Timothy Prickett Morgan
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Big Blue To Bring Live Migration To IBM i 7.1
February 13, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan
… Read moreWhile talking about the sunsetting of support for the i5/OS V5R4, also known as IBM i 5.4, operating system last week, which you can read about elsewhere in this issue of The Four Hundred, Ian Jarman, manager of Power Systems software at IBM, said that Big Blue was going to deliver something for IBM i that all virtualized operating systems in the 21st century need: live migration of virtual machines or logical partitions from one physical server to another.
Jarman was talking about how well-received the Technology Refresh process was for updating the IBM i 7.1 operating system,
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Admin Alert: QSECOFR Security Problems I Have Known
February 8, 2012 Joe Hertvik
… Read moreHandling the QSECOFR user profile is always problematic. On one hand, it’s essential for the smooth operation of your system. Conversely, it can be a major issue if someone discovers its password. This week, I’ll review some real-life QSECOFR security breaches I’ve encountered and what can be done if you encounter these situations in your shop.
Real-Life QSECOFR Security Situations
A lot of strange things can occur with QSECOFR usage. Here are some common situations I’ve run into over the years and what can be done, if you encounter them.
1. Situation: Your IBM i administrator doesn’t change the QSECOFR
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Using JSON and RPG To Create Interactive Web 2.0 Applications
February 8, 2012 Alex Roytman
… Read moreNote: The code accompanying this article is available for download here.
In my last article, Meet JSON, I introduced you to the concept of JavaScript Object Notation and how it’s changing the way Web applications are being built. Let’s explore JSON syntax a little further by building a really simple customer inquiry Web application. The code can be downloaded here.
This application consists of three simple parts:
- CustInq.html–Simple HTML page to ask for customer number and present customer information
- CUSTINQ.rpgle–RPG/CGI program to output customer information in JSON format
- CustInq.js–JavaScript code to facilitate the communication between the RPG
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bsearch: A Better %LOOKUP
February 8, 2012 Jon Paris
… Read moreNote: The code accompanying this article is available for download here.
In qsort: A Better SORTA, I described the use of the qsort API. This time, we’ll be looking at its companion API–bsearch–which, as its name suggests, is used to perform searches.
Recent changes in array support in RPG, including V6.1’s abilities to define large arrays, means that I use bsearch less frequently than I used to. Nevertheless, the fact that I write the code that controls the matching still makes it useful. For example, I can code bsearch to search for a partial string, which is something
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Flex Platform: An IBM System That Goes With The Tech Flow
February 7, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan
… Read moreIBM had the right idea back in April 1964 when it announced the System/360 mainframe, and it even had a name that reflected its understanding of what customers wanted. The idea was that a single line of machines, using different processor and storage technologies, would be united by levels of abstraction that would allow them to all run the same applications, but just on a different scale and with different price points.
It is a lesson that IBM quickly forgot when it bifurcated its market in 1969 with the advent of the System/3 minicomputer, and I still believe that IBM
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Does Your IBM i OS Matter? I Think So
February 6, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan
… Read moreHere at The Four Hundred, we search far and wide and look high and low for things that matter to your Power Systems-IBM i shop. We may wander off on a tangent or two here and there as we think about the IT market (especially in the As I See It and Mad Dog 21/21 columns, which have this wandering as their purpose), but we take pride in the fact that we always bring it on home.
I don’t mean to pick. Really I don’t. But it really bothers me when IBM completely forgets about the IBM i operating
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Big Blue Slashes DB2 Web Query Prices–Again
February 6, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan
… Read moreIt sure does look like IBM wants you to stop using Query/400 or any one of a number of third-party query tools that run in conjunction with the DB2 for i relational database at the heart of the IBM i operating system.
For the second time in just a little over two years, Big Blue has taken the mighty red pen for cost-cutting and chopped it in half with a katana and then use the sword on prices for selected features in the DB2 Web Query software development kit.
Back in October 2010, IBM sliced selected DB2 Web Query
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IBM Offers Zero Percent Financing On Power Systems, Storage
February 6, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan
… Read moreIt’s a new year and a new first quarter and a new and somewhat challenging economy in North America, and therefore IBM is offering financing deals in the United States and Canada.
Last week, Big Blue rolled out a zero percent financing program called Fast Start Financing that, as the name suggests and as the company has done many times in the past, offers cheap financing to customers. In this case, the deal is available for customers looking to acquire Power Systems servers (running any of the operating systems supported, including IBM i, AIX, and Linux) and on various storage
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More Reader Feedback On Control Your Code, And HMC Stay Of Execution
February 6, 2012 Hey, TPM
… Read moreDon’t forget to mention COBOL programmers on the iSeries still writing green screens!
I always hear about the RPGers, but what about us COBOLers? Are there more out there? If you hear of anyone looking for a COBOL programmer, I’ve got 33 years experience in IT. I have about six years of experience writing RPG in the 1990s, too, but prefer COBOL. Been on the iSeries (AS/400) since it was introduced back in the 1980s. Glad to hear green screen is still alive and well elsewhere!
–Mary
Ah, Mary. I shoulda known better. Mea culpa.
–TPM
I always read
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The Business Analytics Software Biz Is Booming
January 30, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan
… Read moreWherever the IT money is being spent, market researchers like IDC and Gartner have to be there to dice and slice who gets what money and in turn make money on that data. That’s why IDC has just launched a semi-annual tracking service for the data analytics market, and it would not be surprising for it to eventually go quarterly like IDC and Gartner have for servers, storage, PCs, and other IT expenses.
IDC’s prognosticators reckon that this year the market for business analytics software will grow by 8.9 percent, to $33.9 billion. Of the 12 sub-sectors in the business