FHG Archives - Page 32 of 144

Admin Alert: Strategically Using Power Systems’ Processor Trial Capacity On Demand

November 28, 2012 Joe Hertvik

IBM Power system customers usually buy more capacity than they need. A customer may buy an eight processor Power 720 machine but only activate five processors, leaving the additional processors for future growth. Because it’s expensive to activate Power system processors, IBM offers a program called Trial Capacity on Demand (TCoD) that allows you to test whether additional processors will alleviate system bottlenecks before you purchase.

What Is TCoD?

Trial Capacity on Demand (TCoD) is an IBM program that allows you to activate already existing system processors for 30 days at no charge. The intent is to allow users to

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Converting CASE in CL

November 14, 2012 Bob Cozzi

When I write CL, I long for some of the ease-of-use features IBM added over the last 10 years to RPG IV. Simple things like %XLATE or %SCAN or %EDITC would be nice.

For example, a client of mine had a CL program that required several parameters, one of which was a user ID. However, the non-IBM i platform on which that information was entered did not automatically convert lowercase letters to all uppercase. When the program would try to verify the user profile, it would almost always fail.

Initially my client wanted to use one of the legacy APIs

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Use SQL To Update A Sequence Number

November 14, 2012 Hey, Ted

Is it possible to use a single SQL statement to assign an ascending sequence number to a column in a table? I’d like the sequence number to start at 10 and increment by 10 as every row is updated so that the number column in the updated rows would be 10, 20, 30, etc.

–Doug

I know a way, Doug. However, let me say up front that I’ve only played with this. That is, I’ve never used it in a production environment. I can’t speak to how practical it might be or what you might need to watch out for.

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Admin Alert: A Checklist For Performing IBM i Planned Maintenance

November 14, 2012 Joe Hertvik

Taking down an IBM i system for planned system maintenance involves more than just performing the maintenance itself. To keep processing running without issue, you need to ensure that the machine ends cleanly before maintenance begins and that it restarts smoothly after maintenance completes. To that end, here’s a starter checklist for how to take down and restart an IBM i machine during planned system maintenance.

The Phases Of System Maintenance

When planning IBM i system maintenance, it’s helpful to divide the maintenance up into three sets of tasks that you must successfully complete. These task sets are:

Pre-maintenance tasks

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Running IBM i Access 7.1 and Windows 8

October 31, 2012 Michael Sansoterra

With the newly released Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8, I wanted to test drive Windows 8 and use it on my primary computer if possible. However, I knew a potential stumbling block would be getting IBM i Access for Windows to function. So I set out to load IBM i Access 7.1 on Windows 8.

While doing my research, I didn’t find anything on the IBM i Access for Windows website indicating general compatibility with Windows 8. In the past, the newest version of Windows has generally been a “no-go” until a Windows specific service pack is released. But,

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Data Structures Make Good Status Parameters

October 31, 2012 Ted Holt

When a good program goes bad, someone must fix it. Sometimes that someone is me. As for the “when,” it’s never a good time. It’s important to me that the failing program give me as much information as possible to help me pinpoint the cause of the error as quickly as possible.

There are two ways a program can inform its caller that it could not complete normally. One way is by sending a message. (I have written about this topic before; see the Related Stories at the end of this article.) The other way is to use a status

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Changing Sub Tree Authorities In An IFS Folder

October 31, 2012 Hey, Joe

I need to change access authority for all the objects in a specific AS/400 Integrated File System (AS/400 IFS) folder and all its sub-folders. What’ the best way to do this? I’m running IBM i 6.1.

–Pete

Changing authorities for an IFS folder and its entire sub tree (objects and sub-folders) is a relatively easy task to accomplish. You just have to remember three things when updating this authority.

You must change the folder’s authorities using the green-screen Change Authority (CHGAUT) command. I haven’t been able to find any way to change sub tree authorities in Systems i Navigator V7R1M

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What’s That Name?

October 17, 2012 Paul Tuohy

The basis for this article comes from a brief conversation I had over coffee, while recently presenting an Introduction to SQL course. It went along these lines:

Tom: “In Run SQL Scripts, how can I get a list of the fields in a file?”

Me: “You mean the columns in a table or view.”

Tom: “OK. In Run SQL Scripts, how can I get a list of the columns in a table or a view?”

Me: “Just do a SELECT * and the column names are shown at the top of the columns.”

Tom: “Nope. I took the option to

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Non-Equal (Theta) Joins

October 17, 2012 Ted Holt

In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, all animals were declared to be equal. However, that was not the case. By the end of the book, some were “more equal than others.” You might think that all joins are equal, but you would be wrong. Unequal joins have their applications, too.

The equijoin is the norm in business. A customer number in a table (file) of invoices matches (equals) a customer number in a customer master table. But it is also possible to join on non-matching conditions such as not equal, greater than, less than, greater than or equal to,

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Admin Alert: One Year Out–Preparing For Your Next IBM i Upgrade, Part 2

October 17, 2012 Joe Hertvik

Two years ago, I wrote an article on how to start planning for an IBM Power i upgrade a year in advance. In that piece, I covered business partner evaluation, extended maintenance, third-party software, and budgeting for performance. Today I’m revisiting the topic and adding other hardware upgrade issues that require longer term planning and may need almost a year to complete.

A Lot Of Ground To Cover

In no particular order, here are the Power i hardware upgrade items that you can start planning for a year in advance of a hardware upgrade.