Using UNION for Data Analysis
by Skip Marchesani

To do a quick review of my previous article, UNION is very useful when an SQL statement or query must operate on two or more tables and JOIN cannot be used to produce the desired result set table. For example, if you have multiple history tables--one for each specific time period (year, month, week, etc.), and their record formats are similar and compatible, a union is a good way to query and combine two or more of these tables to derive a single, final result set table using SQL. READ MORE >

Include C Utilities in Your Developer Library: Evaluating a Mathematical String Expression
by Michael Sansoterra

Most i programmers have a library of RPG or COBOL utilities they've written or filched from another source. Having a library of samples and pre-built code is a great productivity booster. However, have you ever considered adding C and C++ code to your library? You don't know C? Big deal. If you have the C compiler loaded on your i, there's an abundance of C and C++ code out there on the internet just waiting for you to discover. Plus, if you're well versed in ILE concepts, you may be further along the C path than you think. READ MORE >