Exercise 2.3: Viewing and accessing objects in the Remote System Explorer perspective

Before you begin, you must complete Exercise 2.2: Connecting to an iSeries system.

Now you are ready to view and access objects in your library RSELABXX.

To view and access an object:

  1. Expand library RSELABXX.

    You will see all objects in this library appear in the Remote Systems view. For each object you can right-click and select from a number of actions. The list of actions depends on the object selected and whether you selected one or multiple objects. For example, for a source file the pop-up menu has an action to create a new member within the selected file.

  2. Drill-down through the files in the Remote Systems view until you find QDDSSRC source file and then expand it.
  3. Scroll down through the files in the Remote Systems view until you find QRPGLESRC source file and expand it as well.
    Remote Systems view with expanded source files

    Now you can see and access the members in these two source files. For each member you can right-click and select from a number of actions. The exact list of actions depends on whether the member is a data file or source file and whether you select one or multiple members. For a RPG source member, the pop-up menu actions include:

    Before you go ahead and work with these members, let's see the members in the iSeries Table view as well because that is similar to the view you are used to from PDM. You use this view to display a list of items, for example, members or objects, in a table format similar to PDM. You can also perform actions against these items such as editing and compiling.

  4. Right-click the QDDSSRC file and then click Show in Table on the pop-up menu.
    Select Show in table for QDDSSRC file

    The iSeries Table view takes the selected object in the Remote Systems view as input, and displays the contents in the table. For source physical files, this step displays the members inside, their names, types, attributes, text descriptions, and status.
    Table view with lock/unlock button

    The top of the iSeries Table view contains a lock icon Lock/Unlock buttonthat controls the correlation between the Remote Systems view and the iSeries Table view. If the lock is disabled then whenever you click an object or library in the Remote Systems view, the associated contents of that item automatically populate the iSeries Table view. If the lock is enabled then when you click on various items in the Remote Systems view, this view does not change the content of the iSeries Table view. To enable or disable the lock, you can click it once to change its state. You can click on the columns heading to sort the view by column.

  5. In the iSeries Table view toolbar make sure the lock/unlock button Lock/Unlock buttonis in the unlock position. Leave the mouse pointer over the tool button for a second or two to display the flyover help. That way you can check if the view is locked or unlocked.

    This means now the table will automatically be updated when a different object is selected in the Remote Systems view. This is a shortcut to open the pop-up menu for an object in the Remote Systems view and to select Show in Table.

    You can also modify which specific columns you want to see in the iSeries Table view.

  6. To modify the iSeries Table properties:
    1. Click Window > Preferences from the workbench menu.

      The Preferences Window opens.
      iSeries Table Properties

    2. In the left pane of the Preferences window, expand Remote Systems.
    3. Expand iSeries under Remote Systems.
    4. Click Table View under iSeries.
    5. In the right pane of the Preferences window, select Last modified in the Available columns list.
    6. Click the Add button.
    7. Click OK.

      Now, let's update the iSeries Table view.

    8. Click the down arrow on the iSeries Table view title bar.
      Show customized columns in iSeries Table View
    9. Click Show columns > Customized in the pop-up menu.

      Now you'll see the extra column that you've added.
      Last modified column added

      You can also sort the objects in the iSeries Table view by column.

    10. To sort the objects in ascending order by Last modified, click on the heading.
      Sort columns by date
    11. If you click the heading the second time, it will sort it in descending order.
  7. In the Remote Systems view, select QRPGLESRC.

    The table shows the members in QRPGLESRC.
    iSeries Table view for QRPGLESRC

    Now you are ready to use the Remote Systems LPEX Editor to edit the member MSTDSP found in QDDSSRC.

  8. From the Remote Systems view double-click member MSTDSP in the QDDSSRC source file.

    You can do this in the Remote Systems view or in the iSeries Table view.

    The Remote Systems LPEX Editor opens. It is built right into the workbench, with rich editing functions and is iSeries aware! It is a superset of SEU! The syntax checker is ported from SEU, and the reference manuals are built-in and F1 cursor sensitive.

  9. Double-click the MSTDSP tab to maximize the Editor window.
  10. Double-click the MSTDSP tab again to return the view to its original size.
    Editor in Workbench context

You have viewed and accessed objects in your library and now you are ready to begin Exercise 2.4: Opening a second source member.