PTC Completes Database Support In Implementer
September 11, 2019 Alex Woodie
As a change management tool, PTC’s Implementer is well-regarded among IBM i users for its ability to track development tasks and smooth out the promotion process. While the product has mostly been used to track source code in programming languages like RPG and Java, customers have increasingly been putting business logic into Db2 for i. With the recent launch of Implementer 12.3, PTC has wrapped up planned enhancements for the database.
PTC‘s Implementer provides a full range of capabilities for managing development processes for IBM i shops. The software works closely with IBM‘s Rational Developer for i (RDi) to provide a single point of control for versioning, code promoting, and task assignments, without requiring the developer to ever leave RDi. It also has been adapted to work with popular ERP systems like Oracle‘s JD Edwards World and Infor‘s ERP LX packages, as well as LANSA and CA 2E development environments.
The first phase of PTC’s renewed database support in Implementer started with last year’s launch of Implementer 12.2. That release added support for physical file and database triggers. (The product already kept track of stored procedures and built-in functions, or BIFs.)
In version 12.3, which debuted in April, the company added support for managing database constraints at an object level. That will help customers better manage their development efforts, says Dawn Blohm, PTC’s technical support manager for Implementer.
“I would say one of the biggest things in 12.3 is we finalized Implementer’s handling of object attributes, with triggers and constraints,” Blohm said at COMMON‘s POWERUp conference held in May. “That’s both on physical files, logical files, and also SQL.”
When being used with traditional DDS files, Implementer can manage database constraints at an object level. For physical files and non-source tables, constraints can be defined as user-defined attributes, the company says.
Constraints are also supported when used with SQL databases. In release notes for version 12.3, the company says: “During promotions, any constraints defined within the source member will be defined on the target object and any constraints on the target object that are not defined within the source member will be removed.”
The database updates get the headlines, but there are several other enhancements of note, including faster communication between a local hosts and remote servers. Blohm says the company has worked to ensure that job logs are returned from the remote server much quicker than in the past.
“We’ve also obfuscated sensitive information in the Implementer server job log,” she says. Previously, the password for the user profile that the Implementer server job log ran under was stored in plain text, which would constitute a security threat.
Lastly, the company has cleaned up how it handles SQL views and materialized query files (MQTs). Implementer will now use a new IBM parse statement function to determine dependent files when processing SQL views and MQTs.
Implementer version 12.3 is available now. The software supports IBM i 7.4 and previous releases of the operating system. For more info, go to www.ptc.com.
RELATED STORIES
PTC Refines Handling Of IBM i Database Logic
