• Sun Patches Security Holes in Java Runtime Environment

  January 22, 2007 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The past few weeks have been busy ones for patching security holes in the Java Runtime Environment that is at the heart of Sun Microsystems‘ Java programming language. Several vulnerability alerts for the JRE and the Java Development Kit (JDK) were issued the day after Christmas, and one more was issued on January 17. If you want to find the details about these security vulnerabilities, go to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Vulnerability Database and search for “JRE.” The alert posted on January 17 said that Sun JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 9 and earlier releases

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• Using APIs to Send Impromptu Messages, Take Two

  January 17, 2007 Hey, Ted

  The code for this story is available for download here. In your article, Using APIs to Send Impromptu Messages, you show how to use a message subfile to display impromptu error messages from an RPG program. The logic works great if you call the message-handling APIs from the main logic. However, when I move the API calls into subprocedures, your technique breaks down. What do I need to do? –Chris The problem is that you are now sending messages from a different call stack entry. (I hesitate to use the terms “higher” and “lower” when talking about call

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• Gotcha Lurking in Datalink File Manager for DB2/400

  January 17, 2007 Hey, Ted

  I’ve grown quite fond of the convenience of the DB2 SQL support in QShell, and especially the ease with which it can be invoked within a CL program, by simply calling the underlying Datalink File Manager DB2 program, QZDFMDB2. Having said that, I must also admit to getting burned by a “gotcha” lurking in this otherwise handy tool. Although I’ve never experienced a problem when providing QZDFMDB2 with an SQL statement in the form of a constant, I did walk straight into a real head-scratcher recently when building the parameter string for this program from variable data. I kept getting

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• Admin Alert: Ending Subsystems Properly

  January 17, 2007 Joe Hertvik

  It’s unavoidable that system i5 administrators occasionally have to end a subsystem by using the End Subsystem command (ENDSBS). Killing jobs can wreak havoc with system processing because jobs may not have time to cleanly end before the subsystem terminates, which can result in partially updated data and potentially damaged objects. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to cushion but not totally soften the blow as your jobs end. Why Interactive Subsystems Must End Killing a subsystem is a fairly common event. It’s necessary in several situations, including: If there’s a power outage and your machine’s UPS

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• IBM Patches Security Flaw in OS/400 V5R3

  January 16, 2007 Alex Woodie

  IBM issued several integrity PTFs last September to fix a security vulnerability in OS/400 and i5/OS V5R3 and V5R3M5. The problem, called the OS/400 Connection Reset Denial of Service Vulnerability, can be exploited by hackers to reset established TCP connections on iSeries and System i servers, according to security firm Secunia, which gave the vulnerability a “less critical” rating. IBM issued four Program Temporary Fixes (PTFs) on September 26 to fix the problem, in which an established TCP connection can be reset by sending a specially crafted TCP packet. It appears that a hacker could potentially use this technique

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• LXI Partners with FalconStor for VTL

  January 16, 2007 Alex Woodie

  LXI Enterprise Storage will resell FalconStor‘s virtual tape library (VTL) products as part of a new partnership the companies unveiled last week. While LXI previously sold its own VTL into its largely iSeries customer base, the FalconStor VTL solution is simply superior, and offers better scalability and performance, particularly during recoveries, an LXI official said. It’s been almost two years since LXI bought certain assets of storage device maker T.D. Systems and began selling the LXI3200 VT/L to users of MMS, its OS/400-based backup and recovery software. “We had a VTL solution, but what we were finding was the

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• Lawson Brings EMEA EAM App to the U.S.

  January 16, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Lawson Software along with its partner Deloitte Consulting, recently introduced to the United States market an OS/400-based enterprise asset management (EAM) solution that had been sold in Europe and Asia for years. In other news, Lawson reported a net loss in the second quarter, and hopefully has taken the last of the lumps associated with the Intentia merger. Lawson’s EAM solution was previously only sold in Europe. Now that the United States is gaining a stiffer regulatory climate, which has been the norm in Europe for years, Lawson decided to unhook EAM from the Europe, Middle East, and Asia

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• Seagull Relaunches Farabi Tool Under BlueZone Name

  January 16, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Seagull Software last week unveiled a number of new HTML capabilities in BlueZone Access Server, the new name it has given to the Host Access Server it obtained in its acquisition of Farabi last year. People can use the emulator with their choice of Web browser under the new version 4.1 release. BlueZone Access Server is a three-tier emulator that provides users with secure access to hosts from a Web browser, either from a pure HTML client that loads in any Web browser (a new feature) or from an ActiveX control that loads in the Internet Explorer Web browser. The

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• Group 1 Unveils New Tax Software

  January 16, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Group 1 Software recently unveiled GeoTAX Enterprise Tax Management, a new software product designed to get rid of the guesswork in figuring out tax jurisdiction assignment, payroll, business personal property, and insurance premium taxes. The GeoTAX Enterprise Tax Management solution is based on Group 1’s existing GeoTAX product, which helps companies assign sales tax jurisdiction for hundreds of millions of bills per month,. It is being used by some very large telecommunication companies. The new GeoTAX Enterprise Tax Management product now provides the same type of functionality for payroll, business personal property, and insurance premium taxes. Group 1 says GeoTAX

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• CommercialWare Goes Java for Multi-Channel MMS

  January 16, 2007 Alex Woodie

  CommercialWare this week unveiled CWSerenade, a new Java-based multi-channel merchandise management system intended as the upgrade for users of the company’s old RPG-based application, called CWDirect (formerly Mozart). CWSerenade, which CommercialWare calls “an evolution” of CWDirect, satisfies a range of requirements for retailers that operate in several sales channels, including order management, fulfillment, customer service, warehousing, inventory control, merchandising, marketing, and finance. Existing CWDirect users can upgrade to the new CWSerenade application with a minimal amount of trouble because the applications share common databases, screens, and logic, the company says. Customers can install the software on their choice of Java-enabled

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