-
Where Do Those IBM i Machines Work?
January 18, 2016 Timothy Prickett Morgan
We may live in a big data world, but a lot of the data is not worth the magnetic media it is stored on. This is particularly true when it comes to the IBM i installed base, which used to be more aggressively diced and sliced by the big IT market researchers of the world back it was called the AS/400 and when it had a $14 billion ecosystem across hardware, software, and services.
But we do what we can in a world without much data about our ecosystem, and that is one of the reasons why IT Jungle has
-
How Many Interfaces Are Enough (To Print A CSV File)?
December 1, 2015 Ted Holt
Note: The code accompanying this article is available for download here.
CSV (comma-separated values) files have been part of my working world for years. I like them because they’re easy to build. Users like them because they can easily open them in Microsoft Excel. I’ve written about this before. Let’s end the year with a utility I wrote to print CSV files. I had fun writing it. Maybe you’ll find it useful in your shop.
When I need to read a CSV file on an IBM i system, I typically FTP the file from the IFS to a temporary
-
Questions About AES Encryption In RPG, DB2 for i, And The Web
October 27, 2015 Michael Sansoterra
Hey, FHG:
We have never used encryption. Our new manager wants us to start using it on our IBM i 7.1 system. (For instance, we store passwords for our website members). I use the ENCRYPT_AES and DECRYPT_CHAR SQL functions in my RPG programs. However, with respect to AES encryption, our PHP web programmer is asking about how to generate an initialization vector and then save it later for decryption. Can you point us in the right direction? Finally, our manager doesn’t like the fact that the encryption key is in plain text in RPG source code. What are your
-
DB2 for i 7.1 TR10 and i 7.2 TR2 Features, Part 2
October 20, 2015 Michael Sansoterra
Continuing on from Part 1, this tip covers some new features recently made available in DB2 for i.
SQL Function Parameter Limit
User-defined functions capabilities in DB2 for i have received a huge boost in that the parameter list limit for a scalar function has jumped from 90 parameters to a whopping 1024 parameters. Likewise, the combined input parameter and return columns limit for a table function has increased from 125 to 1025.
Off the top of my head I can’t think of an example when I would want to pass more than 90 parameters into a scalar function.
-
Rocket: We’re More Than the Sum of Our (IBM i) Parts
October 7, 2015 Alex Woodie
Over the years, Rocket Software has bought some well-known properties in the IBM i space: Aldon, Seagull, BlueZone, iCluster. But now the Massachusetts company wants the IBM i community to think of it as a wider source of innovation for the platform, and a one-stop shop for IBM i products–including the new Rocket Mobile for i it launched at this week’s COMMON conference in Florida.
“If you look throughout our portfolio,” Rocket CEO Andy Youniss says, “we have this wide variety and spectrum of products. We’ve done a really bad job of telling that story to the i world because
-
Scratch Message Files? Why Not?!
October 6, 2015 Ted Holt
If you read this august publication, you probably know what a scratch file is. (For those of you who know nothing about computers and read this publication solely for its sterling literary merit, a scratch file is a database table or stream file that is used temporarily within a job.) Today I invite you to consider that the advantages of scratch files also extend to scratch message files.
Consider superb RPG program SUPERBPGM2:
ctl-opt dftactgrp(*no); dcl-pr SuperbPgm2 extpgm('SUPERBPGM2'); ouStatus likeds(Status_t); inPlant char(12); end-pr; dcl-pi SuperbPgm2; ouStatus likeds(Status_t); inPlant char(12); end-pi; dcl-ds Status_t qualified template; MsgID char( 7); ProgramName char(10); Plant
-
More iSphere Goodies
September 29, 2015 Susan Gantner
Before I proceed with this latest installment on the features of the iSphere toolset that plugs into RDi, I want to first update a few items I’ve covered in earlier tips in this series.
First of all, in my first iSphere tip, I neglected to give credit to one of the primary contributors to the iSphere toolset. I had mentioned the team at TaskForce IT, but failed to acknowledge the significant work done by Thomas Raddatz of Tools400. My apologies to Thomas for that omission.
Second, thanks to continued development efforts, a new version of the iSphere plug-in is
-
What IBM Can Learn From Free-Form RPG
August 31, 2015 Dan Burger
Three weeks ago, I wrote an article about free-form RPG, a runner-up in the IBM best kept secrets game and second only to magnificently camouflaged IBM i. Since then, I’ve collected the opinions of several more free-form observers. I’ve not talked with anyone who believes IBM is doing enough to encourage free-form conversion of old RPG code. But there is more to say about whether the benefits and the effort it takes to make the code conversion.
Technically, the conversion from fixed-format to free-form RPG is pretty simple. Tools from IBM i ISVs ARCAD and Linoma Software are capable and
-
RCAC in DB2 for i, Part 1: Row Access Permissions
August 18, 2015 Michael Sansoterra
In a world of hackers, every data asset is vulnerable to theft or tampering. Protecting data can be costly, yet being hacked is even costlier. Enter IBM‘s row and column access control. RCAC is a big deal as businesses are looking for effective tools to control security, in particular, database security.
RCAC allows database security administrators to tighten the reigns on who can view data in the database. Even better, many of these security measures can be implemented without changing applications. Versions of DB2, Postgre SQL, Oracle, SQL Server (currently in preview with Azure v12 and SQL Server 2016),
-
BI On IBM i: A Fish Out Of Water
August 17, 2015 Dan Burger
A fish discovers it needs water when it is no longer in it. A business discovers it needs data when it can’t get it. Or, in many cases, it can’t get the data it wants, when it’s wanted, and how it’s wanted. In the IBM midrange, the term “operational reporting” has been around forever. Because we have a habit of changing the names of old things to make them sound new, the term “business intelligence” is more favored. What matters is getting information in a timely manner and in a friendly format.
The underlying infrastructure doesn’t matter. Operational reporting is