May 1998

• Benchmarking ODBC Performance - The performance of an ODBC client/server connection is affected by a number of factors.
• In This Issue -
• Letters -
• Thinking Outside the Box, or Inside! - Wayne Madden proposes that unbundling the AS/400's software from its hardware would give potential customers something they could put their hands on and would put more focus on the real value of the AS/400 product line.
• "Caffeinate" Your Green-Screen Code - Robert Tipton describes how new Java and Internet tools are providing powerful, flexible ways to get GUIs in front of AS/400 applications and Web-enable current RPG and Cobol apps.
• Newswatch -
• Upgrade Costs Trouble V4R2 Launch - A series of IBM decisions has left many AS/400 users confused and frustrated about the costs to get to V4R2. Pam Jones explains the situation and how it might affect users' upgrade plans.
• A Strategic Guide to Java - Paul Conte explains Java's potential benefits, costs, and risks. He also explains how you can use Java, offering specific suggestions for ensuring that your own Java strategy is a sound one.
• Integrated AS/400-HP System Improves Manufacturer's EDI and Release Accounting - Leon Wyden describes how Future Three's AutoRelease and an innovative cross-platform solution helped his company accommodate new EDI trading partners and integrate AS/400-based shipping and release accounting with an HP-based manufacturing system.
• Restructuring for E-Business - E-business is a strategic business initiative, not a technical project, and you should establish ownership and resources accordingly. Nahid Jilovec discusses why this is so and reviews some of the key positions an e-business environment needs.
• Domino: A New Game for AS/400 Users -
• What's in Domino for AS/400? - Ann Hutchins discusses the main features of Domino for AS/400, the V4R2 Lotus Domino server product that provides a bundle of features, such as e-mail, database access, replication, workgroup computing, and Web serving, designed to harness the AS/400's capabilities as a database, e-mail, and Web server.
• Domino as a Web Server: Where Does It Fit? - Jelan Heidelberg and Paul Marchesseault explain IBM's three-pronged Internet and e-business strategy and how the Domino for AS/400 Web server fits into the picture.
• Middleware Unites Domino Database and DB2/400 - Robert Anderson explains how Percussion Software's Notrix lets Germania Farm Mutual Insurance distribute AS/400 data to field employees using Notes.
• Multidimensional Arrays: The Basics - You can't implement multidimensional arrays directly in RPG, but you can simulate them. Mike Cravitz explains multidimensional arrays and their uses in business systems. The second article in this series will provide code for implementing multidimensional arrays in RPG.
• Java's Core Syntax - Delving ever deeper into the particulars of the Java language, IBMers George Farr and Phil Coulthard discuss Java comments and statements.
• Making the AS/400 Toolbox's JDBC Perform - Lance Amundsen, an IBM Rochester client/server consultant, provides a first look at how to design and code speedy applications using AS/400 Toolbox for Java's JDBC interface.
• Converting DDS to SQL - Peter Clifford offers a pair of utilities, RTVSQLSRC and CRTSQLOBJ, that generates SQL statements equivalent to your existing DDS and executes them.
• Operations Navigator - The AS/400's GPS - Brian Singleton shows how you can use Client Access Operations Navigator to almost completely control AS/400 functions with just a point and a click.
• New Operations Navigator Features Ease TCP/IP Administration - IBM's Holly Lucke and Scott Sylvester explain new developments in V4R2 Operations Navigator, which makes TCP/IP administration easier.
• Maximize Resources: Sharing File Access Paths - In this follow-up to "Maximizing Resources: Sharing Open Data Paths" (April 1998), Dan Cruikshank and James Stewart discuss sharing file access paths and how to implement them to improve your AS/400's CPU efficiency.
• Tech Corner -
• Security FAQs -
• Client Access Family FAQs -
• New Products -
• AS/400 Disk Subsystems - Disk storage capacity and reliability continue to be critical needs in AS/400 shops. In this buyers guide, NEWS/400 reports on the current offerings and explains Extended Data Availability and Protection (EDAP), the successor to RAID ratings.
• IBM Announcements -
• Street Talk -
• What is an authorization list? -
• What are the advantages of using an authorization list? -
• When would I use an authorization list? -
• How do I secure an object with an authorization list, and can I secure an object with more than one -
• How do I give users authority to an authorization list? -
• How can I tell what objects are secured by an authorization list? -
• How do I know what authority users have to a given authorization list? -
• If a user is authorized to an authorization list, when does the authority check happen in the securi -
• What’s the difference between group profiles and authorization lists, and which is the best to use? -
• Transferring Program-Described Files with CA -
• Obtain the System Time in Milliseconds -
• Measuring File Opens and Closes with PEX -
• Starting the Router from a VB App -
• RPG IV Timestamps -
• Converting EBCDIC to ASCII -
• Leaving CL Programs Open -
• Automatically Varying Off an SDLC Line -
• UDATE and Year 2000 -
• SNA vs. TCP/IP -
• Changing a CL Program's Run Priority -
• Java App Links Domino and the AS/400 - This program, developed with IBM’s AS/400 Toolbox for Java, retrieves data from a Domino database and DB2/400 to fulfill customer orders via the Web.