Hi folks - I’m looking for some help with a legacy Clarion issue. Here’s the brief version of the back story. I used Clarion many years ago, in fact it was Clarion for DOS (which goes back quite a way as you would all appreciate). Got the WOW factor from me back then. I did have a dabble with Clarion for Win 2.003. I still have both of those products here as I still have every machine and bit of software I have ever purchased. But the path in life took me a different way and I ended up becoming a ColdFusion developer (I am not unhappy about that).
My hobby brings me here. I collect old computer technology mainly from the 70’s and 80’s. My main areas of interest are Radio Shack’s TRS-80’s and black IBM business grade machines (any age will do). Despite that I will give any old computer a home rather than see it become landfill, so I currently have about 100 machines along with about 1,500 books, magazines, and manuals, about 5,000 CDs and about 6,000 floppy disks. I also carry a large range of spares to help out other hobbyists as the need arises. Quite proudly my collection includes two brand new TRS-80’s still in their box as shipped – can’t believe they were headed for landfill until I showed up.
My collection overall is quite eclectic.
In my IBM corner I have two AS/400s. Both the Series 500 and 270 machines are currently the subject of a restoration projects. We are quietly optimistic that we can get them both up and running again and a test power up for the 500 is probably due in October 2026 (I’m sourcing HDDs for it). I say we because I have some excellent help from a guy in Germany who has done this a few times (I’m based in Australia). Of course, people ask me what I’m going to do with it once I get it back up and running. Well, I had this idea that I could use it to catalogue my collection. Of course, I’m sure there are a few more modern products I could use to do this, and I have looked at them but that’s not how this works for me. Doing it on the AS/400 is elegant from a hobbyist’s perspective. Now I do have terminal access to the machine and of course I can develop something on the machine in DB2.
But what occurred to me was that I could develop a nice GUI using Clarion – it is the logical extension to what I do. One of my collector’s rules is whatever I do must be “period correct” so in this case Clarion for Win 2.003 is perfect (the 500 series AS/400 was made in 1996). My understanding is that at some time Topspeed released an AS/400 connector for which there is surprisingly very little information out there about. I know there probably other means to connect but this approach has a certain degree of elegance for me and what I do but I am flexible. So, I was looking to connect with some expertise in these older Clarion technologies and that is what brought me here.
In summary you are looking for help to use CW 2 to connect to your AS/400 ?
I changed the Topic Title to focus on that.
A search gave AI Summary that only mentions ODBC:
Clarion is a 4GL development environment from SoftVelocity, and while it primarily targeted Windows, it has been used to build database applications that interface with IBM AS/400 (now IBM i) systems via ODBC. The AS/400 is a robust, midrange server known for its integrated DB2 database, and legacy Clarion applications may be modernized by interfacing with or migrating from these environments.
Key Aspects of Clarion and AS/400
Clarion (4GL/IDE): A rapid application development tool designed to create database applications, supporting SQL, ODBC, and other data formats.
IBM AS/400 (IBM i): A powerful, secure, and reliable midrange platform often used for ERP, CRM, and SCM systems.
Integration: Clarion applications can act as front-ends to AS/400 systems using ODBC drivers to connect to the DB2 database, or they can be used to re-engineer old green-screen applications.
Modernization: Many businesses are moving away from legacy application architectures (including older Clarion or RPG applications) toward web-based systems on the IBM i platform, often using AWS cloud for batch processing and modernization.
While Clarion is not a native AS/400 language (like RPG or COBOL), its capability to handle complex database routines via ODBC makes it a viable tool for interacting with AS/400 data.
In a quote from the move Taken I’ll say “Good Luck”
I’d write the 1st program using the TPS or CLA file driver. Then work on an EXE to copy the data to an AS/400. Then work on changing my 1st program to use AS/400.
Thank you Carl and others for your excellent help. That’s more than I’ve ever found out on my Googling or ChatGPT. I don’t want to get too far off topic here so apologies to the admins but I do have a means of transferring files to the AS/400. Somewhere along the way I collected an ETU400 card along with software and manual which is deigned for transferring files to the AS/400. It came from the strangest of places, Andrew Antennas. Subject to some more investigation and testing and learning that may solve the transfer bit. I think finding the connector is a long shot but vanilla is my favourite flavour. But the cost of it is eye-watering. Thank you.
Well done Carl on finding that - I had a vague recollection of this but couldn’t find it anywhere online.
yes that would have been aimed at corporations running AS/400 and so would have been priced accordingly.
I have no idea if SoftVelocity would still have access to that somewhere in “the archives”, but if they did then hopefully they might consider a “hobbyist” price for a vintage collection/museum.
PS. you must have a big shed or storage area for all your collection.
Yes, about 200sqm of floor space and the ceiling height is 4.5m so I go up as well - but its not enough sometimes and space managment is a constant “pain”.
Thank you for the suggestion about Soft Velocity. It never occurred to me to write to them - the worst that can happen is they say no.
Ha Ha, if I remember correctly I connected to an AS400 belonging to a company I was doing some work for back in Clarion 3 for DOS days! So if you want true authenticity maybe you should be using Clarion 3 for DOS? <Holy Cow I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy! emoji>
I never went further than connecting to the server using an ODBC driver, but I was very impressed that I could connect . Now, it could be that Clarion for Windows had just been released and I connected using that, which sounds more likely and lets you off the hook.
Either way, I’m pretty sure I just used an ODBC driver to make the connection?
Bear in mind that your cw2003 won’t actually run on the AS/400. That’s just a convenient place to store the data. cw2003 programs will only run on Windows. So you’ll need a Windows box to display / use the program. The AS/400 is just a data store.
Nightmare product! That said I did manage to write a programme that was able to write data to a Unix mini for a Government Department. As soon as CW was released I dropped C3 dos like a hot potato!
