single source I know of for information on the tooling etc. for Code for i is the Seiden Group page VS Code for IBM i: A Resource Guide - Seiden Group

 You'll find a link there to Edmund's BOB video.

EDIT 2: I also forgot to Mention Richard's iForGit which is a for-fee offering that is designed to simplify the IBM i / git / VS Code pipeline. iForgit - Eliminate Awkwark Git Integration

------------------------------
Jon Paris

Original Message:
Sent: Mon July 14, 2025 12:35 PM
From: Robert Berendt
Subject: What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

------------------------------
Robert Berendt IBMChampion
Business Systems Analyst, Lead
Dekko
Fort Wayne
------------------------------

Jon,

Thank you.  I think it was Arcad I saw in Liam's demo.

We're using PTC Implementer now and we're pretty much hearing they'll be ready for IBM i 7.6 when they're darn good and ready and not a second before.  Sad, they used to update annually.  Then it was 3 years in between their last update and that was over a year ago.  We switched from Softlanding's Turnover to Implementer over the former's dragging their feet on release upgrades.

Boss is retiring in several months and they're shopping for a replacement (see Dekko on LinkedIn).  This may get kicked down the road as an exercise in how well I can explain a need to the replacement.

Hi Rob - long time no see

As Markus has noted, the primary push is for using git - which is already well supported in VS Code. That would almost certainly have been what you saw Liam demo.  IBM are also supporting BOB (better Object Builder), there's a thread here on Reddit that covers the basics https://www.reddit.com/r/IBMi/comments/1h0ewsv/vs_code_for_i_and_bob_better_object_builder_for/


The core components that Arcasd supplied to Merlin are also available directly in VS Code now. In fact, most of the ISVs in the change management area have either already integrated with git and/or ported their tooling to use the Code for i APIs to integrate VS Code with the IBM i backend components.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the best single source I know of for information on the tooling etc. for Code for i is the Seiden Group page VS Code for IBM i: A Resource Guide - Seiden Group

 You'll find a link there to Edmund's BOB video.

EDIT 2: I also forgot to Mention Richard's iForGit which is a for-fee offering that is designed to simplify the IBM i / git / VS Code pipeline. iForgit - Eliminate Awkwark Git Integration

------------------------------
Jon Paris

Original Message:
Sent: Mon July 14, 2025 12:35 PM
From: Robert Berendt
Subject: What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

------------------------------
Robert Berendt IBMChampion
Business Systems Analyst, Lead
Dekko
Fort Wayne
------------------------------

Robert, 

Two notable further mentions working with VSCode as plugins I came across in my experience: 
https://www.midrangedynamics.com/ 
https://remainsoftware.com/

ARCAD team is great with their support and update, one of their leads is very active as a contributor to the VSCode for i plugin , so that gives me the feeling as a company they wont "rest" on not updating their toolset. 

Though the BOB, Source Orbit & IBM Project Explorer is sufficient for most needs companies that doesn't need the advanced capabilities like deep impact analysis and recompilation of the whole codebase  , plugin that helps with automation of deployments with Jenkins (again the same contributor mentioned above made that open source too) . 
(see : https://github.com/jenkinsci/ibmi-steps-plugin / https://ibm.github.io/vscode-ibmi-projectexplorer/  https://github.com/IBM/sourceorbit/ )

Only thing I would caution to consider for the open source toolsets,  was in one of my clients case was with Audits, the client had to purchase Aldon because of an audit requirement that needed to indicate separation of concerns and responsibilities together with full audit trail during the lifecycle management (of which the likes of ARCAD / PTC / Turnover / ALDON & Remain has extensive features). 

Given the  active contributions of the open source community , these components are really gaining alot more traction in the last year or so. 

HTH

Jon,

Thank you.  I think it was Arcad I saw in Liam's demo.

We're using PTC Implementer now and we're pretty much hearing they'll be ready for IBM i 7.6 when they're darn good and ready and not a second before.  Sad, they used to update annually.  Then it was 3 years in between their last update and that was over a year ago.  We switched from Softlanding's Turnover to Implementer over the former's dragging their feet on release upgrades.

Boss is retiring in several months and they're shopping for a replacement (see Dekko on LinkedIn).  This may get kicked down the road as an exercise in how well I can explain a need to the replacement.

Hi Rob - long time no see

As Markus has noted, the primary push is for using git - which is already well supported in VS Code. That would almost certainly have been what you saw Liam demo.  IBM are also supporting BOB (better Object Builder), there's a thread here on Reddit that covers the basics https://www.reddit.com/r/IBMi/comments/1h0ewsv/vs_code_for_i_and_bob_better_object_builder_for/


The core components that Arcasd supplied to Merlin are also available directly in VS Code now. In fact, most of the ISVs in the change management area have either already integrated with git and/or ported their tooling to use the Code for i APIs to integrate VS Code with the IBM i backend components.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the best single source I know of for information on the tooling etc. for Code for i is the Seiden Group page VS Code for IBM i: A Resource Guide - Seiden Group

 You'll find a link there to Edmund's BOB video.

EDIT 2: I also forgot to Mention Richard's iForGit which is a for-fee offering that is designed to simplify the IBM i / git / VS Code pipeline. iForgit - Eliminate Awkwark Git Integration

------------------------------
Jon Paris

Original Message:
Sent: Mon July 14, 2025 12:35 PM
From: Robert Berendt
Subject: What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

What change management package comes with Visual Studio for IBM i?

------------------------------
Robert Berendt IBMChampion
Business Systems Analyst, Lead
Dekko
Fort Wayne
------------------------------