Touchtone Makes DB2/400 Tool an Eclipse Plug-In

Published: February 19, 2008

by Alex Woodie

System i developers can now utilize Touchtone's database application maintenance tool, called QuestView, from the comfort of their IBM-sanctioned, Eclipse-based development tool, whether it's Rational Developer for System i (RDi) or WebSphere Development Studio Client (WDSc), the company announced last week.

QuestView is a programming utility that provides fast access to DB2/400 for the purpose of maintaining or debugging existing applications, quickly creating new interactive inquiry applications, or similar such activities. Traditionally accessed from a 5250 interface, the product provides single or multiple- record viewing, search and replace, undelete, JD Edwards data dictionary support, support for Unicode, hex format manipulation, and date/time and variable length field handling.

With QuestView version 9.0, Touchtone has introduced an optional graphical interface for the tool. The interface, which is delivered as a plug-in for the Eclipse development framework, allows any WDSc or RDMi user to access the features of QuestView while working on an i5/OS database application.

In several areas, the usability and functionality of QuestView is greatly enhanced in QuestView for Rational Developer, as the new graphical version is called. For example, users can access several systems or multiple database files at the same time within the same IDE session. Similarly, version 9.0 allows different "'views"' of the database, which is are helpful for analyzing relationships or setting up a query, the company says.

However, some features won't be available in the graphical version, and instead will only be accessible from the classic edition of QuestView. For example, users won't be able to retrieve meta-data for flat files from IDDU or RPG applications. Users also cannot add user-defined fields to a view of a file. They also can't access multi-format logical files, or any files containing BLOB and CLOB fields.

But most of the features in the two products are the same. For a full list of current and planned features in the two products, visit www.questview.com/features.htm.

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