Recent DB2 Web Query group PTF levels 4 through 7 include a host of valuable new enhancements. Learn more about what are sure to be the most popular new features in this product.
Version 2.1 of DB2 Web Query for IBM i was released in June of 2012 and included a major overhaul of product ordering and packaging as well as many new enhancements. Since that time, IBM has released seven group PTFs, each one containing both fixes and exciting new features. In this two-part article, I cover some of the most significant new enhancements made to the product over the last 18 months.
User Selection Output Option
InfoAssist, the DB2 Web Query tool for developing reports, charts, documents, and dashboards, continues to expand to offer the features that report developers need. One of the new enhancements made to the tool in group PTF level 6 was the User Selection option in the Format tab. This allows the user (at run time) to select the desired output format of the report. The report developer selects this output type as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: The report developer selects User Selection output format.
Now when the users run that report, they are prompted for the desired output option. An example is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Output formats are prompted for at report run time.
This is essentially an alternative to the report output format in the InfoMini feature. While InfoMini has some very nice features (as it really is a miniature version of InfoAssist), it does require extra resources to load, whereas User Selection is basically a runtime prompt control. Consequently, users may appreciate the snappy response time of the new User Selection feature.
Note: This new InfoAssist option must be activated by an administrator using the InfoAssist Properties under Configuration in the Administration Console. This is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Activate User Selection.
Support for Within
The Within feature allows the report developer to include column calculations such as percentage of totals within specific sort by and across fields. Previously, these calculations could be set up only at the total report level. In my example report in Figure 4, each line has Revenue columns for each of the following:
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Percentage of total
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Percentage within country
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Percentage within region
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Percentage within state
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Percentage within city
Figure 4: Percentage of totals are shown within Country, Region, State, and City.
To set up Within, right-click a measure column in your report and select More>Within>By>Your Sort By field. An example is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Set up Within.
Ability to Specify/Control Grand Totals Fields
Prior to group PTF level 6, report grand totals was an "all or nothing": if the report developer turned on column totals, all numeric fields were summed at the bottom of the report. This wasn't always the desired behavior, particularly if you happen to have customer number or invoice number fields defined in your database as numeric! This was addressed in group PTF level 6; report developers now have much more control over how grand totals are calculated. As you can see in the example in Figure 6, developers have a variety of options, including the ability to omit grand totals for non-measure numeric columns such as invoice number. These are the same options as the report developer has at the subtotal level.
Figure 6: These are the grand total options.
Ability to Run SQL Trace from BI Portal
Query performance is very important to report developers (or at least it should be!) and has multiple aspects and layers. If you want your reports running at optimal speed, one vital piece of information to know is the SQL statement(s) that the query will send to the DB2 for i engine when a given report is run. This is useful information both before you deploy the report into production (as a proactive exercise) and even afterward if your report is running slower than expected. Starting in group PTF level 6, there is an option to display this information from the BI Portal interface. An example of this new option and the resultant SQL information is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 7: Run with SQL trace.
Report developers have always had this option in version 2.1 of InfoAssist, but they may find it even more useful from the BI Portal as well since they no longer have to edit the report just to use this option.
DB2 LUW and DB2 for z/OS Support
Based upon configured DRDA connections on the IBM i, DB2 Web Query administrators can create remote DB2 CLI adapter connections to databases of the other DB2 family of products (DB2 LUW and DB2 for z/OS). This allows DB2 WebQuery report developers to query information on these databases and consolidate it with DB2 for i data (and even SQL Server data if you have that adapter) in reports, charts, and dashboards.
SSO and Kerberos
Single sign-on (SSO) is the use of a single authentication process for multiple processes or applications and is a popular implementation in many IBM i shops. As of group PTF level 6, DB2 Web Query can now participate in this environment. Using the Kerberos protocol and the Enterprise Identity Mapping (EIM) framework, configured users can perform initial authentication at a Windows login and bypass the DB2 Web Query sign on screen.
Like any SSO environment, this configuration provides the following benefits:
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Sign-on is easier and faster for users.
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Users spend less time managing passwords (changing passwords on multiple systems).
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Fewer passwords being transmitted through the network results in a more secure environment.
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The network profile can be different from IBM i user profile.
In group PTF level 7, the new CL command CFGWQSSO was added to simplify the DB2 Web Query SSO configuration process. For more information on SSO for DB2 Web Query, see the configuration guide.
More to Come!
As you can see, DB2 Web Query continues to get better with age, but there's even more! In my next TechTip, I'll cover three more exciting enhancements to the product.
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