When it comes time to restore your iSeries following a disaster or a crash, will your backup tapes work properly, or will your restore be the one in four that fails? These are the questions the iSeries tape experts at GST want every iSeries shop to ask themselves. Last week, the vendor launched a new service to test iSeries backup tapes, so you can rest assured your restore will work, or so you can fix what’s wrong–before you’re in a serious fix.

To use GST’s new System Restore Testing Service, an OS/400 shop would send its backup tapes to GST,

IBM and Zend last week announced the availability of a new PHP package, called Zend Core for IBM, which brings iSeries shops an inexpensive and easy-to-use tool for building dynamic, database-driven Web applications. While it’s not the first version of the open-source, server-side scripting language for the iSeries, the new PHP implementation brings advantages, such as technical support through the newly announced Zend Network, and the choice of using either DB2/400 or the embedded Cloudscape database.

PHP is one of the most popular languages (possibly the most popular) for creating and maintaining Web sites. According to a PHP usage survey

Innovatum has taken the final wraps off a major update to ROBAR, a Windows program designed to help drug makers and medical device manufacturers design, manage, and print barcode and RFID labels. ROBAR version 2, which interfaces with ERP systems such as BPCS, can help companies comply with a barcode labeling requirement that went into affect last year, in addition to potential mandates some in the industry expect the Food and Drug Administration to make regarding RFID labels in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

ROBAR is designed to reduce the number of labeling errors by eliminating the manual input and manipulation

Quadrant Software recently issued an update to its FastFax eFax server software, which is used in OS/400, Windows, and NetWare environments. FastFax version 4.6.1 features a number of enhancements, including support for searchable PDFs, administrative improvements, a new API, and support for the latest products from IBM Lotus and Xerox.

FastFax is a full-function fax environment that lets OS/400 users create, send, receive, and manage their faxes. The product is available in various bundles, including FastFax/Enterprise and FastFax/Ultra for iSeries environments, FastFax/LAN for Novell and Windows environments, and FastFax/Blue, which augments IBM’s OS/400 Facsimile Support/400 for enhanced inbound and