Tips & Techniques

TechTip: User Groups Fill Education and Networking Gaps

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Throughout the U.S. and around the world, user groups offer another source of IBM i expertise and community membership. Written by John Ghrist Ever been faced with a programming, systems-management, or other technical problem that your own expertise can't solve and that IBM docs or your favorite online forum doesn't address? It may be that help is available from other IBM i professionals in your area....

Partner TechTip: Is Your Query Tool Right for You?

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:00:05 +0100

Users need a flexible query tool that is powerful and easy to use. Written by Heath Kath Is your query tool up to date and function-rich? Are you able to build queries that end users, managers, and departments can use? Can it collect data from or send data to other systems or platforms? Does it provide run-time prompting? Does it handle data-mapping errors, especially around numeric date fields? Does it take advantage of SQL Query Engine (SQE) to improve run-time performance? Does it provide m...

TechTip: Simplify and Centralize Your SQL Triggers

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:00:15 +0100

New multiple-event triggers can simplify your SQL trigger development and management. Written by Kent Milligan As the utilization of SQL triggers continues to rise, some developers are being challenged by the fact that they must define a separate SQL trigger for each database event they want to associate with a trigger. Consider a developer who wants to use SQL triggers to ensure that any Insert or Update operation against the customer table always stores the company name value with all upperc...

Partner TechTip: Monitor Messages and Resources Automatically

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:00:10 +0100

Robot/CONSOLE eliminates manual monitoring on IBM i. Written by Chuck Losinski Our customers love that Robot never calls in sick, takes a vacation, or has a bad day. An ideal employee! Here are six ways Robot/CONSOLE automatically monitors your messaging and resources with system availability issues....

TechTip: Java-Based Client Access for the IBM i

Fri, 10 May 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Finally, a decent client is available from IBM for non-Windows platforms! Written by Barry L. Kline In my recent article "Is IBM i Access for Linux Right for Your Shop?", I reviewed IBM's Linux offering for accessing the IBM i's database and for providing 5250 emulation. The executive summary of that article is simply, "It's great for ODBC connectivity, but the emulator is best replaced by one of the open-source emulators or commercial alternatives." Shortly after the article was published, I r...

Partner TechTip: The Evolution of the Operator Checklist

Mon, 06 May 2013 06:00:05 +0100

An automated checklist fits in seamlessly with a proactive approach to systems management. Written by Kurt Thomas Checklists are an indispensable aid to professionals as varied as airline pilots and surgeons through to IT administrators. (Even with all that festive magic at his disposal, Santa Claus himself couldn't do his job without one!) What is it that makes checklists so special, and how has such a simple concept retained its significance and value in a world that functions and depends inc...

Partner TechTip: A Decade of IBM i Security: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly

Fri, 03 May 2013 06:00:05 +0100

PowerTech leaks details from its 10th "State of IBM i Security" study. Written by Robin Tatam A decade has passed since PowerTech published the first hugely popular "State of IBM i Security" study; however, despite the evolution of the server and the operating system, many configuration vulnerabilities remain the same....

TechTip: Getting Started with Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Learn Microsoft from the perspective of an RPG developer. Develop C# Web Applications using Visual Studio 2012. Written by Tom Snyder Being a code junkie, I'm thoroughly enjoying all of the career changes I've been experiencing over the past few years, and fortunately I was able to work with some amazing people along the way. Upgrade that to being fortunate enough to be a writer for MC Press; having the opportunity to share these perspectives is a genuine treat. I have a lot of goodies to share...

TechTip: Check Out the New DB2 for i HTTP Functions

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Use these new functions to easily extend your applications to the web. Written by Michael Sansoterra If you've been waiting for a DB2 for i feature that is unprecedented in power and simplicity, get ready to become "unhinged." Further, prepare to hammer on your IBM i admin to install the latest database fixes, because DB2 for i 7.1 Group PTF Level 22 introduces a suite of functions that allow developers to make all manner of HTTP requests. (Actually, Level 22 had a problem, so you should skip r...

Partner TechTip: Three Target Areas for Successful KPI Rollout

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 06:00:05 +0100

More companies, across all industries, are gathering data in huge quantities. They have determined that data is the key to their business and are using it to guide their organizations. Written by Mike Stegeman What is a Key Performance Indicator? Every task can have a KPI, but which information is measured should be unique to your organization. Sales goals, net income targets, production efficiency, and downtime are just a few of the possible areas ready for a KPI. You need to start with an ov...

Partner TechTip: 1 Tool to Address Your IFS and Temp Storage Problems

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:00:05 +0100

Monitoring temporary storage doesn't have to be a headache. Written by Tom Huntington I recently spoke with a customer whose IBM i system crashed. Did they lose multiple disk units? Was there a failure of the redundant power supply? No, they had a runaway job that gobbled up temporary storage, they missed the IBM i message "Storage Threshold Exceeded," and, in the middle of the night, their disk hit 100% and the system IPLed....

TechTip: Direct SQL Control of System Names

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:00:15 +0100

TR6's new direct control functionality simplifies the creation and management of SQL objects with long names. Written by Kent Milligan The recently announced Technology Refresh 6 for the IBM i 7.1 release includes an enhancement that allows users to directly control the short system name that is used SQL tables, views, and indexes....

TechTip: AIX Habits to Embrace and Others to Use with Caution

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:00:10 +0100

We all get into routine habits in our jobs. But does that mean we're doing things the best way? Written by David Tansley Over many years of administrating AIX systems, I developed some good and some not-so-good habits. I have managed to get rid of my bad habits. In this article, I will share with you from my own experience what habits I now avoid and what habits I embrace, or to put it another way, good habits to have....

TechTip: Convert iSeries Spool Files to Enhanced PDF Documents using iPDF and iText

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Creating enhanced PDF documents from spool files—including images, barcodes, added text, checkmarks, and encryption—is a simple process with the iPDF open-source package. Written by Paul Manners iPDF is a free, open-source toolset developed by Orati Systems Ltd. for the creation of PDF documents from *SCS spool files using iText 2.1.7, an open-source Java library (developed by Bruno Lowagie, Paulo Soares, and others) that allows you to create and manipulate PDF documents. iPDF is...

Partner TechTip: Small but Mighty: Controlling the *CLS Object Type

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:00:05 +0100

What happens when multiple jobs compete for resources? It's all about the routing. Written by Kurt Thomas Things don't always go according to plan on IBM i. Or do they? While the instinct for administrators and IT managers is to always hunt down a culprit—a rogue job, an inactive journal receiver, or something else—sometimes the very building blocks of a common process, or rather the specifics that define processes, can be where the trouble at hand resides....

Partner TechTip: How to Scrub User Profiles for a Pending Audit

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:00:05 +0100

Ensure that user profile settings match the user's needs but nothing more. Written by Robin Tatam Most of us have inherited our users and had no involvement in their profile creation or granting of authorities. Many existing profiles are copies of legacy profiles created when removing a command line from a green-screen menu afforded reasonable protection, even from an *ALLOBJ user....

TechTip: User Space Tricks That You Might Have Never Thought Of

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Learn some seldom-known yet practical techniques to utilize User Space Objects. Written by Junlei Li Before I read the post Re: *Usrspc question by Simon Coulter in 2001 in the Midrange-l mailing list, I had never known that the Display File (DSPF) command can be used to display or change the contents of a User Space (*USRSPC) object. I realized that as a special type of space object designed to be used by user programs, *USRSPC objects are treated slightly differently from other MI space objec...

Partner TechTip: Hinder Jobs to Make Life More Productive for Users

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:00:05 +0100

With QSystem Monitor, managing CPU and disk I/O usage is a whole lot easier. Written by Kurt Thomas Below the calm surface of a hard-working IBM i, there is something of a scramble going on. More precisely, it's a scramble for resources, and inevitably, in this job-eat-job scenario, there is little room for sentimentality. You see, the system doesn't care that a payroll job is more important than a large but routine print job. It will happily give that large print job all the CPU it wants, leav...

Partner TechTip: Seeking an IBM i Person of Interest

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:00:05 +0100

Authority Broker 4's new Screen Capture feature represents a Quantum Leap in user auditing! Written by Robin Tatam A popular new TV crime drama called Person of Interest tells of an advanced computer that can predict crimes by monitoring the actions and conversations of New Yorkers for signs that they are planning something nefarious. Although the idea of "Big Brother" monitoring public places elicits heated debate regarding personal privacy, most of us acknowledge that monitoring user activiti...

TechTip: Using Color in Printer Files on a Budget

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Learn the color printing capabilities that are available "out of the box" on IBM i. Written by Michael Sansoterra SNA Character Stream (SCS) printer files produce output that is as exciting as watching grass grow. Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) printer files are better, thanks to features provided by the BARCODE, BOX, COLOR, FONT, and other keywords. But did you know that AFP printer files also allow color elements to be printed on an HP-compatible color laser printer or included automati...

Partner TechTip: Your Whole Team Needs Access to Your Enterprise Data

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 06:00:05 +0100

Access Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, and other databases with IBM i queries. Written by Mike Stegeman Where is your business data? Is it all in IBM i DB2, or do you have data in MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, or Oracle databases? Do you need to consolidate this data across DB2 partitions? Does your current reporting and data access solution consolidate and provide instant access to this remote data? Do your developers need to move or modify data from one database to another?...

TechTip: jQuery Fundamentals, Part III

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:00:15 +0100

In this installment, callback functions are revealed. Written by Jan Jorgensen In this third TechTip about jQuery fundamentals, I'll focus on a very powerful function that is available in a lot of the jQuery APIs: the callback function. To understand the callback paradigm on a simple level, you must first understand how a browser executes JavaScript. I'll explain that by making a comparison to RPG....

Partner TechTip: FTP Monitoring or "Is That the Best You Can Do?"

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:00:05 +0100

Get a better handle on that much-used workhorse, FTP on your IBM i. Written by Kurt Thomas FTP is the beauty and the beast, the boon and the bane of networking on IBM i! You can't live without it, but sometimes you sure wish you could. As a communications protocol that has been around for decades, FTP has received heavy criticism for being low-security and difficult with firewalls. Contenders tried to take its place. Amendments have been made to it; higher layers have been added on top...

Partner TechTip: Virtual Tape Technology (VTL) Can Eliminate a Lot of Tape Headaches

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:00:02 +0100

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....

TechTip: Create an SQL Function to Split a Delimited List

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:00:15 +0100

With the aid of a recursive query, add a SPLIT function (common to many programming languages) to your DB2 for i toolbox. Written by Michael Sansoterra Many programming languages, such as Visual Basic, C#, Java, JavaScript, and others, have a "split" function. Split allows a developer to take a single string containing a delimited list of items and separate the individual items into a dynamically sized array. Every so often, I find myself longing for a similar function in DB2 for i's SQL. While...

TechTip: Passing Parameters by Read-Only Reference

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:00:10 +0100

To improve the flexibility of your RPG coding, and to help protect the integrity of the calling program's data, learn to use read-only reference where appropriate. Written by Bryan Meyers and Jim Buck Editor's note: This TechTip is an excerpt from the book Programming in RPG IV, 4th Edition. Prototypes provide an effective way to describe the data items to be passed between programs. Prototypes also offer some flexibility in the method the system will use to pass those parameters....

TechTip: Take Advantage of the SU CL Command

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Switch to and back from different user profiles within the same job with ease. Written by Junlei Li In UNIX or Linux, users switch to the super user (aka root) or another user via the su shell command (in a new shell, actually). With proper options, a su command can even preserve the original environment in the newly started shell session—for example, the -m option (do not reset environment variables) of the su command of GNU Linux. For an IBM i developer or operator, a CL command with functi...

TechTip: Troubleshooting Team Foundation Server

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:00:10 +0100

Learn how to properly install TFS and then make the best use of it. Written by Joydip Kanjilal Team Foundation Server (commonly known as TFS) is a source control management offering from Microsoft that has over the years matured a lot. TFS provides complete ALM features—data collection, project planning and tracking, and also reporting. You should have a good knowledge of Team Foundation Server components, understand its installation prerequisites, and also know the strategies and best practi...

TechTip: Soup Up iSeries Access, Part II

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:00:01 +0100

Make your life easier by enabling the cut, copy, and paste shortcut keys in iSeries Access. by Sam Lennon Say what you like about Windows; it has added a significant level of consistency across applications that many rely on. I love the efficiency of the Windows shortcut keys for cut, copy, and paste (Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V, respectively), and I use them in many applications instead of clicking on icons in the tool bar or clicking on the Edit menu. Since these keys work consistently across ...

TechTip: Comments: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Use these techniques to ensure that you're writing effective and appropriate comments in your RPG code. Written by Bryan Meyers and Jim Buck Editor's note: This TechTip is an excerpt from the book Programming in RPG IV, 4th Edition. Good programming style can serve a documentary purpose in helping others understand your source code. But use comments judiciously. If you practice good code construction techniques, you'll find that "less is more" when it comes to commenting the source. To...

TechTip: AIX Online Backups with Splitcopy

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:00:10 +0100

It's easy to incorporate your backups into a batch script. Written by David Tansley With ever-growing business needs to have systems up 24/7, finding a window to do your nightly batch runs becomes increasingly hard, especially to take backups, which are crucial for any system. AIX provides various methods to do online backups for JFS2 file systems, like internal and external snapshots, backsnaps, and mirroring. A method that is also available for JFS file systems for online backups is the split...

TechTip: Application Administration: Less Green, More GUI

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 06:00:15 +0100

With IBM Navigator for i, application administration has never been easier. Written by Steve Pitcher What's Application Administration? Simply put, Application Administration is a utility that allows you to control functions and applications available to users and groups on IBM i. There's an IBM i command that's similar to Application Administration in that it allows you to manage many different system components—from specifying which users can get/put via an FTP client to controlli...

TechTip: Installing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express on Your Local Machine

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:00:15 +0100

Expand your skills from the perspective of an RPG developer: Keep your IBM database close; keep your Microsoft database closer with Microsoft SQL Server. Written by Tom Snyder As a writer for MC Press, I understand how the sentiments on Microsoft can be, and I just happen to be watching The Godfather while putting this article together, so I thought that keeping your friends close and your enemies closer would be a good opener for my new series on Microsoft products....

TechTip: Implement Your Own DLTOBJ Command via the Undocumented QLIDLOBJ API

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:00:10 +0100

Wouldn't it be nice to have just one delete command for all object types? Written by Junlei Li As an IBM i developer, you have numerous object-related commands that accept a qualified object name and a valid object type to identify the target object(s) to work with—for example, WRKOBJ OBJ(XLIB/XFILE) OBJTYPE(*FILE), ALCOBJ OBJ(XLIB/XPGM) OBJTYPE(*PGM), DSPOBJD OBJ(XLIB/XSPC) OBJTYPE(*USRSPC), etc. However, you do not have a Delete Object (DLTOBJ) command. Instead, you have a bunch of object t...

TechTip: Starting at the Beginning with PHP Arrays

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:00:20 +0100

Learn about basic PHP arrays and how they're defined and looped. Written by Jan Jorgensen If, like me, you have begun to use PHP in conjunction with RPG, you'll very soon be using the arrays in PHP. You are of course familiar with arrays in RPG, and arrays in PHP work almost the same except that there are more than 75 functions that can be used on arrays in PHP. When you start to dig into them, you'll wish that the compiler guys at IBM would start looking into them as well....

TechTip: More Fun with Dates and Times

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:00:15 +0100

One trick in date/time arithmetic is learning to create and use durations. Written by Joe Pluta In the bad old days of RPG, dates and times were stored as pure numbers, and we had to work pretty hard to do any arithmetic. Time values were tough: when incrementing times, we had to roll the seconds into minutes and minutes into hours when either one hit 60, and then roll the hour at 24. Figuring out the number of seconds between two times was fun as well....

TechTip: Integration Improves Your Business

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 06:00:10 +0100

Here are a few steps that will make your job easier. Written by Regev Yativ Annoying scenario #1: Your salespeople are forced to do double-entry bookkeeping. Shouldn't you leave that to your accountants? Because your Salesforce.com isn't integrated into your SAP or Oracle systems, your top sales people are also data entry clerks, duplicating information among systems instead of closing more deals....

Partner TechTip: Compliance Reporting: Home for the Holidays!

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 06:00:05 +0100

Security reporting should be an integral part of every organization's security strategy. Written by Robin Tatam I recently spoke with a number of attendees at COMMON's fall conference in Columbus who were facing regulatory mandates including PCI, Sarbanes-Oxley, and HIPAA. For these organizations, tremendous resources are often consumed in order to generate the variety of information deemed necessary to prove compliance. Other session attendees indicated that, despite having no formal regulator...

TechTip: Free App Locates Memory Leaks

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:00:15 +0100

Did you really think that you didn't have to worry about this if you're a Java developer? Written by Nastel Technologies Java provides developers with false assurance that memory leakage is something they need not be concerned with. Even with Java Garbage Collection, leaks may occur. And further complicating the issue, OS memory usage may be stable while the JVMs fluctuate. The challenge is in detecting that there are leaks and then determining whe...

TechTip: The %DIFF BIF

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 06:00:15 +0100

Date and time math is simple with %DIFF. Written by Joe Pluta This TechTip introduces you to the %DIFF BIF, a powerful function that allows you to find the difference between any two compatible date or time variables (including timestamps). This is just one more reason to start using real time and date variables in your programs and your database definitions!...

TechTip: Simplify Stored Procedure Upgrades with Parameter Defaults

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 06:00:10 +0100

A new PTF makes it all so easy. Written by Kent Milligan The use of DB2 for i stored procedures by IBM i developers is on the rise. With stored procedures entrenched in application environments, developers are quickly learning that an upgraded version of a stored procedure featuring new input parameters requires a number of coding changes to be made. All of the programs that invoke the stored procedure need to be modified to pass values for the new parameters....

TechTip: BLOBs: Don't Run! Embrace Them with RPG!

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:00:15 +0100

There's no need to be afraid. Learn how to use RPG to load and extract binary data to and from DB2 BLOB columns. Written by Gene Cobb While vampires and zombies are all the rage these days, menacing invaders from outer space used to be the fright night monster du jour. Remember The Blob starring Steve McQueen? While this terrifying, bubbly alien may conjure up images of panic-stricken people running frantically through the streets, the database BLOB is actually something that should be…well�...

Partner TechTip: Building Runtime-Prompted Views with SEQUEL

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 06:00:10 +0100

Data access and analysis tools that utilize runtime prompts allow you to retrieve information faster and easier. Written by Heath Kath Do you struggle to keep track of countless, nearly identical queries that differ only in selection criteria like region, department, and date range? Runtime prompts help you stay organized by allowing different users and departments to run the same views but return unique, tailored results. SEQUEL lets you create prompted views quickly....

TechTip: Discover the Debug Built-ins of the IBM i System Debugger

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:00:15 +0100

Learn a way to make debugging a bit easier. Written by Junlei Li I used to debug programs under Linux with gdb. The versatile supports for expressions provided by gdb allow programmers to evaluate expressions containing any kind of constants, variables, High-Level Language (HLL)-specific operators, type casts, and even function calls. The IBM i System Debugger supports neither calls to user procedures nor calls to language-specific library routines or built-in functions (BIFs)—for example, RP...

TechTip: How Much Does Password Management Cost You?

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:00:10 +0100

You would probably be surprised, and now you can find out easily. Written by Patrick Botz It's widely known that passwords are a royal pain in the Kardashian. What's less well known is that managing those pesky things is also a considerable hidden drain on the corporate pocketbook. Do you have any idea how much your organization spends on managing passwords? You can find out in just couple of minutes using the free SSO ROI calculator found at www.botzandassociates.com. And if you're like the ma...

Partner TechTip: Help! I Forgot My IBM i Password (Again!)

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 06:00:05 +0100

Discover the euphoria of self-service password reset. Written by Robin Tatam Since the dawn of the technological age, stories have abounded of users writing passwords on Post-It notes and in logbooks. That's because good passwords are hard to devise and even harder to remember. When we concoct one, we hang on to it. What's worse, we use the same username and password everywhere. Many experts believe passwords represent one of the greatest security vulnerabilities; however, they remain a necess...

TechTip: IBM i Access for Web Part II: Getting Productive Without All the Green Stuff

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 06:00:15 +0100

Let's look at some other features of IBM i Access for Web, including how to convert spooled files to PDF and how to manage your IBM i from mobile devices or Lotus Notes. Written by Steve Pitcher Last time, we had a look at how to set up IBM i Access for Web and briefly explored the Web-based 5250-style interface. We'll go a little more general this time, showing you how to do some neat things with the product....

TechTip: Get Secure FTP for Free!

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 06:00:10 +0100

Download a free tool that will do your job for you fast. Written by Arpeggio Software If you've been tasked with putting together a secure FTP process for exchanging files with a partner or a remote location, then this TechTip will save you many days of work. A new, free tool from Arpeggio Software will make it very easy for you to fully automate any sFTP task, with built-in recovery, using only one CL program, and it can be fully implemented in minutes. Best of all, you won't need to worry abo...

Partner TechTip: The Consolidation Revolution

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 06:00:05 +0100

One IBM Power Systems frame can host IBM i, Linux Red Hat or SUSE, or AIX/UNIX partitions in a single "footprint." Written by Chuck Losinski The history of IBM i has seen trends of decentralization as well as consolidation. In the first move toward consolidation, single data centers had multiple AS/400 systems, with user environments controlled strictly through subsystem technology. The next trend was consolidating multiple partitions on a single iSeries running OS/400 to physical I/O adapters ...

TechTip: DB2 Web Query and Excel Spreadsheets: Easy as Pie!, Part I

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 06:00:15 +0100

Did you know DB2 Web Query has output options to send your reports directly to Excel? Learn about some features that will help you easily and quickly build spreadsheets. Written by Gene Cobb The Excel spreadsheet is an immensely popular tool for analyzing business data. It has a vast array of features and functions for manipulating and representing information in various ways to help you understand your business data and make more informed decisions going forward. Consequently,many users and an...