May 1996

• In This Issue -
• Letters -
• Let Lou Know - Roger Pence says that as AS/400 customers, you deserve IBM Chairman and CEO Lou Gerstner's assurance that the AS/400 is getting the attention it deserves and the resources it needs from top-level IBM management. He encourages you to write Mr. Gerstner about your commitment to the AS/400 and your experiences (good and bad).
• Untangling IT: Tame Your Enterprise Data Monster - Robert Tipton says many enterprise information systems are huge, out of control, and alternately friend or foe -- just like Godzilla. If you don't tame them -- using such technologies as data warehousing, online analytical processing, and data mining -- it may be your career that gets crushed next.
• Newswatch -
• International Update -
• Update -
• The AS/400 as Server -
• The AS/400 Goes Graphical! - John Enck looks at Graphical Access. This subset of Seagull Software's GUI/400 product is bundled with Client Access V3R1M1 and puts a Windows face on AS/400 menus and commands.
• Introducing the Distributed Program Call API - Michael Otey explains how to use the V3R1M1 Client Access Distributed Program Call API in a Visual Basic client program to call AS/400 programs, pass them parameters, and receive returned values.
• ODBC and AS/400 Stored Procedures - Giving PC client applications direct update access to AS/400 physical and logical files is a potentially disastrous security exposure. But ODBC and DB2/400 stored procedures offer an excellent solution to help you create safer, faster client/server update applications. Paul Conte helps you get up and running fast with a complete cut-and-paste VB application.
• Using VB Strings with CA and ODBC APIs - Paul Conte describes three categories of Client Access and ODBC APIs (input strings and buffers used immediately, output and input/output buffers used immediately, strings and buffers not used immediately) and explains how to pass arguments between each category and a Visual Basic program. Code samples are provided.
• Reap the Benefits of Data Warehousing - A data warehouse simplifies data access and analysis, and it provides more than end-user query access to raw data. Warehousing, as Nigel Stokes explains, lets you store critical business information in a form that lets users examine connections and trends in the data.
• Low-End AS/400 Gateways - Gateway products such as SNA Server and NetWare for SAA let you connect your PC LAN to an AS/400 without running multiple protocols on the LAN. In this article, John Enck reports on scaled-down alternatives to these high-end solutions that can bring the benefits of gateways to smaller shops.
• Ultima/400 1.1.1 - John Enck finds that Farabi Technology Corporation's LAN-AS/400 gateway offers an excellent solution for departments or small organizations requiring emulation and transfer functions on the desktop.
• DDS Basics, Part 1: Database Files - DDS provides an external data definition that application programming languages can use. Ernie Malaga shows you how to use DDS's field referencing and its logical files for sorting and selecting database records and fields.
• DataPropagator Relational Capture and Apply - IBMers Kimberly Cink and James Flanagan discuss IBM's data replication product, DataPropagator Relational Capture and Apply, which lets you automatically propagate data changes to multiple systems.
• A Buyer's Guide to Windows 5250 Emulation - This Buyers Guide provides details about client support, display and printer emulation features, Client Access-related features, pricing, and more for nearly 50 Windows-based 5250 emulation products.
• Analyze File Access Paths - André Dubreuil's utility DSPFRI lets you analyze the access paths created over a physical file.
• Packed Decimal OVRconfusion - OVRDBF's POSITION parameter requires that a key value be either a character variable or a literal, which seems to mean you can't specify a packed decimal key value as a variable. Unless you use utility CVTDECCHR, that is. The secret lies in using a data structure with overlapping fields. Ernie Malaga also provides the converse conversion utility, CVTCHRDEC.
• On the Trail of Program References - Azubike Oguine and Ernie Malaga present utility WRKPGMREF, which gives you a list of program references in a standard work-with panel. You can even recursively invoke WRKPGMREF; doing so takes you down a level and displays the references for that program.
• Tech Corner -
• NEWSMART/400 -
• A Buyers Guide to ODBC Drivers - John Ghrist introduces this Buyers Guide, which reports on the features of AS/400-compatible ODBC drivers, including ODBC API and SQL grammar conformance, router support, security, and more.
• New Products & Services -
• IBM Announcements -
• Street Talk -