Las Vegas, NV. CNX introduced the Valence Web Application Framework to an enthusiastic RPG community at the annual RPG World Convention in the Orleans Convention Center. The official announcement of the product was made from the Vendor Expo, where RPG programmers attending the popular show from around the world saw Valence product demonstrations and spoke directly with the Valence development team. CNX partner Richard Milone supplemented the Valence announcement with a special session demonstrating the use of JavaScript with RPG to create Web 2.0 applications. During the well-attended session, Milone explained how System i developers can leverage their business knowledge and RPG skills to create dazzling browser-based applications using JavaScript concepts that have been taking the web community by storm in recent years.
Valence includes the popular ExtJS JavaScript Library, a collection of components that developers can use to create dazzling Web 2.0 front-ends to business logic written in RPG, as well as the Fusion Charts suite for adding animated graphing and dashboard functionality to the browser applications. “The best thing about JavaScript is its ubiquity—there are countless forums and examples available all over the web now to learn from,” Milone said. “So with the tools we provide through Valence to bridge RPG and JavaScript, developers can be up and running quickly, creating fully functional Web 2.0 applications in no time. It totally changes the game for anyone developing applications for the System i.” To assist RPG developers in learning how to interface their programs with JavaScript, CNX has produced a series of instructional videos and sample programs, available for free at www.cnxcorp.com/valence.
The entire Valence package is also available as a free download on a 30-day trial basis. “The best way to see how all this works is to download the Valence package and get your hands dirty—you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can produce rich user interfaces running on your system i,” Milone said. “And as an added bonus, by learning these simple JavaScript procedures you will have added a really valuable skill to your IT resume, taking you way beyond the green screen centric perception many people have regarding RPG programmers.”
To see demonstration videos and download a free trial of Valence, visit www.cnxcorp.com/valence.