IBM Enhances iSeries Access Family with Lots of Goodies

June 23, 2004 Joe Hertvik

IBM‘s iSeries Access Family (5722-XW1), which has had scores of name changes and expansions throughout the years, is one of IBM’s oldest and most widely used licensed products. It contains features that allow users to access OS/400 data and resources from a wide variety of platforms.

Even though IBM packages iSeries Access as a single licensed product, it’s more accurate to think of it as a complete product line that contains the following individual packages to answer OS/400 and i5/OS remote access needs.

iSeries Access for Windows is IBM’s Windows-based client solution for iSeries and i5 access. It includes

Printing Barcodes Without an IPDS Printer

June 23, 2004 Hey, Mike

I’ve been given a challenge and don’t know where to start. I’ve been asked to add a “code 3 of 9” barcode to a picking list, which is an SCS report. The only way they’ve ever produced barcodes is with an IPDS printer. They want the iSeries to print to a laser printer instead, since laser printers are cheaper than IPDS printers. They also would prefer not to embed printer control codes in RPG output. Is this doable?

–Thad

It is possible (and easy!) to print barcodes on a laser printer if the printer file is externally described.

First, use

Updating Through an SQL Cursor

June 23, 2004 Hey, Ted

Thanks for the many SQL tips you and others provide in Four Hundred Guru. The more I learn about SQL, the more I like it. Maybe you can explain something I have yet to figure out. I have learned how to change a set of records in one fell swoop with the UPDATE command. What I have not learned how to do is to update a single record that was read through a cursor.

–Matt

SQL provides a special phrase, CURRENT OF, which you place in the WHERE clause. The words CURRENT OF, followed by the cursor name, refer

Admin Alert: Changing the Limits on OS/400 Job Spool Files

June 23, 2004 Joe Hertvik

Recent versions of OS/400 let you set the number of spool files that a job can generate. While some administrators might view this feature as a blessing, others may think that it doesn’t do enough to stop runaway jobs. OS/400’s ability to limit a job’s spool files is an interesting but limited capability that is important to understand.

With V5R1 and higher versions of OS/400, IBM provides a global system value called Maximum Spool Files Per Job (QMAXSPLF), which controls how many spool files any OS/400 job can generate before it stops producing printouts and displays error message CPF4167: “Job