• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 17

  May 3, 2017 Doug Bidwell

  Well, it is not an onslaught, but this week we have new PTF groups coming out of IBM for Java, HTTP Server for i, and DB2 Web Query for i V2.2.0. There is also new patches for Content Manager for IBM i 7.1 and new recommended fixes for SAP on all three currently supported releases.

  Well, maybe that is a bit of an onslaught. Rumor has it there are additional groups coming next week. It is like IBM i has its own Never Ending Story of preventive maintenance!

  The Java Group is interesting, a lot of action here. The group …

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• Contain Your IBM i Enthusiasm

  May 1, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  In the IT business, what is old is often new again. And so it is with the software containers that are taking certain datacenters by storm these days, and the virtual machines and hypervisors that run them that predate them as a volume product on X86 servers by a decade.

  Let’s have some fun with history.

  Virtual machines were invented for IBM mainframes in the VM operating system way back in the dawn of time, well, 1972 with the launch of Virtual Machine Facility/370, which ran a lightweight operating system called the Conversational Monitoring system and as it matured could …

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• Not So Hard To See i To i

  May 1, 2017 Dan Burger

  You’re not the only oyster in the stew. The IBM i community is a combination of unique ingredients that make over-generalizations risky business. The landscape looks different depending on whether your view is from the valley or the mountain. That’s why I like to talk with people with experiences that are different from my own. We learn from different perspectives.

  Mike Scanlon has worked most of his 30-plus years in the IT business in eastern Iowa. He came out of college with a software development education that emphasized COBOL. His career path eventually led to a software development job with …

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• Guru: SQL Table Functions Can Do Non-function Things

  May 1, 2017 Ted Holt

  We IBM i developers owe a great debt to Scott Forstie. He’s responsible for the wonderful DB2 for i Services and IBM i Services, which give us SQL interfaces for many functions of the operating system. Like IBM, we can write SQL interfaces to help us with non-database tasks. I recently did exactly that.

  While I can’t say that I never use the Start SQL Interactive Session (STRSQL) command, I can say that I prefer to use GUI SQL clients, in particular the Run SQL Scripts utility that is part of IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS). I do get …

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• Mad Dog 21/21: Location, Location, Location

  May 1, 2017 Hesh Wiener

  Geolocation is one of the most influential technologies in the mix that constitutes the mobile internet. Even when used via a physically static device, such as a desktop PC, geolocation shapes the way users’ apps interact with many information technology services. Apple and Google are the visible leaders, but Microsoft’s Bing, well aware of the importance of geolocation in server side and client side activities, is as keen as its rivals to provide vital services. IBM isn’t yet a geolocation powerhouse, but changing circumstances may soon compel it to engage with vigor.

  The popular surface of geolocation technology is a …

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• Top Ten Things To Know Before Heading To COMMON

  May 1, 2017 Alex Woodie

  More than a thousand IBM i professionals from around the world will descend on Universal Orlando next week for COMMON’s Annual Meeting and Exposition. Besides the chance to “Party with Harry” (as in Potter, the boy wizard), the conference taking place from May 7 to 10 provides us all a chance to learn about the latest IBM i technologies, explore new solutions, and commiserate with our fellow midrangers.

  With more than 300 sessions on everything from RPG and PHP to Watson and the cloud, the annual COMMON get-together is the largest IBM i conference on the planet. It’s been that …

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• Optimism Abounds in VAI’s Inaugural Survey

  April 26, 2017 Alex Woodie

  A new customer survey released today by IBM i ERP software vendor VAI shows that companies are extremely optimistic about the future of their businesses. Besides the almost nonexistent pessimism, the survey also highlighted interest in analytics as a way to boost productivity, as well as a commitment to improve security.

  The United States’ stock market is in the midst of an historic eight-year bull run that shows no signs of quitting. Since stocks hit their low point in the dark days of March 2009, the buying spree has continued quarter on quarter, with nary a correction (defined as a …

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• Surround Tech Keeps IBM i Websites Hip to the Times

  April 26, 2017 Alex Woodie

  The World Wide Web has changed considerably since the first websites went live more than 20 years ago, and many IBM i shops have struggled to keep up. One midrange vendor helping IBM i shops adapt to the times is Surround Technologies, which has morphed its Web application development environment, called Accelerator, into a full content management system.

  In today’s world, having a functional and good-looking website has become a business necessity. In many instances, the website becomes a portal that allows customers, business partners, and employees to access important documents or submit information. In others, the website has effectively …

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• Raz-Lee Tackles Excessive Authorities with Free Software

  April 26, 2017 Alex Woodie

  You can’t do anything on IBM i without the proper authority. Unfortunately, instead of using the tools IBM includes in the OS to set fine-grained policies, most IBM i shops run wide-open when it comes to user authorities. Now Raz-Lee Security hopes reign in this free-for-all with a free tool it just released.

  For a glimpse at how bad the use of authorities in IBM i has gotten, check out our coverage of a recent security study of the IBM i marketplace. It’s no secret that there’s widespread abuse of special authorities, such as ALLOBJ and SECADM, among the majority …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, April 26

  April 26, 2017 Dan Burger

  All programming languages gain value from programmers exchanging information the tips and techniques and code samples that get passed around. Open source magnifies this information exchange. Contributing code to make sure that all IBM i languages can benefit is a worthy endeavor, says the business architect of IBM i open source Jesse Gorzinski.

  “RPG First” would make a good slogan for lapel pins and bumper stickers. Brian May, a solutions architect at Profound Logic Software, says it’s also good advice to update RPG skills and become a better programmer before taking on another programming language. Learning new languages will be …

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