• TMW to Add .NET Features to i OS-Based Trucking App

  March 31, 2009 Alex Woodie

  Version 8 of TMW Systems‘ TL2000 suite of trucking software started shipping at the end of 2008. And in the next few weeks or months, the product’s IBM System i user base can expect to receive several updates in the form of .NET-based Web components originally developed for TMW’s Windows trucking software. TMW announced the general availability of TL2000 version 8 late last year. The new release brings several functional enhancements, including error-checking for driver-entered data in mobile communications, easier edits to correct dispatch data, and tighter menu-level security. The new release also gets integration with ISDC ExpertFuel fuel-optimization

  …

  Read more

• S4i Systems Offers Subscriptions for DASD Optimization Products

  March 31, 2009 Alex Woodie

  S4i Systems last week announced the availability of a new subscription model for its DASD optimization products for the IBM Power Systems (System i) server. For as little as $350 per month, customers can get access to DASD-Plus, DASD-Plus Chart, and DASD-Plus Alert, the former Centerfield Technology product previously known as disk/HUNTER. S4i System’s trio of DASD optimization products cover many aspects of System i care and feeding. General housekeeping is the domain of DASD-Plus, which automates tasks such as clearing history logs, compressing data, resizing libraries, and reorganizing physical file members. DASD-Plus Chart gives a graphical view into the

  …

  Read more

• VAI Announces Two ERP Customers

  March 31, 2009 Alex Woodie

  The economy may be weighing down some software companies. But VAI appears to be cruising right along, continuing to build on the momentum from a solid 2008 sales year. Last week the New York company announced two new customers for its i OS-based ERP suite, including Well-Pict, a berry grower in California and SPRO Corp., a fishing tackle company in Georgia. Founded in 1997, SPRO Corp. is a manufacturer, importer, and distributor of fishhooks, lures, jigs, snells, rigs, swivels, and other sportfishing products. The Kennesaw, Georgia, company counts several large chain stores, wholesalers, dealers, and consumers like you among its

  …

  Read more

• Lotus Web Content Tool Gets Easy-to-Use HTML Editor

  March 31, 2009 Alex Woodie

  IBM last week unveiled an update to its Lotus Web Content Management software that includes a second HTML editor that users can access from a Web browser. The new editor that ships with version 6.1 is an OEM’ed version of an Ephox product called EditLive that is designed to be easier to use by non-technical users. According to Ephox, its IBM Lotus Web Content Management (LWCM) provides a Word-like interface “that is easy for business users who know nothing about HTML and want to keep it that way.” IBM says the software will free users from relying on technical staff

  …

  Read more

• Solimar Goes 64-Bit with Print Management App

  March 31, 2009 Alex Woodie

  Solimar Systems last week unveiled a new release of its flagship print management software, called Print Director Enterprise, and unveiled a preview of a new product called SOLitrack that’s designed to help track print jobs in busy, high-volume environments. Solimar Print Director Enterprise, or SPDE, is a collection of Windows-based products aimed at centrally managing the production print environment. The software enables practically any printer to support practically any host, including proprietary environments like i-based IBM Power Systems servers or mainframes that rely on the AFP and IPDS print architectures. With SPDE version 7.0, Solimar has brought support for 64-bit

  …

  Read more

• RFID Revenue to Hit $5.6 Billion This Year, ABI Says

  March 31, 2009 Alex Woodie

  Spending on RFID–including transponders, readers, software and services–will amount to $5.6 billion, ABI Research said last week. While the number is lower than ABI had previously predicted, it doesn’t mean the wireless technology is in a state of “despair or turmoil,” the research group said. It’s been just a few months since ABI released its prediction that RFID would grow 15 percent annually to reach $10 billion by 2013. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now tell that those November predictions were slightly rosy, as overall IT spending has dipped southward along with the poor economy. “The recession has

  …

  Read more

• Treasury of new DB2 6.1 (V6R1) Features, Part 4: Index and Data Type Enhancements

  March 25, 2009 Michael Sansoterra

  So far in this series, we’ve covered how IBM has made life easier for DB2 for i (formerly called DB2/400 or DB2 UDB for iSeries) developers by: Part 1: Cramming greater query functionality and operations into a single statement Part 2: Providing an easy way to summarize data with super groups and grouping sets Part 3: Giving developers options to implement audit tracking and other features useful in a client/server environment by implementing several new client special registers This tip will cover yet another valuable subset of features: new indexing and data type features. Building an Index

  …

  Read more

• Looking for Commitment, Part 3

  March 25, 2009 Paul Tuohy

  In this article I will take a closer look at how commitment control works by looking at the journal entries for commitment control. I will also discuss the LCKLVL and CMTSCOPE parameters on the STRCMTCTL command. Commitment Control and Journals Commitment control is dependant upon the use of a journal. A journal is used in conjunction with commitment control as follows: When you start commitment control (using the STRCMTCTL command), a commitment boundary entry is placed in the journal. As a program inserts, updates, and deletes rows in a table, the rows are actually inserted, updated, and deleted, and the

  …

  Read more

• Catching Robot/SCHEDULE Job Failures As They Happen

  March 25, 2009 Hey, Joe

  We’re using Help/Systems Robot/SCHEDULE version 9.0 to schedule batch jobs on an i5/OS V5R4 machine, and it works great. However, I have a new requirement to alert my staff whenever a Robot job fails to run or terminates unexpectedly. Do you know of any utilities that can monitor and send out email pages when this happens? –Bob Given that Robot/SCHEDULE is one of the most widely used utilities in iSeries, System i, and Power i shops, I’ve run into this problem before and wrote a utility to do exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve run this utility on Robot/SCHEDULE version

  …

  Read more

• Capitalware Clamps Down on WebSphere MQ’s ‘Big Dirty’ Security Secret

  March 24, 2009 Alex Woodie

  Capitalware is bringing three WebSphere MQ products to the IBM i operating system, the vendor announced recently. The three tools–MQ Standard Security Exit, MQ Authenticate User Security Exit, and MQ Instant Secure Data–will help to address major security shortfalls with default installations of WebSphere MQ, company officials say. The i OS ports of the products are currently in beta, with GA expected next month. There’s a “big dirty secret” in the WebSphere MQ community, says Roger Lacroix, president of Capitalware, which is based in Markham, Ontario. “As you may not be aware of, after a default install of [WebSphere] MQ,

  …

  Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles