• Admin Alert: When Was The Last Time That Library Got Backed Up And More

  February 6, 2013 Joe Hertvik

  This week, I’ll cover some new information about IBM i library backups, tell you how to specify which TCP/IP servers start whenever TCP/IP is started, and demonstrate a second technique for preventing unauthorized FTP access to your server. Let’s get started. Determining The Last Time A User Library Was Backed Up Checking the last time a user library was backed up is easy. You can check it from the green-screen by running the following Display Library Backup List (DSPBCKUP) command. DSPBCKUPL BCKUPL(*LIB) This command will display a screen that looks something like this. (Click graphic to enlarge.) This

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• Don’t Clone That Printer File!

  February 6, 2013 Hey, Ted

  I have a program that uses an externally described printer file to create a report. I need to change the program so that it writes some information to one spooled file and the remaining information to a separate spooled file. I could clone the printer file, but that would mean I’d have to change two files instead of one when I modify the report file in the future. Do I have to clone the printer file? –Mark No, Mark, you can build two or more reports from one printer file definition. Here’s how it’s done. Let’s start with a printer

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• What’s That Name, Again?

  February 6, 2013 Paul Tuohy

  One of the great things about writing articles and tips is that people will drop you a note to ask a question or tell you how much they liked (or disliked) what you wrote. But even better is when someone drops you a line to let you know they have taken what you wrote and extended it. Such was the case with my last tip, What’s That Name?, which described how to go about getting a “record layout” in Run SQL Scripts. I received an email from Lynne Noll, who said she had just written 128 stored procedures, and

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• Stopping Unauthorized Users From FTPing To Your IBM i

  January 23, 2013 Hey, Joe

  My programmers keep setting up automatic FTP downloads from the network using the wrong user profile. For security reasons, they are only supposed to use a special FTP download user profile, but they keep using their own profiles and I have no way to stop this. How can I lock down FTP so that they can only use an authorized user FTP profile for their client FTP sessions? –Bob You can easily use an FTP exit point to prevent unauthorized users from starting an FTP session on your IBM i partition. An IBM i exit point is a specific point

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• Easily Create Help Text For Commands

  January 23, 2013 Ted Holt

  Extending IBM i by writing one’s own commands is empowering and gratifying, but a command without help text is like scrambled eggs without salsa. Fortunately, generating help text for a command is easy, thanks to a technique I learned from a very talented programmer named Chris Wages. Let me show you how it’s done. First, you must have a command, of course. Here’s the source code for command DOIT. CMD PROMPT('Do it') PARM KWD(HOW) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(7) RSTD(*YES) + DFT(*WELL) + VALUES(*WELL *BETTER *BEST) + EXPR(*YES) + PROMPT('How should I do it?') PARM KWD(WHEN) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(8) RSTD(*YES) + DFT(*MORNING) + VALUES(*MORNING

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• Dealing With Library Lists In RSE/RDP

  January 23, 2013 Susan Gantner

  I’m happy to say that I’m hearing from more and more people who are beginning to finally break away from SEU to use Remote Systems Explorer (RSE) in Rational Developer for Power Systems (RDP). Perhaps the fact that IBM finally stopped updating SEU for new language features as of V7.1 has caused more shops to consider the move. I heard from one newbie RSE user the other day with fairly common issue; he wanted to know how to deal with library lists in the RSE environment? In his case, he has a few different library lists due to various packages

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• What’s New With CPYFRMIMPF And CPYTOIMPF?

  January 9, 2013 Michael Sansoterra

  As my years as a developer whiz by, I often find myself ignorant of the newest features available. For example, I’ve used the Copy From Import File (CPYFRMIMPF) and Copy To Import File (CPYTOIMPF) commands so often that I just became (as my old boss used to say) “fat, dumb, and happy” when using them, not realizing IBM has added new features since the time I first studied these commands. I’ll briefly share a few of the relatively recent enhancements to these commands. First of all, in i7.1 Technology Refresh 5 (TR5), CPYTOIMPF has been enhanced with a new parameter

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• Admin Alert: Four Things To Do For Your IBM i In 2013

  January 9, 2013 Joe Hertvik

  A new year always brings new challenges in administering your IBM i machines. Here are the top four things on my 2013 calendar that IBM i shops should look at in 2013, starting this month. #1: Check Your Job Scheduling Date Objects In January If you haven’t already done so, look at any date-dependent job processing objects on your system and change them to ensure that they will still work correctly in 2013. These objects might include: Any data areas that affect date processing. Files that need to go through yearly purge routines. Any RUN and OMIT date objects that

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• Tracing Routines Explain Why The Computer Did What It Did

  January 9, 2013 Ted Holt

  Note: The code accompanying this article is available for download here. Every week someone asks me why the computer did what it did. For instance, not long ago a buyer asked me why the computer did not send our requirements for a certain item to the vendor who supplies the item. I started digging through the program that generates the files we send to vendors. Then I realized there was a better way. Let me tell you about it. In many shops, business rules are embedded in source code. Sometimes rules are hard-coded. I’ve seen code that directly referred

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