• IBM i Shops Have Alternatives to Db2 Web Query

  November 15, 2023 Alex Woodie

  The sudden demise of Db2 Web Query has sent customers looking for alternatives. The good news is that IBM i software vendors offer a number of pre-built solutions that can fit the bill.

  Here are some potential business intelligence tools from vendors that could serve as replacements to Db2 Web Query. We’ll take a look at open source alternatives in a future article.

  Cozzi Research SQL World

  Cozzi Research develops two query tools for IBM i, including SQL iQuery and SQL Tools, and bundles them both in a single product called SQL World.

  Cozzi positions SQL iQuery as a native …

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• What’s New with Db2 Mirror, PowerHA, and BRMS

  November 8, 2023 Alex Woodie

  There’s something for everyone in the new releases of IBM i that IBM will be shipping later this month. For administrators who revel in having well-run high availability, continuous availability, and tape backups, the new releases will not disappoint.

  The most substantial enhancements appear to have been saved for Db2 Mirror for i, which is IBM’s continuous availability solution for IBM i. The new management and monitoring features should bring some major improvements to how customers interact with the product.

  Some of the biggest changes are due to the addition of the new “Health Center” component to the Db2 Mirror …

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• IBM, TIBCO Remain Mum on Db2 Web Query Future

  November 1, 2023 Alex Woodie

  While Db2 Web Query users are left hanging in the wind without any official way forward to protect their investments in the product, IBM and TIBCO have yet to make any public announcements about how to support these IBM i customers moving forward.

  IBM shocked the midrange last month when it announced the sudden end of life of Db2 Web Query, the IBM i-based analytics tool that was largely based on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version of the WebFOCUS product originally developed by Information Builders and now owned by TIBCO.

  The October 10 announcement – the same day …

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• Guru: The Transition From Modern RPG IV To Modern SQL

  October 30, 2023 Bob Cozzi

  Seven or eight years ago I was working with a client who needed more contemporary reporting than provided by the legacy Query/400 product. Initially I looked at Db2 Web Query and realized the documentation was sparse and the tutorials for most things, even “getting started” were virtually non-existent. It was also about four times more expensive than I felt it was worth to a P05 or P10 client. I mentioned the documentation issue to the folks at IBM and they agreed. Some of it was eventually resolved, but not enough in my opinion to get the masses to replace Query/400 …

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• What the Latest ALL400s Survey Tells Us About the IBM i Community

  October 18, 2023 Alex Woodie

  What is the most popular development tool in the IBM i community? What technology exists in nearly every shop? What BI tools are in use? And what activities are sitting in the IT backlog’s of IBM i shops? These are some of the questions that ALL400s answered with the latest edition of its IBM i community survey.

  You may have heard about ALL400s as the comprehensive list of IBM i customers around the world. John Rockwell, the Florida man behind ALL400s, does his best to keep the list as updated as possible.

  In addition to the list, Rockwell has put …

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• Tech Refreshes Bring SQL-Based Services Galore For IBM i and Db2

  October 16, 2023 Alex Woodie

  With the latest Technology Refreshes, IBM unleashed another round of new and updated IBM i Services aimed simplifying life for administrators, developers, and other IBM i professionals. The company also refreshed its slate of Db2 for i Services.

  Over the past decade, IBM has been busy rejiggering how users interact with core components of the operating system. Instead of issuing traditional CL commands or working with low-level APIs, users can tap into new SQL-based IBM i services via Access Client Solutions (ACS) to accomplish the same tasks.

  Db2 for i Database Architect Scott Forstie and his team have created hundreds …

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• Fall 2023 IBM i Tech Refresh Brings Something For Everyone

  October 11, 2023 Alex Woodie

  As expected, IBM yesterday unveiled its fall Technology Refresh (TR) for IBM i, with updates starting to become available on November 17. IBM announced no new products as part of the fall 2023 TR cycle, but it did spread the love around by giving just about everybody something to cheer about in IBM i 7.5 TR3 and 7.4 TR9.

  Lots of different products that make up the IBM i environment will see some pretty meaningful enhancements with this release. If you spend a lot of time in Navigator for i or ACS, you will see new stuff. We haven’t had …

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• Guru: Search Source Code For Strings Using SQL

  October 9, 2023 Bob Cozzi

  The IBM-supplied Find String Using PDM (FNDSTRPDM) command and PDM option 25 are how most developers scan for a simple value in a list of source file members. But what if you need more? For example, what if you want to find something complex, such as the field named “CUST” but not the field named “CUSTNAME” “CUSTOMER” or “CUSTNO”? Go ahead, I’ll wait?

  While I do use FNDSTRPDM all the time, I now use the SQL READSRC (Read Source File Member) Table function more often.

  READSRC SQL UDTF

  The READSRC SQL Table function or UDTF (User-defined table function) uses an …

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• IBM Releases Db2 For i Extensions For VS Code

  October 9, 2023 Alex Woodie

  Interested in developing new ILE applications in VS Code that utilize the Db2 for i database? Then you’re in luck, because IBM recently created and released vscode-db2i, an open source database extension for Code for IBM i, the uber popular development environment that enables ILE programming in VS Code.

  It is tough to overstate the popularity of Code for IBM i, which Liam Allan created and released just over two years ago. The open source plug-in provides ILE functionality for Microsoft’s VS Code, enabling programmers to write and edit RPG, COBOL, C, and CL code in the lightweight, browser-based …

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• 40 Years Of DB2, But Even More For That No-Name Database Embedded In The System/38

  October 2, 2023 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Last week, Big Blue celebrated the 40^th anniversary of the launch of its Database 2 relational database management system for its venerable System/370, System 308X, and System/390 mainframes. It is now called Db2, because marketing people can’t leave anything alone, and even though we now have this thing called Db2 for i, IBM didn’t mention this red-headed stepchild of a relational database as part of its celebration.

  Not even once. And that’s just fine by us because the integrated relational database management system that has been the heart of our venerable System/38 and its progeny was never DB2/400 or …

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