File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, was obviously designed by academics. While academics are OK people (after all, my editor, Ted Holt, is a part-time instructor at a community college), they are not familiar with what goes on at the factory (like the one where I work full-time). That means that making FTP (and other Unix-type applications) work dependably in an automated environment can be a challenge. Here’s a tip that can help.

FTP was intended to work this way: a human types a command into a computer. The computer responds. The human types another command. The computer responds. Etc. Etc.

Although most WDSC users are familiar with the Table View, few take advantage of all its many features. For those of you unfamiliar with Table View, it is the closest thing in WDSC to the familiar PDM Work With lists. To display the equivalent of a Work With Members list, right click on the source file name to display the context menu and select Show in Table as shown below.

The result is the display shown here:

(Click here to see a larger image)

Unlike the PDM list, options are selected from an item’s context menu. The primary

One of the problems with i5 articles (including my own) is that the writers focus on accomplishing i5/OS tasks with 5250 green-screen commands. However, many newer administrators are more comfortable with graphical utilities, and learning command line techniques is not that desirable. To help those users, here is a primer on using IBM’s iSeries Navigator program to perform basic i5 file and library manipulation from a graphical interface.

As you probably know, iSeries Navigator (OpsNav) is IBM’s graphical solution for managing i5, iSeries, and AS/400 machines. Packaged as part of its iSeries Access for Windows product, system operation tasks are