• Encapsulating File Access in a Service Program

  July 21, 2004 Joel Cochran

  The code for this article is available for download.

  

  Encapsulation is a familiar concept to object-oriented programmers but has yet to be seriously embraced by RPG programmers. The idea is to place all access for a particular set of data, in this case from a physical file, to one object. Then only one object can directly access and manipulate a database file. While this is standard fare for OO languages, it is hardly the norm for RPG. In this article I demonstrate a method that simulates encapsulation by using our trusty friend the service program.

  WHY ENCAPSULATION IS COOL

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• Adding New Parameters to RPG Programs

  July 21, 2004 Hey, Ted

  We have an RPG IV program that accepts one parameter. We need to add two more parameters. Our problem is that this program is called from several menus and many programs. Unless you have some trick up your sleeve, adding the new parameters will involve a lot of work outside of regular hours. Can you help?

  

  –Bo

  This is not a difficult situation to handle, Bo. There’s no trick to it, and this is a fundamental technique that everybody should know.

  As long as you do not reference a parameter that is not passed to the program, the RPG program

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• Admin Alert: Four Cool Things You Can Do with PC5250

  July 21, 2004 Joe Hertvik

  As I have mentioned before, the PC5250 program that comes with iSeries Access for Windows is a mature product that IBM has packed a ton of features into over the years. This week’s “Admin Alert” takes a look at four under-used PC5250 features in iSeries Access for Windows V5R2M0 to see how they can help OS/400 users.

  

  HIDING A PC5250 SESSION FROM WINDOWS

  If you have multiple PC5250 sessions running on your PC, PC5250 has a function that lets you hide a session from your Windows desktop or reveal a hidden session. To hide a session inside PC5250, select Window

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• More V5R3 SQL Enhancements

  July 14, 2004 Michael Sansoterra

  My last article briefly covered the new Binary and Varbinary data types, some new scalar functions, and the sequence object that is new to the iSeries implementation of DB2. The good news is there are more SQL enhancements to cover!

  

  DISCLAIMER

  Once again, since I don’t yet have access to a machine with V5R3, this information was gleaned from the new V5R3 manuals and may be subject to revision! I’d love to hear from someone who has a beta of V5R3 who can offer more insight on these features.

  NAMED COLUMN JOIN

  A new shorthand join syntax called a “named

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• Using Member Filters in Remote Systems Explorer

  July 14, 2004 Hey, Ted

  Thanks for publishing my filtering tip in Four Hundred Guru. I hope it helps people who are learning to use the LPEX editor. WebSphere Development Studio client’s Remote Systems view includes yet more filtering capabilities that put PDM to shame.

  

  You can press F17 from one of the WRKxxxPDM screens to get a panel that allows you to subset the list of libraries, objects, or members. You can key a simple name or a generic name, with a leading asterisk, a trailing asterisk, or both, to restrict the list of names. RSE includes a similar option, with

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• Admin Alert: Decommissioning Group Profiles

  July 14, 2004 Joe Hertvik

  Group profiles are a great feature in any operating system, especially OS/400. By creating a group profile, you can authorize one user profile to a number of programs or files and then have other users “inherit” those authorizations by assigning them as members of that group profile. Group profiles centralize security by limiting access to the lowest possible number of users (one), while retaining the flexibility to have any number of users access those security settings.

  

  But there are times when a group profile can outlive its usefulness, such as when you want to retain a group profile’s capabilities as

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• V5R3 SQL Enhancements

  June 30, 2004 Michael Sansoterra

  Like a kid at Christmas, with every release of OS/400 (now i5/OS), I’m always eager to find out what enhancements IBM has made to SQL. Once again, IBM has been very good to SQL programmers with this latest release. Here is a review of many of the latest enhancements to SQL.

  

  DISCLAIMER

  Since I don’t yet have access to a machine with V5R3, this information was gleaned from the new V5R3 manuals and may be subject to revision if I interpreted something incorrectly! Where possible, I tried to validate the syntax of the material by testing some of these features

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• Secure Spool File Management

  June 30, 2004 Hey, Wayne O.

  I want to allow a user to view spool files that were created by other users. Is there a way to allow this access without giving the user *SPLCTL or *JOBCTL special authority? I am trying to implement your recommendation that users should have no command line access or special authority.

  

  –Jeannette

  I get this request very often. Most installations take the easy way out and give users *JOBCTL or *SPLCTL. This works well in a low security environment, but in a financial institution you need to be very careful about what output you allow users to view.

  Before I

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• Eliminate Unnecessary Access Paths

  June 30, 2004 Hey, Ted

  One could make the case that computing is of two types: CPU- and I/O-intensive. An example of the former is the generation of graphics for a movie. An example of the latter is information technology. This means that iSeries shops looking to improve performance should concentrate on reducing the amount of I/O that must take place.

  

  Think about what happens when a record is added to, deleted from, or changed in a physical file. The database manager must examine every access path built over the file and adjust any that are affected by changes to the file. The more access

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• 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

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