The Four Hundred Archives - Page 369 of 1506

Dynamic Solutions Launches New VTLs for IBM i

September 2, 2015 Alex Woodie

Dynamic Solutions International recently launched a new line of virtual tape library (VTL) systems that the company says was designed specifically for IBM i shops. With five systems in the DSI400 line, Dynamic Solutions says it has VTL solutions for everybody, from the VTL newbie to the established enterprise.

Since their introduction to the data center over a decade ago, VTLs have established themselves as a core component of a modern storage strategy. They’ve been particularly well-received in organizations that want to consolidate multiple backup devices (usually tape drives) with a single flexible device that can support a variety of

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The Path To XML-INTO Happiness, Part 3

September 1, 2015 Jon Paris

Note: The code accompanying this article is available for download here.

In part 1 and part 2 of my XML series, I introduced you to the basics of using RPG’s XML support. In this tip we begin to explore some of the challenges that you may face when processing commercial XML documents, and the support RPG offers to handle them.

Take a look at the snippet of an XML document below:

<ItemsXRef >
    <Header RefId="xxxxx" TimeStamp="2011-11-30T00:06:06.643Z">
        <to id="nnnnnn" name="nnnnnn"/>
        <from id="nnnn" name="A Company in Canada"/>
        <TransactionType>ItemXref</TransactionType>
    </Header>
    <Items>
        <SKU>
            <SKUID>10050322</SKUID>
            <UPC>6866261486</UPC>
            <WIN>30269675</WIN>
            <StatusCode>A</StatusCode>
        </SKU>
        <SKU>
               ... <snip> ...
        </SKU>

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How Do I Join Tables? Let Me Count The Ways

September 1, 2015 Ted Holt

Normalization is the process of making sure that each datum is stored in the proper table. Storing data in the wrong place gives rise to anomalies, a fancy word for problems, and you have enough problems already. To make sense of normalized data requires that tables be joined. Do you know the methods to code a join with SQL and the advantages and disadvantages of each one?

Method 1: WHERE

When I first learned SQL, joining was done in the WHERE clause of the SELECT statement. Here’s an example.

select h.*, d.*
  from SalesOrderHeaders as h,
       SalesOrderLines   as d
 where

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RCAC in DB2 For i, Part 2: Column Masks

September 1, 2015 Michael Sansoterra

In part 1 of this series, I discussed the row permissions portion of the new row and column access control (RCAC) security feature that was introduced in DB2 for i 7.2. In this tip, I will demonstrate how to use RCAC to hide sensitive information without hiding entire rows from a user.

To sum up the last tip, RCAC is beneficial for protecting an integral business asset: data. Row permissions allow a database administrator to limit the rows users can view or modify in a table by defining access rules. Permissions to access rows are generally based on user profile

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HelpSystems Acquired By Private Equity Giant H.I.G. Capital

August 31, 2015 Alex Woodie

HelpSystems is set to be acquired by H.I.G. Capital, a Florida-based private equity and alternative assets investment firm with more than $19 billion in assets. Terms of the deal, which is not yet finalized and is subject to regulatory approval, were not disclosed. It will be the fourth sale in 10 years of HelpSystems, the Minnesota software company that has since become the biggest provider of systems management tools and utilities for the IBM i server.

So who is the company now behind HelpSystems, which has grown its influence over the IBM i market following a long string of

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A Hypothetical Future IBM i System

August 31, 2015 Timothy Prickett Morgan

A few weeks ago, in the main story in this newsletter, I showed you the Power processor roadmap running out past the Power10 chip in 2020 and later and talked about the contrast between the huge amount of processing capacity that IBM is delivering in its Power Systems line and the relatively modest amount of oomph that the vast majority of IBM i shops need to do their daily work to make their daily bread. The gap, as I showed, is quite large, and it will continue to be so if current trends for usage growth and capacity growth continue.

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What IBM Can Learn From Free-Form RPG

August 31, 2015 Dan Burger

Three weeks ago, I wrote an article about free-form RPG, a runner-up in the IBM best kept secrets game and second only to magnificently camouflaged IBM i. Since then, I’ve collected the opinions of several more free-form observers. I’ve not talked with anyone who believes IBM is doing enough to encourage free-form conversion of old RPG code. But there is more to say about whether the benefits and the effort it takes to make the code conversion.

Technically, the conversion from fixed-format to free-form RPG is pretty simple. Tools from IBM i ISVs ARCAD and Linoma Software are capable and

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Mad Dog 21/21: Putting Money Where Its Malthus

August 31, 2015 Hesh Wiener

In 1798 Robert Malthus triggered a perpetual debate about the damaging effects of demographic pressure. An Essay on the Principle of Population asserted that, unchecked by canon, custom or calamity, a nation’s fecundity will outpace its ability to produce or procure food. A similar phenomenon can weaken a company. IBM’s revenue per employee has fallen since 2004, two years into Sam Palmisano decade-long reign. IBM’s subsequent leader, Ginny Rometty, hasn’t been able to reverse this dire trend; consequently, IBM’s corporate culture is losing vitality as its employees become financially undernourished.

For IBM, as for other cultural aggregates since biblical

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Profound Hires Guru Editor; Begins IBM i Internship Program

August 31, 2015 Dan Burger

Profound Logic Software, one of the leading IBM i vendors in the application modernization field, has hired Ted Holt, editor of our Four Hundred Guru newsletter. Holt is well known in the IBM midrange community for his knowledge of the platform, advocacy for IBM i education, and his contributions as a writer and speaker. His position at Profound will be senior software developer. He will continue as editor of Four Hundred Guru.

In his new role at Profound, Holt will contribute to the development of new and existing products. The company’s graphical user interface suite, known as Profound

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Sony Ends MO Production–What Are Your Long-Term Archive Options Now?

August 19, 2015 Alex Woodie

Sony finally ended production of its magneto optical (MO) media at the end of 2014, forcing customers downstream to look for alternatives, if they haven’t already. That includes a number of customers in the government and healthcare industries who use MO drives with IBM‘s midrange server. These customers have a number of options available to them.

Sony’s decision to end production of all MO media, including 9.1 GB, 5.2 GB, 2.6 GB, should not come as a shock to anybody who is paying attention. The company had ceased manufacturing MO drives a while ago, but continued to make MO

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