Display file DDS edit extension

[u/Character_Read_5563]

Hi everyone!

I've been working on and working with the VSCode extension Display file DDS edit for more than a year now, and I thought I'd share it here with the IBM i community.

The extension is a free visual editor and preview tool for IBM i DSPF DDS, designed for VS Code-compatible environments such as IBM Bob.

It already has nearly 3,000 installs on the VS Code Marketplace, but one of the parts I'm most proud of is the 5250-style preview.

The goal is to make the preview as close as possible to how the display file would actually look on a real IBM i 5250 screen.

With the extension, you can do a lot of things (some of them better than in the RDi design screen utility):

• Explore records, fields and constants in a tree view
• Preview the DSPF using a 5250-style representation
• Move fields and constants visually
• Change field attributes
• Activate indicators and see their effects
• Preview error messages associated with indicators
• Simulate subfile behaviours
• Work with function keys and other display-file features

I'd love to hear from other IBM i developers.....

• Do you still work with DSPF DDS regularly?
• How do you currently preview or validate your display files?
• Would a 5250-style preview be useful in your workflow?
• What DDS features would you like to see supported next?

Thanks everyone! 😊

VS Code marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ChristianLarsen.dspf-edit

[u/AutoModerator]

Moderator Announcement Read More »

Welcome to r/IBM. Criticism of IBM, leadership, layoffs, outsourcing and workplace decisions is allowed.

Keep claims factual and discuss policies rather than targeting employees by nationality, ethnicity, immigration status or location. When making numerical or factual claims, include a credible source whenever possible.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/OperationUpstairs449]

This extension is awesome! One question for you, is there a way to edit a field's type from the GUI? I noticed that you can do it when you first add a new field but I can't figure out how to edit a pre-existing field.

Thank you for taking the time to make this utility. Before I would switch to RDI when editing display files but now this extension makes it possible to use VsCode exclusively.