One V5R2 enhancement that benefits both SQL and external stored procedures is the ability to pass stored procedure result sets between two iSeries servers via Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA). ODBC and JDBC applications running on PCs or Unix servers have been able to receive result sets returned by an iSeries since OS/400 V3R1. But applications running on the iSeries haven't been able to do so.

This restriction was problematic for iSeries customers who, for security reasons, run their Web or Domino servers on a standalone iSeries and access their business data from their production iSeries over a DRDA connection as data is needed. Stored procedures are a common choice for retrieving business data over DRDA, but the result set restriction limited the performance of this option. Now with V5R2, a stored procedure call between two iSeries servers can use result sets to streamline the business data being returned.

This V5R2 result set enhancement does not include support that lets embedded SQL programs call procedures that return a result set. If an iSeries application needs to call a stored procedure returning a result set, then the application must use the SQL CLI or JDBC interfaces for calling the procedure and processing a result set. For examples of RPG programs using CLI, visit http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/pubs/html/as400/v5r1/ic2924/tstudio/tech_ref/cli/cli1.htm.

The above iSeries NEWS tip is from Kent Milligan.