• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • IBM Bolsters Run SQL Scripts In ACS 1.1.9.6

    August 12, 2024 Alex Woodie

    IBM last week shipped a new release of Access Client Solutions (ACS) that contains several user-requested updates for Run SQL Scripts (RSS), the popular tool that allows users to execute SQL statements. ACS 1.1.9.6 also brings enhancements to the data transfer, IFS, and 5250 emulator components of ACS, among others.

    ACS, of course, is the universal Java-based utility that IBM unveiled 12 years ago to replace Client Access. It’s a must-have tool for any IBM i user, as it contains a slew of facilities for interacting with the system, including RSS, data transfer, IFS file viewing, spool file management, 5250 emulator, 5250 printer emulation, and a virtual console for LAN and HMC management.

    RSS has seen a lot of attention from the IBM i community lately, especially as IBM has focused its own internal development efforts on enhancing the IBM i SQL environment and encouraging administrators to shift from using traditional commands to using their modern SQL equivalents. IBM encourages users to play around with SQL in their own environments by providing an abundance of SQL examples, which is where RSS shines.

    IBM delivered several updates to RSS in ACS 1.1.9.6, which it rolled out last Thursday. For starters, users can now modify an existing SQL example in RSS, instead of continuously creating new ones.

    In previous releases, if a user fixed or otherwise improved an existing SQL example, the only option for saving his work was to create new one. What’s more, it wasn’t possible to remove old ones. Now, IBM allows users to update and delete SQL examples.

    Users appreciate all the SQL examples that IBM provides in RSS, but some of them complained that the examples were too simple. IBM responded to the user requests by providing several “Insert from examples,” particularly around MERGE SQL statements.

    RSS also now will automatically reopen a user’s tabs when the user restarts RSS, which was another update requested by users through the IBM Power Ideas Portal.

    The RSS open file dialog box will no longer waste so much space.

    IBM rectified another pressing concern with RSS: the inability to change the size of the “open” dialog box. One user complained that much of the dialog box was “completely unused” and that there’s not enough room to expand columns to handle “real-world file and folder names.”

    What’s more, users have to resize the dialog box every time it’s opened, which is “unacceptable behavior for a modern application,” wrote the user submitting the change request through the IBM Power Ideas Portal. IBM delivered these requested changes, but only for ACS running on Windows.

    Another RSS enhancement that’s been a long time in coming: Allowing users to drag and drop SQL files from the IFS panel to the RSS panel, as opposed to using the standard open dialog box. IBM has supported native drag-and-drop functions to the IFS in other IBM i facilities for some time, but it hasn’t supported it in ACS, until now.

    Want to open a file from the IFS in ACS? Users have been trained to double-click their mouse to open files, but that would simply open the “view” dialog box in ACS, the same as a right-click. IBM changed the behavior with ACS 1.1.9.6, and now users can open a file by double-clicking it.

    The double-click division at IBM must have been busy, because IBM added more double-click capabilities in the Data Transfer component of ACS. Specifically, two presses of the mouse button in rapid succession will now open details of a scan when using the “Create IBM i Database File” to import data.

    IBM also made user-requested enhancements to the 5250 display emulator, which lets users interact with the system through a green screen. The emulator has supported screen captures via the “save screens as images” function, but it didn’t keep track of when the screen was grabbed. That’s been fixed with the addition of a timestamp option in this release.

    Screen grabs are often used as part of internal audits for compliance purposes, as well as for procedural training. IBM provides an archive viewer for this purpose. With this release, IBM added a screen convert (SCRCONV) plugin that allows users to save a file path in order to save the screen captures in a folder.

    IBM also delivered several general enhancements with ACS 1.1.9.6, all of which were requested by users through the IBM Power Ideas Portal. For instance, IBM updated the command line plugin, “cfg,” to enable users to create LAN console connection configurations.

    Two ACS enhancements will make it easier for users to change their passwords. First, IBM adapted the greenscreen plugin for password changes, “pwchange,” to provide a GUI option, which should make password changes easier for casual users with limited access to the system. IBM also made the “description” and “group” columns sortable in the password change panel, which will streamline password changes for users who want to reset their passwords on multiple systems at once.

    IBM also made various other fixes with ACS 1.1.9.6. You can read all about these fixes, as well as the enhancements discussed above, at this link.

    RELATED STORIES

    New Run SQL Scripts Features in ACS Update

    IBM Ships ACS Version 1.1.9.0

    IBM Improves Run SQL Scripts with ACS Update

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags: Tags: 5250, Access Client Solutions, ACS, ACS 1.1.9.6, IBM i, IBM Power Ideas Portal, IFS, LAN, RSS, Run SQL Scripts, SQL

    Sponsored by
    Raz-Lee Security

    iSecurity Anti-Ransomware quickly detects high volume cyber threats deployed from an external source, isolates the threat, and prevents it from damaging valuable data.

    Request your Demo Now!

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 31 Guru: Creating A Web Service With Basic Authentication

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

TFH Volume: 34 Issue: 39

This Issue Sponsored By

  • Fresche Solutions
  • ARCAD Software
  • New Generation Software
  • Raz-Lee Security
  • WorksRight Software

Table of Contents

  • Some Thoughts On Big Blue’s GenAI Strategy For IBM i
  • Untangling Legacy Spaghetti Code To Cook Up Microservices
  • Guru: Creating A Web Service With Basic Authentication
  • IBM Bolsters Run SQL Scripts In ACS 1.1.9.6
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 31

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • POWERUp 2025 –Your Source For IBM i 7.6 Information
  • Maxava Consulting Services Does More Than HA/DR Project Management – A Lot More
  • Guru: Creating An SQL Stored Procedure That Returns A Result Set
  • As I See It: At Any Cost
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 19
  • IBM Unveils Manzan, A New Open Source Event Monitor For IBM i
  • Say Goodbye To Downtime: Update Your Database Without Taking Your Business Offline
  • i-Rays Brings Observability To IBM i Performance Problems
  • Another Non-TR “Technology Refresh” Happens With IBM i TR6
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 18

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle