October 2000

• In This Issue: Like Clockwork -
• Letters -
• Windows Isn't All That Bad! - Roger Pence says that despite the rabid prejudice of so many AS/400 decision makers, Windows will remain important to AS/400 shops for years to come.
• IBM Is Doing Something Right - Carson Soule says that AS/400 users must keep IBM's marketing struggles in perspective and concede that they, too, have a role to play in the AS/400's continued success.
• Street Talk - Windows to the Pentagon, RPG access to SQL Server, cheap AS/400 access. . .
• In Focus: AS/400 Tools Graduate from Green to GUI - IBM's ad tools enter the real world of e-business but find stiff competition.
• In Focus: ERP Takes a Beating but Weathers the Storm - The ERP market is emerging from recent financial problems changed but as strong as ever.
• Hot New Products -
• Call to Action - The future of the AS/400 hangs in the balance, ISV developers, in-house developers, and IBM must coordinate their efforts to position the AS/400 to aggressively compete in the server market.
• ASPs: Rise or Demise? - As online start-ups continue to fail, some ASPs are starting to disappear with them. If you're in the market for an ASP, you'd better be wary.
• Data Integrity With One-Way Hash Functions - Gene Gaunt explains how two powerful one-way hash functions - MD5 and SHA-1 - can help you detect whether important data has been tampered with.
• Programmer's Notes: When to Use SQL Instead of RPG or CL - Jef Sutherland explains how to use SQL to solve some common problems that you'd formerly solve by writing an RPG or CL program.
• Optimizing AS/400 Batch Performance, Part 2 - Rick Turner explains how to structure your hardware and software environments to accomplish as much batch processing as possible in a given amount of time.
• From the Files of Jim and Dan: SMP and Parallel Processing on the AS/400 - Jim Stewart and Dan Cruikshank explain that there are perks to parallelism; you just have to make sure they're the right ones for you.
• The Shifting Sands of e-Commerce Security - Mel Beckman reviews the major methods for encrypting e-commerce transactions currently available for use by AS/400 applications.
• Security Check for Application Software Vendors - To protect the integrity of your AS/400 and data, you must know whether a vendor's application software meets your security policy requirements. Patrick Botz provides 11 sample questions and their appropriate responses to help you find out.
• Policy Is the Best Honesty - Your security policy lays out the rules for employees and vendors to follow. Here's what you need to know to design a comprehensive security policy that will help keep your employees and vendors honest.
• OS/400 Security Update - V4R5 - As Carol Woodbury explains, V4R5 offers many rich security enhancements, including command-level exit points to control user actions, support for network authentication and privacy services, and the 4758 Cryptographic Coprocessor.
• Tech Corner -
• Adding Control Specifications -
• Automatic Refreshing Screen Problem -
• BRMS Performance Problems -
• Accessing Output Queue Information -
• Receiving Error Message CPF4284 -
• Redisplaying the Screen Page -
• Printing to a Specific Drawer -
• Avoiding Overflow Errors -
• Making Remote Printers Local -
• Viewing Messages Sent Via SNDPGMMSG -
• Obtaining AS/400 Resident Fonts -
• Controlling User Access to CRTLIB -
• Managing QUSRSYS -
• PTF Watch -
• From the Editor in Chief -
• Batch Journal Caching for AS/400 -