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MDOpen RDi-Eclipse Installation

These instructions provide the customer with the necessary information to install and configure the MDOpen Eclipse based plug-in product from Midrange Dynamics.

General Information

General MDOpen Client Information

MDOpen consists of a java plug-in for use within an Eclipse-based IDE such as Eclipse, MyEclipse, Rational Developer for i or Zend Studio.
The plug-in provides an Eclipse Perspective named MDCMS. Within the MDCMS Perspective, MDCMS functions are provided within specific views for each function.
Additionally, the MDOpen plug-in provides Context Menu options from within other Eclipse Perspectives for the seamless management of objects by MDCMS from the programmer's preferred development perspective, Git perspective, SVN perspective or X-Analysis.
MDOpen provides nearly every developer function that is available within the MDCMS emulator client. Additionally, MDOpen is required when managing non-native objects and is much more convenient when managing IFS objects.

General MDOpen Server Information

MDOpen connects to MDCMS database libraries that reside on 1 or more IBMi partitions. All MDCMS information is retrieved from, and stored to, these libraries, so that all MDCMS interfaces (MDOpen, MDWorkflow or emulator) use the same database.

When a connection is established with an IBM i partition, a job is submitted under the user profile in the connection definition to the job queue defined within the MD Job Settings (option 12 from the MDCMS Setup Menu) for property MDOpen/MDWorkflow Job Queue.

The default CCSID of the job is defined in the system settings (option 11 from the MDCMS Setup Menu). This can be overridden for a specific user in the MDSEC user definition. If issues are encountered with source editing or compiling due to incorrect characters, it is likely because of the CCSID value. In which case, change it to the value used for the interactive jobs of your developers.

The name of the job will be MDRPnnnnnn. The name and CCSID of a specific connection is visible in the Repository Location parameters from within the MDCMS eclipse perspective.

Installation and Configuration of MDOpen

Prerequisites

  • Java JDK 7 or newer (with Java EE)
  • Eclipse based IDE. If using Rational Developer for i, the minimum version is 9.0.
  • 1 or more IBMi systems with MDCMS installed
  • A valid MDOpen License Key for each IBMi system. If you are unsure of your License Key status you will need to check with your systems administrator or the person who installed and licensed the MDCMS product.
  • MDCMS must be on at least version 7.2 to use MDOpen. It is recommended to be on at least version 8.0.

Installing a Specific Version of MDOpen for the First Time

The MDOpen version major release must match the version release of MDCMS, for example MDOpen 8.2 must equal MDCMS 8.2. Check the downloads page for compatibility in case a point release of MDCMS requires a different release of MDOpen. For example MDCMS 8.2.5-8.2.6 requires MDOpen 8.2.5 instead of MDOpen 8.2.

Each version of MDOpen that has different compatibility rules for MDCMS will have its own update site to avoid a mismatch.

MDOpen Versions

In the URL's provided in the update/download tables below, please replace 8.6 with whichever version you are downloading for. e.g. 8.2

Installing from the Cloud

MDOpen Update Server Regions

Region Server Location
 Americas http://mdopen.midrangedynamics.com/update/8.6
Europe http://europe.midrangedynamics.com/update/8.6

Take the following steps within Eclipse:

  1. Within Eclipse, navigate to Help->Install New Software... and click the Add... button
  2. Enter value for Name, such as MDOpen 8.6
  3. Copy preferred site address from the table above, and paste into the Location field, replacing http://
  4. Click the OK button
  5. If the URL is not already displayed in the Work with drop down list, select it from the list
  6. Select MDOpen and click Next
  7. Click Next from the Review list
  8. Accept the terms of the license agreement and click Finish. Eclipse then downloads the newest package
  9. Typically, a Security Warning will be displayed indicating that the software contains unsigned content. Click OK to continue the update.
  10. Restart Eclipse

Installing from a Zip File

MDOpen Zip Download Locations

Region Download
Americas download
Europe download

Take the following steps within Eclipse:

  1. Download the zip file from the table above
  2. Within Eclipse, navigate to Help->Install New Software... and click the Add... button
  3. Enter value for Name, such as MDOpen 8.5
  4. Click the Archive... button and select the downloaded file
  5. Click the OK button
  6. If the File is not already displayed in the Work with drop down list, select it from the list
  7. Select MdOpen and click Next
  8. Click Next from the Review list
  9. Accept the terms of the license agreement and click Finish.Eclipse then downloads the newest package
  10. Probably, a Security Warning will be displayed indicating that the software contains unsigned content. Click OK to continue the update.
  11. Restart Eclipse

Updating an Installed Version of MDOpen

MDOpen may be updated in order to correct problems or add additional features. To check for and update MDOpen to a newer build of the same MDCMS version/release, take the following steps within Eclipse:

  1. If the MDOpen software site was installed from a zip file, a newer version of the zip file must replace the existing zip file, or the location of the zip file must be changed to point to the new zip file.
  2. If the new cloud version of MDOpen requires pulling the package from a different update site, select Menu option Window->Preferences->Install/Update->Available Software Sites and edit the MDOpen Site to point to the site for the new version.
  3. Select Menu option Help/Check for Updates
  4. If MdOpen is listed, ensure it is selected and click Next
  5. Click Next from the Review list
  6. Accept the terms of the license agreement and click Finish. Eclipse then downloads the newest package
  7. Probably, a Security Warning will be displayed indicating that the software contains unsigned content. Click OK to continue the update.
  8. Restart Eclipse
  9. If not already open, open the MDCMS Perspective (Window => Open Perspective => Other => MDCMS)
  10. Reset the MDCMS Perspective by Right-Clicking on the MDCMS Perspective button in the upper-right corner of the IDE and selecting option Reset

Uninstall MDOpen

If MDOpen is no longer necessary, it can be uninstalled within Eclipse using the following steps:

  1. Close the MDCMS Perspective by Right-Clicking on the MDCMS Perspective button in the upper-right corner of the IDE and selecting option Close
  2. Select Menu option Help/About Eclipse
  3. Click Installation Details
  4. Left-Click MdOpen. If MdOpen is not in the list, then it may be a version older than 7.2. In this case, manually delete the jar file from the plugins or dropins folders.
  5. Click Uninstall…
  6. Click Finish

The Configuration Steps

  1. Start Eclipse based product
  2. If not already open, open the MDCMS Perspective (Window => Open Perspective => Other => MDCMS)
  3. If not already shown, show the view MdRepositoryView (Window => Show View => Other => Mdcms Main Views => MdRepositoryView)
  4. Position cursor within the MdRepositoryView and right-click to select option New Repository Location. One (1) Repository Location is required per managed IBMi partition.

Repository Configuration Properties

Property Description
Host the IBM i host name that is used to connect to that system. If using MDOpen from within Rational Developer for i, it is highly recommended that the Host value matches the connection value in RSE for the partition, so that seamless use of LPEX editors, etc. function correct
Username (required) a valid user profile on the IBM i
Password (required) the password for the profile
Port the JTOpen Signon Port – defaults to 8476
Nickname a name to help you identify this repository connection when multiple connections are present
Environment the MDCMS instance ID. Blank indicates the default instance without a suffix for the libraries
Proxy server the host name of the proxy server, if required to connect to the IBM i
Proxy server port the port on the proxy server
ASP Group The ASP device name that MDCMS is installed in. Leave blank if installed to the base system.
Default repository 1 Repository may be designated as the default connection when checking out remote objects from other perspectives/views
Connect on startup When true, MDOpen will attempt to automatically connect to the repository when the perspective is started.
Connect to X-Analysis When true, and if the X-Analysis plugin is also installed, then this repository will automatically connect to the X-Analysis APIs to provide additional cross-referencing information from within the MDCMS perspective.
IBM i Job Name when a connection is successful, the corresponding job name on the IBM i will be displayed here