LANSA's Open for .NET solution is designed to help make integrating Microsoft applications and IBM data a trouble-free experience.

By Chris Smith

Ever roll into work and think you're actually in Gabon on the set of Survivor? Everyone has his little tribe, and no one thinks anyone else is contributing enough to justify their existence?

Think of the IBM i tribe as the red tribe, Fang. Think of the Microsoft .NET tribe as the yellow tribe, Kota. They wrestle, they compete, they try to survive on limited resources. If this describes your world, you may long for the good old days when there was but one tribe, the AS/400 tribe. Those days are over, however, so you might as well accept that there are now two tribes in Gabon. Do you want to compete, or do you want to get along?

Search the library list when accessing and querying a referenced database object such as a physical file or SQL view.

By Gene Cobb

In a previous article titled "Maximize SQL Query Engine (SQE) Usage of Your DB2 Web Query Reports," I explained how you could utilize various techniques available on the System i to influence database optimization behavior for DB2 Web Query requests. That article relied upon the use of the QIBM_QSQ_CLI_CONNECT exit program to take a specific (program-defined) action. In this article, I'll show you another way to take advantage of this exit point when using DB2 Web Query.

Learn how to exploit enhanced BLOB/CLOB support, SQL XML data type, and better connection management.

By Jarek Miszczyk

If you were, like me, watching closely the evolution of the JDBC specification, you probably noticed how it morphed from a rudimentary data access object model to a mature, function-rich programming interface. Typically, the Rochester development lab does a pretty good job in providing robust, JDBC-compliant drivers that you can use to access DB2 for i from Java applications. This tradition is continued with the latest version of DB2 for i drivers, which implement a host of JDBC 4.0 enhancements.

Now it's much easier to understand QSQSRVR usage and isolate QSQSRVR-related problem domains and origins.

By Scott Forstie

IBM DB2 for i customers are accustomed to seeing SQL server mode job activity, otherwise known as QSQSRVR prestart jobs, in the QSYSWRK subsystem. Over time, customer applications, third-party software, and IBM middleware have increased the use of SQL server mode. A consequence of this broad use is that it has become increasingly difficult to start with a specific QSQSRVR job and find its application owner.

This article describes some recent improvements to V5R4M0 and V6R1M0 that make it downright simple to pinpoint the application job that holds the connection to the QSQSRVR as well as the thread identifier within the application job that was the last user of the SQL server mode connection for the specific QSQSRVR job.

Extend your legacy date fields to support a richer set of date values and improve the performance of your reports.

By Gene Cobb

In my previous TechTip, "Converting Legacy Date Fields to DB2 Web Query Dates, Part I," I described how to use the powerful DB2 Web Query for IBM i built-in functions (BIFs) to convert your legacy date fields to "smart dates." These smart dates are virtual columns stored in the metadata and, as such, can be used in DB2 Web Query reports and graphs just like any other field in the data source. In Part II of this TechTip, I'll show you an alternate way of extending your legacy date fields to support a richer set of date values and improve the performance of your reports. This technique involves the introduction of a new table (physical file) to your database: the date conversion table.

By Jarek Miszczyk

With V6R1 DB2 for i5/OS, the transition of SQL workloads from Classic Query Engine (CQE) to the new SQL Query Engine (SQE) has been basically completed. So far, the SQE functionality has been delivered in six waves:

New capabilities allow designers and programmers to continue to produce new and exciting applications.

By Jim Flanagan

Because DB2 for i5/OS is embedded within i5/OS, application designers and programmers likely expected that with the V6R1 release of i5/OS there would be plenty of database enhancements included. They weren't disappointed, because the developers of DB2 for i5/OS have been busy developing many new functions and enhancements that should be of interest to anyone that works with the database. (Isn't that everyone?)