DB2 for i Archives

Latest IBM i TRs To Ship Next Month

August 15, 2018 Alex Woodie

IBM unveiled a pair of out-of-bound technology refreshes (TRs) for the IBM i operating system last week. In addition to supporting the new Power Systems E980 server, IBM i 7.3 TR5 and 7.2 TR9 bring a set of enhancements to the platform’s database, development tools, and the administrative interface.

The IBM i installed base has grown accustomed to seeing operating system updates in the spring and the fall. This twice-a-year pattern has been with us, more or less, since IBM shifted to the TR approach several years ago. But IBM broke with that tradition last week when it announced that …
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Db2 For i Innovation: Expect The Unexpected

July 23, 2018 Alex Woodie

When it comes to planning the future of the database at the heart of the IBM i platform, there’s a lot to be said for taking a conservative approach. Why mess with success? But that’s not necessarily the route taken by IBM’s architect for Db2 for i, Scott Forstie, and the IBM i community is the better for it.

As the business architect in charge of Db2 for i, it is Forstie’s job to ensure the database meets the needs of IBM i shops around the world. IBM has a duty to protect the investment that its clients have made …
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PTC Refines Handling Of IBM i Database Logic

July 18, 2018 Alex Woodie

More organizations are moving business logic from RPG and COBOL programs into the DB2 for i database, which most community members agree is a good thing. The IBM i server’s core strength is its integrated a database, after all. However, when business logic moves into the database, it requires customers to rethink how they’re managing the code, which is a mantle that PTC has taken up with its Implementer software change management (SCM) tool.

When it comes to application modernization, fancy HTML5 screens and mobile apps usually grab the spotlight. We’re often moved by the things we can see, and …
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VACAVA’s Low-Code Approach To Modernization

July 9, 2018 Alex Woodie

IBM i shops have lots of options when it comes to application modernization. At one end of the spectrum are screen-scraper tools, which can provide a quick fix for shops tired with the 5250 interface. IBM i shops with more time, money, and inspiration may choose to completely rewrite their application on a new platform. Somewhere in between lies RapidBIZ, a low-code modernization affair from VACAVA.

The folks at VACAVA knows a thing or two about the IBM i platform. For starters, the company is based in Rochester, Minnesota, home of the world-famous IBM lab where the AS/400 was created …
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Raz-Lee Debuts Anti-Ransomware For IBM i

June 18, 2018 Alex Woodie

Despite its reputation as a secure digital fortress for back office automation, the IBM i server is subject to all manner of modern security threats. That includes ransomware, which can work its way onto mapped IFS drives and render business documents stored on the IBM i server useless. Raz-Lee Security recently launched a new solution aimed at combatting the spread of ransomware on IBM i.

Today’s business environment rewards companies that embrace openness. Companies are encouraged to open up their mainframes and IBM i servers and leverage the data and business processes they contain using APIs, microservices, and modern user …
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Guru: DB2 For i XML Composition And The IFS

June 11, 2018 Michael Sansoterra

Hey, Mike! Regarding Composing An XML Document From Relational Data, Part 1, I have built an XML document using DB2 and i. When I run the query, I get a worthless result set. How do I use the SQL XML functions to get a usable XML file?

This question comes from reader RA, and he doesn’t exaggerate. The result set from his XML-based query looks like this:
```
....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+
************Beginning of data************** 

XMLDATA 
-------- 
#CGULIB#

  1 RECORD(S) SELECTED.

 ************End of Data********************
```
Notice that DB2 for i does nothing to make the XML attractive to human eyes as the entire XML …
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Guru: How To Override Query Options

May 21, 2018 Ted Holt

QAQQINI is a physical file with which you can control certain behaviors of the DB2 for i query engine. For a list of the query options that you can change, visit the IBM Knowledge Center. Normally you don’t have to use it, as the engineers of IBM have done a great job designing an optimizer that does a great job.

At times you may want to change a query attribute for a certain job. There is no need to build many QAQQINI files to handle all possibilities. Instead, you can temporarily override query attributes within a job. DB2 for …
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30 Years And Just Getting Started: IBM i Celebration Looks Ahead

April 4, 2018 Dan Burger

It’s been said many times that you can’t move forward if you keep looking back. What you’ve accomplished is not the end point. It’s the foundation for building toward the future. You can look back to see what you’ve missed, but it takes forward thinking to make up for it.

This week is the beginning of a lengthy celebration spotlighting “30 years of innovation and we’re just getting started.” The IBM i team launched a website yesterday with a focus on the future, an emphasis on innovation and a reliance on social media (and IT Jungle) to spread the …
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The Road Ahead For Power Is Paved With Bandwidth

March 26, 2018 Timothy Prickett Morgan

The gap between what most IBM i customers need from Power Systems hardware – particularly when it comes to compute capacity – and what Big Blue can deliver has been widening since about the Power7 generation back in 2010. But, thanks in large measure to the slow down in Moore’s Law advances in chip manufacturing processes, the gap is going to start closing. Not so much because IBM wants it to, but rather because of the limits of physics.

And, given that the IBM i platform is a database platform that mainly does transaction processing and analytics, IBM’s shift away …
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Insurer Chooses IBM i Database Re-Engineering Over Migration

March 26, 2018 Dan Burger

How do you want your database designed for the future and what problems have you created in the past that need to be fixed before you can think about the future? Old databases, originally designed for a business environment that has changed and continues to change, are not compatible. You may not be feeling any pain today and you may have no plans to change your business/IT alignment in the future, but much of the technology-driven business world is changing, which at some point will leave you alone on an island with a boat but no motor and no paddle. …
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