April 1996

• In This Issue -
• Letters -
• I Check Out COMMON - In this April foolery, journalist Dave Berry discovers that you can't demo the latest in adult computer game software, but there's a lot of other interesting things to do at a COMMON conference and expo.
• A Dangerous Distraction - Roger Pence tells AS/400 customers to forget NT on the FSIOP. Without a large suite of modern, Windows-based applications, the AS/400 may not survive the decade.
• Newswatch -
• International Update -
• Update -
• Slash DB2/400 Query Time with Parallel Processing - IBM's Mark Megerian explains the workings of DB2 Multisystem for OS/400, a new product that brings parallel database processing to distributed AS/400s. DB2 Multisystem/400 lets you spread individual files across connected machines and speeds queries by having each machine process only its own records.
• Faster, Safer Client/Server with DB2/400 Stored Procedures - The primary purpose of DB2/400 stored procedures is to enable an SQL-based application to call a program on a different system, but stored procedures also can speed up client/server applications and protect the data those applications use. In the first article of a two-part series, Paul Conte explains how to use stored procedures in a client/server application.
• Tighten Your DB2/400 Security - IBMer Carol Woodbury explains resource security, provides a strategy for securing logical files, discusses triggers' potential exposures, offers some ideas for securing interfaces such as DDM and ODBC, and touches on data encryption and auditing.
• OS/400's New Graphical Interface - Roger Pence reports on a January 1996 visit to IBM Rochester, where he previewed Rochester's Windows 95 plans for the AS/400, including a 32-bit Windows 95 client and an integrated, Windows 95 user interface for the RISC AS/400. Roger also reports on the current plans for Client Access for Windows 3.1.
• Interview with Bob Dies: The AS/400 and Network-Centric Computing - Bob Dies, general manager of IBM's AS/400 Division, talks with Wayne Madden about the strengths, vision, and future of the AS/400, including how it fits in with IBM's network-centric vision and where current investments are going.
• Before Pulling the Trigger in RPG IV - Julian Monypenny says to put your trigger implementation on "safety" until you've coded your RPG IV trigger programs for easy maintenance using /Copy modules and based variables. /Copy modules and based variables can make the variable-length record images available to your trigger programs without any hard-coding of the record layout. To handle any changes in the record layout, you just recompile the trigger program associated with the physical file.
• C/S Watch -
• Free Your PC - Terry Smith shows how to free PC resources while a Windows program is processing. He covers the Visual Basic DoEvents function and his own C YieldControl function, the different methods for making Client Access APIs relinquish control while their requests are being processed on the AS/400, and how to prevent program users from initiating a Client Access request a second time or exiting the program before the first request has been completed.
• Picture This! - Enhance your AS/400 applications with a Visual Basic front end. Roger Pence's WrkSls program uses data queues to move data between the PC and AS/400, displays a bitmapped photo stored on the PC, and dials an attached phone.
• Train Windows for Workgroups, MSDLC, and NetWare into Coexistence - John Enck concludes his series on configuring a PC to run multiple protocols and Client Access or PC Support/400 by explaining how to configure Windows for Workgroups, Microsoft's Data Link Control (MSDLC, which lets a WFW PC connect to an AS/400), and NetWare.
• ILE at Work: Part 1 Bound Calls and Modules - Bryan Meyers kicks off his ILE series by covering modules, binding, and call mechanisms.
• RPG Subroutine Mapper - Utility command MAPRPGSUB hierarchically maps an RPG program to help you clearly see the program's subroutines and program calls.
• TPILB Supreme - In this April foolery, Ernie Malaga presents a utility that lets you give your own system documentation that special IBM flavor by including some pages that say "This page intentionally left blank."
• Tech Corner -
• Buyer's Guide to Uninterruptible Power Supplies - John Ghrist presents a Buyer's Guide to AS/400-compatible UPS products.
• IBM's AS/400: Better than a Beer! - A landmark comparison-shopping study reveals how the AS/400 stacks up against North America's favorite beverage, many household appliances, and even some national governments. It's April Fools!
• New Products & Services -
• IBM Announcements -
• Street Talk -
• Let Users Design Own E-mail -