• Guru: Speed Up Command-Line PHP

  January 21, 2019 Alan Seiden

  While PHP runs quickly via the Apache web server, command-line PHP scripts (run from PASE directly or via CL or RPG) have a lag on start-up. In this article, I show how to speed up PHP when called from the command line (known as PHP-CLI).

  Why does PHP-CLI (command line PHP) have a slow start-up? While several reasons are often given, I’ve found the culprit to be the loading of PHP extensions that are enabled by php.ini and other configuration files of Zend Server. Examples of extensions are ibm_db2, simplexml, and Zend’s proprietary components.

  Within a normal web server environment, …

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• Guru: Easy Date Difference

  January 14, 2019 Ted Holt

  Hey, Ted:

  The dates in our database are stored as seven-digit packed-decimal values in the common CYYMMDD format. In 2018 I wrote an SQL query that reported the number of days between two dates, but it quit calculating properly as soon as it started using 2019 dates. Can you tell me the proper way to find the difference between two dates in days?

  –Becki

  I don’t know if “the” proper way exists or not, Becki, but I can show you how to do the required calculation. SQL has some handy built-in functions that address your problem.

  The DAYS function returns …

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• Guru: Arranging Query Logic in DB2 for i Routines

  January 7, 2019 Michael Sansoterra

  Hey, Mike:

  We use a stored procedure to return the result set to Java and display the results to a screen. I would like to make this stored procedure put the result set into a temporary table and then do some processing on the temporary table. Is this possible and if so how can I achieve this? Thanks.

  Your dilemma is understandable: stored procedure result sets are great when data needs to be returned to a client. However, once generated, the result set cannot be joined, sorted, or stored in a temporary table. Thankfully, a user-defined table function (UDTF) allows …

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• Guru: Right-Size Your PHP

  December 3, 2018 Alan Seiden

  In my experience doing performance audits, I often point out that while PHP for IBM i comes perfectly configured for small applications, it must often be tuned to handle large workloads. When applications must accommodate hundreds or thousands of users, or use AJAX technology, two easy changes should be considered for PHP and Apache configurations.

  1. PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN Setting In fastcgi.conf

  On IBM i, Zend Server installs a configuration file called fastcgi.conf. Among other settings, it includes PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN, which determines how many PHP jobs run when its Apache server is started. The file — /www/zendphp7/conf/fastcgi.conf (Zend Server 9 or higher) or …

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• Guru: When Is An Error Not An Error?

  November 26, 2018 Jon Paris

  When is an error not an error? When it is expected! In this article I want to discuss the use of RPG’s MONITOR op-code and discuss ways in which it might change the way you code RPG. I was prompted to write up my thoughts on this subject as a result of being quizzed by students at a recent RPG & DB2 Summit as to why I was using Monitor blocks rather than more conventional RPG techniques in my examples.

  So what do I mean by expected? Basically I mean those errors that you know are going to happen …

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• Guru: More About Merge

  November 5, 2018 Ted Holt

  I often read back through articles that have appeared in this august publication to look for errors and omissions. Such an expedition recently made me aware that I have not told you as much as I would like to about the SQL MERGE statement. Today I am pleased to provide more information.

  First I want to be sure that everybody understands is that you can add conditions to the WHEN MATCHED and WHEN NOT MATCHED expressions. That means that you do not have to treat all matched or unmatched rows in the same way. Look at this example:

  merge . 

  …

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• Guru: Using SQL With Multi-Membered Files

  October 29, 2018 Mike Larsen

  Recently I worked on a process that required me to update records in a file based on certain criteria. Sounds like a common request, right? Well, there was a twist. The file had multiple members and the update needed to consider all of them. Suddenly, a “simple” request became a bit more challenging.

  I knew of a few ways to work with multi-membered files, but I like to lay out all the options before deciding on a game plan. One method I considered was to perform an override of the file (OVRDBF command). That would certainly work, although I have …

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• Guru: Ready Or Not! Part 5 Of Big Changes In RDi V9.6, Edit/Browse Toggle, PDM Perspective, More

  October 22, 2018 Susan Gantner

  In this tip I’m going to cover a few of the “smaller” features implemented in V9.6.0.3 and …0.4 that I think you should know about. I’ll cover my favorite — the Edit/Browse toggle feature — as well as some enhancements to Block Nesting. I’ll also follow-on to my last tip about the PDM affinity features in the Object Table — the PDM perspective — plus a few more little goodies.

  A quick hint for you on the subject of exactly what new features became available within RDi and when: If you ever want to see a complete list of new …

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• Guru: A More Efficient Way To Merge With SQL

  October 15, 2018 Mike Larsen

  Lately, I’ve been using the merge statement in my programs to insert or update rows in a table. I recently came across a situation where a program using merge was running every few minutes and performing updates to thousands of rows each time it ran. Since this table was journaled, it was obvious some re-design was necessary.

  For those unfamiliar with the merge statement, it is sometimes referred to as an “upsert.” That means it will either perform an update or an insert. In RPG terms, I like to compare it to a chain operation. With a chain, you check …

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• Guru: Learn %PARMS! Solve Two CL Problems!

  October 8, 2018 Ted Holt

  Those wonderful people at IBM have done it yet again! They have gladdened my existence with new CL functionality that solves two problems, and I will never have to face those problems again. Let me tell you about the new %PARMS built-in function.

  The %PARMS function returns the number of parameters that are passed into a CL procedure (i.e. a CL program or a CL module). In the past, I have monitored for message MCH3601. That works in some situations, but not in all. The %PARMS function gives me an unambiguous way to know whether a parameter was passed or …

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