DataThread ushers in a new generation of database auditing for IBM i servers.

Written by Robin Tatam

While we often hear that it's the people that are an organization's greatest asset, I think many would agree that data comes in at a photo-finish second place. Without it, most businesses couldn't take orders, manufacture and distribute products, invoice customers, or make timely business decisions. Data is the lifeblood of the technology infrastructure that our enterprise runs on, and without it the modern enterprise cannot survive.

Leverage DB2 Web Query and SQL client special registers.

Written by Gene Cobb

In V6R1 of the IBM i operating system, support was added for the specification (and subsequent retrieval) of several new special registers that applications can use to identify what jobs, users, programs, and applications are issuing SQL statements to the DB2 for i engine. Currently, there are five such registers you can use:

You've been asked to help train a new programmer with neither IBM i nor RPG experience. Where is she going to learn the necessary skills?

Written by Dr. William A. Hansen

Believe it or not, companies are hiring again. Some are even hiring RPG programmers! Unfortunately, many of these new employees don't have the skills you expect from an RPG programmer. Some are recent college graduates proficient in C, Java, PHP, JavaScript, and other languages that may be useful to your company. Others are mainframe COBOL programmers. In too many cases, they have neither RPG nor basic IBM i skills.

Take advantage of record block size special values to boost application performance during sequential data processing.

Written by Kent Milligan

One of the most common recommendations to improve the performance of database-intensive applications is to increase the amount of database blocking. This performance advice especially holds true when the application program is performing sequential data processing.

How do you leverage business information easily for on-the-spot analysis?

Written by Floyd Del Muro

Do you need to extract transaction data to your PC for analysis? Is there too much data for your PC to handle? Do you need to move the data in a spreadsheet for ease of use? Does your team need to take the data on the road to critical accounts?

Are the IT needs of your company on a collision course with the dwindling pool of RPG programmers?

Written by Steve Kilner

The question above is in many managers' minds as the pool of RPG programmers continues to shrink due to retirements and other forms of attrition. It is likely that there will be RPG developers available for many years to come, but that doesn't address the real problem. The real problem is what happens when you lose members of your team. A lot of knowledge is walking out the door with them. How can it possibly be replaced?

The last tip in this series discusses creating PDF files using the open-source FPDI product.

Written by Jan Jorgensen

We all know that companies have a lot of predefined letters that contain logos, special forms, and such, and it is always a challenge for us as programmers to fit our data into these predefined letters. Sometimes we just re-create the letter, and if changes occur, we start over again in order to make things look nice. But wouldn't it be great if we could put all our efforts into the data processing instead of the design of letters and forms?

Crossroads' SPHiNX and Robot/SAVE team up to automate your IBM i backup solution.

Written by Tom Huntington

For years, many of us have wondered when tape technology would become a thing of the past. Many data center managers have dreamt of the time when there's no need for tape racks, offsite tape storage, and media couriers. They have wanted to eliminate operator intervention for media errors, out-of-tape issues, locked tapes, and active file errors.