In my mind, you can’t beat our database. It’s not only integrated into the operating system, it’s also incredibly flexible. You can use SQL to create and access data just like databases on other systems but you can also use the native DDS, RPG, COBOL and other languages with the same data. No other database out there–not even other members of the DB2 family–has that kind of flexibility. It is currently known as DB2 for i, but I think most of us just think of it as “the database,” which is appropriate because, unlike just about every other system

I had an unusual experience recently and thought other readers of Four Hundred Guru might also find it of interest. A physical file had no active records and three deleted records. We were trouble-shooting a problem and needed to know what data was in the three deleted records. We have two third-party products that are supposed to retrieve deleted records, but they failed us. Here’s what we did.

First, we saved the file to a save file that we keep on hand.

SAVOBJ OBJ(IBLOCK) LIB($$DATA)
   DEV(*SAVF) OBJTYPE(*FILE) SAVF(MYLIB/MYSAVF)

Next, we ran Display File Description to find the save file’s record

On February 1, 2010, some i/OS V5R3Mx, V5R4Mx, and V6R1Mx systems lost their ability to call IBM service. On that date, IBM changed some of the Host Names and IP Addresses that i/OS systems use to automatically call service via ECS and ESA. As a result, many iSeries, System i, and Power i systems can no longer automatically contact service unless certain PTFs are installed. Was your system affected?

What Happened?

I discovered this change too late to publicize it before February 1. But better late than never, and this article tells you how to detect if your partitions have