• Guru: Where’s The Table?

  June 8, 2026 Ted Holt

  It began with an irritation. I considered it a simple request. “Which file did my SQL query read?” I was using the Run SQL Scripts tool to modify an SQL query with unqualified table names. And yet I knew of no ready way to determine the schema (library) name of any of the files. How was I to know which tables I had just queried?

  Let me back up a bit. My SQL client of choice is the Run SQL Scripts tool, which is part of IBM’s Access Client Solutions (ACS). It is not unusual for me to copy and …

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• Big Blue Unveils Bob Premium Pack For IBM i

  June 1, 2026 Alex Woodie

  Early Bob users who were frustrated with the inability to work with source code residing on IBM i will be happy to hear that the functionality will soon be available in the Bob Premium Package, which IBM announced in May and will start shipping in June. The Premium Pack also includes some other new capabilities that will be useful for IBM i developers, including new modes, skills, and tools.

  The first version of IBM’s Bob, the AI tool that help developers understand, document, and generate code in RPG and other IBM i languages, generally has been well-received by the IBM …

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• Guru: SQL Sequences In RPG Let Db2 Handle The Counting

  June 1, 2026 Gregory Simmons

  There is something deeply satisfying about letting the database do the counting for you. In a world where we have spent decades hand-rolling identifiers, guarding them with locks, and hoping no job collides with another, SQL sequences feel like discovering a patch of mushrooms that quietly regenerate overnight. You stop worrying about scarcity and start focusing on what matters.

  In a procedure driven RPG system, this is exactly the kind of responsibility we want to isolate. Generating a new identifier is not business logic. It is not validation. It is not formatting. It is a single, well-defined action that deserves …

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• From Green Screens To Smart Factories: Explaining DevOps To The Next Gen IBM i Developers

  June 1, 2026 Gaurav Khanna

  Over the past few years, many IBM i teams have encountered a surprising challenge when onboarding new developers. It isn’t platform complexity. It isn’t system performance. And it certainly isn’t reliability. The challenge is explaining how modern software development practices – things like CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and centralized repositories – fit into traditional IBM i development workflows.

  This gap often shows from both directions. For developers who grew up with Git and cloud-native tools, concepts like manual object promotion and library-based deployment can feel unfamiliar. At the same time, experienced IBM i professionals often hear terms like “shift-left testing” …

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• Who To Consult With On Your Cloud Strategy, And Who To Manage It

  May 18, 2026 Doug McMaster and John Klockenkemper

  If you run IBM i, you already know what operational discipline looks like. Tightly governed security models. Decades of validated business logic embedded in RPG and DB2 for i. Systems of record that have been running continuously since before “the cloud” was anything more than a weather term. Your platform is not fragile – it is, in many ways, the most stable and secure thing in your data center.

  But the world around IBM i has changed. As we discussed in our previous IT Jungle article, the latest IBM i Marketplace Survey data confirms what most shops already know: …

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• Guru: DateTime Rules Of Thumb

  May 18, 2026 Ted Holt

  I am not a great programmer. I am a decent programmer who has found ways to stay out of trouble. I use many little rules of thumb to keep me and the people I serve from being unpleasantly surprised at inopportune moments. Today I share rules of thumb regarding datetime data that have served me in my work.

  The first date field I used in an RPG program was a six-digit zoned-decimal value in MMDDYY format. This was part of a programming assignment for a class I was taking at the local vocational-technical center in days of yore. In my …

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• i-Rays Performance Analyzer Now Ready for Prime Time, Omniology Says

  May 18, 2026 Alex Woodie

  Companies that want to address performance issues on their IBM i applications may want to check out the i-Rays software from Omnilogy. The product has matured considerably since it was introduced to the U.S. market last year, and it now has the backing of prominent IBM i performance expert Dawn May.

  When we first wrote about i-Rays back in May 2025, the offering was brand new to the American market. Marek Walczak, the chief commercial officer for the Polish firm Omniology and the general manager of i-Rays, attended the COMMON POWERUp 2025 conference in Anaheim, California, to test the …

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• CNX Adds AI To Valence Development Tool

  May 18, 2026 Alex Woodie

  CNX is adding a new AI assistant to Valence, its no-code development environment for IBM i. The AI will provide a range of enhancements to the Valence experience, from helping with modernizing existing greenscreen applications to providing the ability for executives to “chat” with their Db2 for i data.

  Valence is a collection of tools for creating new Web and mobile applications that run on IBM i. The software features RPG procedures for integrating with existing IBM i logic, and generates JavaScript front-ends that are served by IBM i’s native HTTP Server (the one powered by Apache). Popular add-ons include …

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• Guru: Load A Varying-Dimension Array With One SQL Fetch

  May 11, 2026 Ted Holt

  One thing I really like about working in different shops is the vast amount of source code I’m exposed to. But that’s not the best thing. The best thing is the people I meet and get to know. The more clients, the more teachers. Combine source code and people, and my life, personally and professionally, is enriched.

  Today I’m pleased to pass along an SQL technique I picked up from the IT shop of a manufacturer. The programmers use this technique to load subfiles from SQL cursors in RPG programs. It works in client-server applications as well. It combines a …

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• Eradani Touts Native Git Connection As AI Tools Spread

  May 4, 2026 Alex Woodie

  Thanks to AI tools like Bob and Claude, IBM i shops are changing how they develop code. AI tools can crank out RPG much faster, but the quality is inherently suspect, which makes having a solid change management life cycle very important. It’s the perfect setup for the folks at Eradani, who say their IBM i change management tool’s native integration with Git provides the right capabilities at the right time.

  What makes Eradani’s approach to supporting Git with its Eradani DevOps offering is the lack of compromise. Instead of splicing Git support into an existing change management product, …

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