If you have built "Castles in Air", you are absolutely right. "Castles in Air" is the first step which shows your vision. Now it is time to put the foundations under them. With proper foundations the castle will become true.
Those who cannot build the "Castles in Air" are the people who fail in everything in their lives.
Some of the following books would help you how to succeed in life. Please note that these books were read in full by our members and then only recommended. (they are not copy/paste from internet searches).
Book/ Author
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
How to enjoy your Job and Worklife, Dale Carnegie
The seven habits of highly effective people, Stephen R. Covey
First Things First, Stephen Covey
The One Minute Manager, Kenneth W. Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
Public Speaking for Success, Dale Carnegie
The 10 Natural Laws of successful time and life management, Hyrum W. Smith
The Total Money Makeover (TMMO, Dave Ramsey
Note: If anybody is interested to write feed-back on these books, we will be glad to publish them. Those will become the book reviews which would help your other friends. Just send us an email. Also, if any member has personally read a book and want to recommend to our other friends through this forum, please let us know the book name.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Special Articles on AS400
Preparing for V6R1
What to expect during your conversion
March 2008 | by Kim Greene
Kim Greene is a technical editor with IBM Systems Magazine and an independent consultant. She can be reached at kim@kimgreene.com.
Illustration by Larry Jost
Upgrading to IBM* i5/OS* V6R1 requires a program conversion. The System i* community has experienced program conversions before, for example when switching from the System/38* to AS/400* platform in 1988 and moving from the 48-bit address space to the 64-bit address space in 1995. This was the CISC to RISC conversion where the instruction set was changed from complex instruction set computing to reduced instruction set computing.
The V6R1 program conversion is similar in some ways to the CISC to RISC conversion, mainly in that as long as the program has observability, the conversion can be quite seamless. Two main differences for the V6R1 program conversion are that it’ll be less time-consuming and that the conversion doesn’t require a hardware change. V6R1 will run on both existing hardware and the new POWER6* hardware.
Why the Conversion?
The main reasons for the conversion are to improve the operating system’s integrity, performance and functionality.
Integrity—The conversion will prevent any system state programs that aren’t part of i5/OS from loading. Part of the conversion process involves removing any altered programs found during the upgrade process. Starting in V6R1, all programs allowed to run in system state must be part of i5/OS. System state, a higher-privilege running environment, is now reserved only for i5/OS programs. This change will prevent any non-i5/OS programs from interacting incorrectly with the operating system, keeping i5/OS more stable and secure. Programs also won’t run without creation data. The creation data signifies that the program has observability, so any nonobservable programs won’t execute on a system running V6R1.
Performance—Several performance improvements are associated with the program conversion in V6R1. Memory will be handled more efficiently, speeding program execution. Program activation, procedure calls and pointer use will benefit from performance improvements. The V6R1 conversion opens the door to using teraspace for memory allocations, which offers a performance boost for your applications.
Performance improvements also come in the areas of two new create-time options and Adaptive Code Generation (ACG). When creating service programs or programs, you can use the Argument Optimization (ARGOPT) parameter to optimize calls between procedures in the program or service program. This compile option applies to programs created for V6R1 and can provide up to a 20-percent performance improvement in call-intensive applications, according to IBM.
The second compile option relates to the Bind Service Program (BNDSRVPGM) parameter. In V6R1, you’ll have the option to defer service program activation, which is helpful if you have a program that activates several service programs. By default, all of the service programs are activated when the program is invoked. With this new compile option, you can specify which service programs are activated or deferred. By deferring activation of rarely used service programs, you can reduce startup times. Enable this option by specifying *DEFER for the BNDSRVPGM parameter when creating service programs.
ACG lets programs take advantage of the new POWER6 hardware. When programs are compiled on V6R1 running on the new hardware, the program can take advantage of new processor features. In previous releases, some hardware features couldn’t be leveraged until several releases later, to provide program compatibility. With ACG and V6R1, if a program is compiled to leverage V6R1 and the new hardware, and it’s moved to an earlier release, the program is converted to use only the hardware features common to all processors. This flexibility lets you to take full and immediate advantage of new POWER6 hardware.
Functionality—V6R1 features three functional improvements: making programs more thread safe, the capability to utilize teraspace addresses, and making it easier to use trace functions and Performance Explorer (PEX) to address application-performance issues.
V6R1’s addition of thread-local static storage makes programs more thread safe. Programming languages RPG, C and C++ will offer new syntax for accessing this new storage class. You can find details on how to use thread-local static storage in the V6R1 Integrated Language Environment (ILE) Concepts manual.
Utilizing teraspace isn’t only a performance enhancer; it’s also a functional benefit. All programs can employ teraspace in V6R1, which means programmers’ jobs just got easier. They no longer bear the burden of ensuring they don’t pass tera-space addresses to programs that aren’t teraspace enabled.
The PEX tool can’t automatically collect this detailed level of performance information and trace data by default. A recompile is often needed to allow the PEX trace points to hook into the program. That’s no longer the case in V6R1, making it easier to collect detailed trace and performance data to analyze an application-performance issue.
The V6R1 conversion opens the door to using teraspace for memory allocations, which offers a performance boost for your applications
What the Conversion Does
The program conversion for V6R1 involves recreating all Machine Interface programs. This includes both ILE and Original Program Model programs. All program objects (*PGM), modules (*MODULE), service programs (*SRVPGM) and SQL packages (*SQLPKG) will be converted during the upgrade.
Spooled files residing in the system auxiliary storage pool (ASP) will be automatically converted when the SystemÊi server is IPLed, as will any spooled files stored in basic user ASPs. Additionally, as ASP groups are varied on, any spooled files contained in them will be converted.
Files stored in the IFS in pre-V6R1 releases are stored in Unicode Standard 2.0 format. When moving to V6R1, the Unicode version changes to Unicode Standard 4.0 format. Noncase-sensitive files will be converted to Unicode Standard 4.0 format. File systems that contain noncase-sensitive files are root (*/) and any user-defined file systems created with option CASE(*MONO) specified.
Additionally, any Java* programs created and stored in the IFS will be converted during the upgrade.
Preparing for the Conversion
The best way to prepare for the V6R1 conversion process is to use the Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) tool that’s delivered via PTFs for both V5R3 and V5R4. This tool analyzes the objects on your i5/OS server and provides reports predicting how long conversions will take. The tool also notifies you of any program objects that won’t convert when you upgrade to V6R1 or migrate to a new system installed with V6R1.
While the ANZOBJCVN tool isn’t required, it’s highly recommended for proper planning. To acquire the tool, order PTF SI29369 for V5R3 or SI29370 for V5R4. Request that any prerequisite PTFs be downloaded with these PTFs.
There are two methods to run the ANZOBJCVN tool: in collection mode (*COLLECT) and in report mode (*REPORT). It’s best to submit the commands to run in batch mode when both collecting and reporting information.
Collecting the Data—To collect program conversion data, use the ANZOBJCVN command with OPTION(*COLLECT) specified. You can collect most of the information with one command or submit multiple commands to collect the data. It’s important to remember that every time you run the command, previously collected information is overwritten.
If you want to collect the majority of information with one command, here’s an example of the command you’d use:
SBMJOB CMD(ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) LIB(*ALLUSR) SPLFILE(*YES) OBJ(‘/’)) JOB(ANZOBJCOL)
When I submit a batch job, I like to provide a job name that describes the type of job I’m submitting. In this case, I’ve chosen a job name of ANZOBJCOL for the ANZOBJCVN command with the option *COLLECT.
While execution of this command takes some time, you’ll have almost all of the information available for report-generation purposes. The value ALLUSR for the LIB parameter includes all user libraries and many libraries that start with the letter Q. However, if you have Lotus* Domino* running on your server, the QDOMINOxxx libraries are unfortunately not included in this grouping, so it’s easy to overlook them. For a peek at the specific conversion details related to Domino, see my Web-exclusive supplement to this article, “Impact to Domino”.
If you’re concerned about command execution time, you can collect information about the program conversion times for objects on your system by using multiple jobs to collect the data. For example, one ANZOBJCVN job can collect information related to libraries on the system and another can gather information on objects residing in directories. These might look like:
SBMJOB CMD(ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) LIB(*ALLUSR) SPLFILE(*YES) OBJ(*NONE)) JOB(ANZOBJCOL)
SBMJOB CMD(ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) LIB(*NONE) SPLFILE(*NO) OBJ(‘/’)) JOB(ANZOBJCOL)
If you choose the multiple collection command, you’ll need to run multiple reports as well because each collection overwrites the data stored in the collection files.
The tool estimates how long the conversion process will take based on the CPW of the system in which the tool is run. If you’re upgrading your existing system to V6R1, you can use the default program conversion times. However, if you’re upgrading to a new V6R1 system at the same time you upgrade to V6R1, you’ll want the tool to estimate conversion times based on the CPW of the new system.
To do this, you can use the data area QIZAFTCD in library QUSRSYS. This data area doesn’t exist by default. To create it, use the Create Data Area (CRTDTAARA) command. Let’s say you’re running the ANZOBJCVN tool on a model 520 with a feature code of 7735, but you’re moving to a new V6R1 processor. You’d want to create the data area with the processor feature code of the new system. Here’s an example of the CRTDTAARA command, where VALUE(‘XXXX’) represents the feature code of the new POWER6 processor.
CRTDTAARA DTAARA(QUSRSYS/QIZAFTCD) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(10) VALUE(‘XXXX’)
If the system you’re generating the reports on isn’t capable of being upgraded to V6R1, the ANZOBJCVN tool will show the following exception in its job log: CPFB0E3 “Type and model information not available for this system. Model 0904, Processor Feature Code 7454 will be used to estimate conversion times.”
Generating the Reports—Once the object-conversion data is collected, generate reports to determine if any objects won’t convert and to see the estimated conversion times. Do this using the ANZOBJCVN tool and this time passing in *REPORT in the OPTION parameter. When passing in OPTION(*REPORT), you should specify one additional parameter to indicate the type of report to generate. Six options are available for the RPTTYPE field:
*ALLAVL—Provides information for all object types in both summary and detailed format
*CVNPRB—Shows the objects that won’t convert
*LIBSUM—Provides summary information related to the data collected about conversion times for library and spooled file objects
*LIBDTL—Provides *LIBSUM information in detail
*OBJSUM—Provides summary information on objects to be converted in the IFS
*OBJDTL—Provides *OBJSUM information in detail
You can also generate reports that include more than one option for the RPTTYPE field. Figure 1 shows the first section of the report generated with this command. Its first portion shows which objects will have issues converting. We see that library ASICGI has a total of 48 objects, one of which will have issues converting to V6R1. Figure 1 also shows us that a total of 299 objects were analyzed, of which 297 will be converted with no lost attributes; only one object can’t be converted; and the estimated conversion time is 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
Figure 2 shows a portion of the next section of the report, the library summary report. We see the total time required to convert each library, along with the time to convert spooled files on the sever.
To see the details of each object within each library and how long each will take to convert, the RPTTYPE option of *LIBDTL would need to be passed in. Figure 3 shows an example of how the library detail report looks.
The report shows several columns for each object within a library. Object name, type, system level and creation data are all pretty self-explanatory. The items that may have you wondering are state, digital signatures and profiling. The state of the program is reported as either user or system. Application programs run in user state, while operating-system code normally runs as system state. A program with a digital signature shows that the program object hasn’t been modified and that it came from a trusted source. The tool shows whether objects have digital signatures. Programs will also be categorized as being profiled or not. When an application has been profiled, it contains statistics on control-flow paths used to optimize its execution times. The profiling information will be lost during the program conversion and must be regenerated after the conversion.
Figure 4 shows the object summary section of the report, which summarizes the objects in the IFS and any user-defined file systems created with option CASE(*MONO) specified. In this example, there are 235 objects to be converted with a total estimated conversion time of 10 minutes, 32 seconds.
You can also create your own reports by writing queries over the underlying files containing the collection data. For details on how to write your own queries, see chapter 2.5 in the IBM Redpaper REDP-4293, “i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting Ready for i5/OS V6R1,” available online (www.redbooks.ibm.com).
You can create your own reports by writing queries over the underlying files containing the collection data.
When the Conversion Happens
You have three options to consider for determining when program conversions occur. The first option is for objects to be converted when they’re restored to a V6R1 system or when an unconverted application is installed. Second, program conversions can be scheduled using the Start Object Conversion (STROBJCVN) tool. Third, they can convert on first touch of an object. Regardless of the program conversion option selected, the conversion will only happen on a V6R1 system. You can’t preconvert the programs on a V5R3 or V5R4 system.
Conversion during restore—Option 1 should be seamless to the end user. When restoring objects, the Force Conversion on Restore (QFRCCVNRST) system value specifies what should happen with objects to be converted.
Conversion with the STROBJCVN tool—I highly recommend converting objects with extensive conversion times using this method. It avoids saddling end users with the penalty of conversion time the first time the object is accessed.
Two options are available when running the STROBJCVN tool in V6R1: *CHECK and *CONVERT. *CHECK is a good sanity check against the output of the ANZOBJCVN tool with option *REPORT. *CONVERT is the main option you’ll use.
Conversion with first touch—Objects can also be converted when they’re first used, which is commonly referred to as first touch. This option is viable for objects that take a fraction of a second to convert.
Restoring to Previous Versions After Conversion
Objects that have undergone conversion when upgrading to V6R1 must be converted back if they’re restored to V5R3 or V5R4. To accommodate this conversion, you need the necessary PTFs on the V5R3 or V5R4 system prior to attempting to restore program objects created in V6R1.
The following table lists the PTF required on earlier versions of i5/OS for programs having undergone the V6R1 program conversion to be restored back to these releases:
i5/OS release
PTF
V5R3M0
MF41354
V5R3M5
MF41734
V5R4M0
MF40520
V5R4M5
MF42655
Happy Converting
I hope I’ve given you some valuable information about the V6R1 conversion. You should know why the program conversion is happening, what you should do and how best to do it. I’ve provided some tips for working with the tool in a Web-exclusive article, “Tips for Working With the V6R1 Conversion Tool” (www.ibmsystemsmag.com/i5/19325pl.aspx). These additional references may also be helpful:
Redpaper REDP-4293 “i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting Ready for i5/OS V6R1” (www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/pdfs/redp4293.pdf)
KB 1288199 “Considerations for Domino when upgrading to i5/OS V6R1” (www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&q1=1288199&uid=swg21288199&loc=en&cs= utf-8&lang=)
II14306 “Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) for V5R3M0 and V5R4M0” (www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?)uid=nas23af47a966c4df94586257306003c6868)
System i upgrade planning Web site (www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/systems/support/i/planning/upgrade/index.html)
Best of luck in your upgrade or migration to V6R1!
More Articles From Kim Greene
Impact on Domino
Tips for Working With the V6R1 Conversion Tool
Tips for Working With the V6R1 Conversion Tool
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IBM recommends using the Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) tool to prepare for your conversion to i5/OS V6R1. ANZOBJCVN analyzes the objects on your i5/OS server and provides reports predicting how long conversion will take. The tool also notifies you of any program objects that won’t convert when you upgrade to V6R1 or migrate to a new system installed with V6R1.
I found three issues with the ANZOBJCVN tool that I’d like to share with you to make your life easier.
The first issue relates to the default setting for the maximum number of spooled output records allowed for the file QPIZARPT in library QSYS. By default, this file can have 100,000 spooled output records. Once you exceed this amount when generating program conversion reports, you’ll see the following message associated with the ANZOBJCVN *REPORT job you’re running.
Message ID . . . . . . : CPA4072
Date sent . . . . . . : 12/28/07
Time sent . . . . . . : 19:32:22
Message . . . . : Maximum number of records reached for file QPIZARPT. (C R NOMAX 1-999999)
To temporarily get around the issue, you can specify R, NOMAX, or a number up to 999999 to allow the program to complete its execution. I understand the built-in precaution of not allowing more than 100,000 spooled output records to be generated to protect disk consumption on a customer’s system. However, my experience has proven that almost no system can run with the default settings and have the reports generate without throwing this error. To get around it, change the print file attributes for the QPIZARPT file in library QSYS and specify *NOMAX for the maximum number of spooled output records, with this command:
CHGPRTF FILE(QSYS/QPIZARPT) MAXRCDS(*NOMAX)
The second issue was an annoyingly simple error. Regardless of how you run the *COLLECT portion of ANZOBJCVN, the *REPORT version will always report that you specified “/” for the objects to collect information about and the subtree parameter will always show “*ALL.”
For example, I specifically ran the tool to collect only information about all user libraries and spooled files. I explicitly specified *NONE for the OBJ parameter and *NONE for the SUBTREE parameter and, voila, the report says I collected information over *ALL for the OBJ parameter and *ALL for the SUBTREE parameter. To better explain, the command I actually submitted is:
ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) OBJ(*NONE) SUBTREE(*NONE)
The results in the report indicate that I submitted this command:
ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) OBJ(/) SUBTREE(*ALL)
It’s definitely not a showstopper, but be aware that it could skew your results if you thought you really ran the program conversion collection tool over “/” for the OBJ and *ALL for the SUBTREE parameter when, in fact, you didn’t collect any of this information.
The third issue concerns missing libraries. I recommend you check the reports to see which libraries are reported by specifying option *ALLUSR for the LIB parameter when collecting the program-conversion information. As the sidebar indicates, Domino program libraries aren’t included in the all user library selection. Check the list of libraries the tool reports back against a list of libraries on your System i server to ensure none was overlooked. The Domino conversion can be time consuming so checking for all critical libraries on your server will help ensure your estimates are accurate. For more specific conversion details related to Domino, see “Impact on Domino.”
Many happy returns of our dear AS400s Birthday
Hi All
21-June-2008 is our dear AS/400’s 20th birthday. Having been a bachelor (System i) for many years it got married to System p (RS/6000) and now the union is called as IBM Power Systems (i to We).
The AS/400 (I still love to call this way) had an amazing journey picking up all the hot technologies both at the Software and Hardware level. No matter how much ever has changed, there are few things that will make this rock-solid business machine stand out amongst the rest of the crowd. These are:
1) Security, Reliability, Availability and above all Scalability.
2) Single-Level Storage
3) Technology Independent Machine Interface (TIMI)
Anyways, these are known stuff that everyone is aware of, thought it will be a good refresher.
I attended a Webinar last Thursday (6/19) hosted by Tango/04 where I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Frank Soltis talk about “THE FUTURE OF THE IBM i PLATFORM”. On this special occasion, I thought it will be worth while to share some of the key points in random order:
1) Rochester, Minnesota (birthplace of AS/400) will celebrate the birthday on Monday (6/23). I THINK WE MUST ALSO CELEBRATE BY CUTTING A BLACK AND GREEN CAKE.
2) 2008 is a special year for 3 things:
a. OCT 2008 marks the 30th Anniversary of SYSTEM/38 (Predecessor of AS/400)
b. NOV 2008, marks the 40th Anniversary of Dr Soltis’ move to Rochester when he was assigned a task for replacing a SYSTEM 3
3) After the iSeries merged with RS/6000 during Apr 2008, there were mixed reactions in the market.
a. Large Customers are very happy about the merging of platforms
b. Small and Medium customers felt they are losing their dear AS/400
c. Dr. Soltis mentioned that the exact same feeling was there 20 Yrs ago when small and medium customers refused to buy/upgrade to AS/400 from S/38
4) We all know during the year 1995 IBM introduced a major hardware change that led to moving 48-bit CISC to 64-bit RISC
a. The transition was smooth no rewrite and in rare instances a recompile was required
b. When 64-bit processor was introduced, everything inside the box was 64-bit including the OS & DB.
c. The platform had already set stage for 128-bit
5) Now here are some of the Futures that IBM is focusing on:
a. World of Super Computers. IBM currently holds the record building the world’s fastest computer (Road Runner)
b. The trend is to bring in Super Computing to desktops using super fast processors
c. Currently the POWER 6 (introduced in 2007) processor running within IBM Power Systems is the fastest processor in the world
d. In 2010 IBM is coming out with POWER 7
e. With the new faster processors there might be extensions to OS, Programming Languages
f. IBM has introduced HYBRID ARCHITECTURE involving POWER6 + 8 Special Purpose Processors giving a 10-12% performance improvement
g. POWER7 will introduce a Virtual Accelerator that further improves the performance.
6) The session ended with a Q&A with Dr. Soltis. Key among them are:
a. Will windows run on POWER6?
IBM initiated the discussion with Microsoft in Year 2000 regarding this but did not materialize. As per Dr. Soltis, Microsoft is too busy now to move windows to 64-bit (which IBM has already done in 1995).
b. Will Intel compete with POWER processors?
Dr. Soltis’ personal opinion is that for the next few years, IBM and INTEL are going to be the only two chip making vendors. The target markets for these chips are entirely different. IBM POWER chips are clearly for High-end computing whereas INTEL is more for Mobile and Low-end computing.
Sorry if I had bored you with this long detail. If you have read this so far it clearly shows your commitment/loyalty to AS/400.
Once again a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to AS/400, A VERY HAPPY MARRIED LIFE WITH SYSTEM P and MAY YOU LIVE LONGER.
Thanks
What to expect during your conversion
March 2008 | by Kim Greene
Kim Greene is a technical editor with IBM Systems Magazine and an independent consultant. She can be reached at kim@kimgreene.com.
Illustration by Larry Jost
Upgrading to IBM* i5/OS* V6R1 requires a program conversion. The System i* community has experienced program conversions before, for example when switching from the System/38* to AS/400* platform in 1988 and moving from the 48-bit address space to the 64-bit address space in 1995. This was the CISC to RISC conversion where the instruction set was changed from complex instruction set computing to reduced instruction set computing.
The V6R1 program conversion is similar in some ways to the CISC to RISC conversion, mainly in that as long as the program has observability, the conversion can be quite seamless. Two main differences for the V6R1 program conversion are that it’ll be less time-consuming and that the conversion doesn’t require a hardware change. V6R1 will run on both existing hardware and the new POWER6* hardware.
Why the Conversion?
The main reasons for the conversion are to improve the operating system’s integrity, performance and functionality.
Integrity—The conversion will prevent any system state programs that aren’t part of i5/OS from loading. Part of the conversion process involves removing any altered programs found during the upgrade process. Starting in V6R1, all programs allowed to run in system state must be part of i5/OS. System state, a higher-privilege running environment, is now reserved only for i5/OS programs. This change will prevent any non-i5/OS programs from interacting incorrectly with the operating system, keeping i5/OS more stable and secure. Programs also won’t run without creation data. The creation data signifies that the program has observability, so any nonobservable programs won’t execute on a system running V6R1.
Performance—Several performance improvements are associated with the program conversion in V6R1. Memory will be handled more efficiently, speeding program execution. Program activation, procedure calls and pointer use will benefit from performance improvements. The V6R1 conversion opens the door to using teraspace for memory allocations, which offers a performance boost for your applications.
Performance improvements also come in the areas of two new create-time options and Adaptive Code Generation (ACG). When creating service programs or programs, you can use the Argument Optimization (ARGOPT) parameter to optimize calls between procedures in the program or service program. This compile option applies to programs created for V6R1 and can provide up to a 20-percent performance improvement in call-intensive applications, according to IBM.
The second compile option relates to the Bind Service Program (BNDSRVPGM) parameter. In V6R1, you’ll have the option to defer service program activation, which is helpful if you have a program that activates several service programs. By default, all of the service programs are activated when the program is invoked. With this new compile option, you can specify which service programs are activated or deferred. By deferring activation of rarely used service programs, you can reduce startup times. Enable this option by specifying *DEFER for the BNDSRVPGM parameter when creating service programs.
ACG lets programs take advantage of the new POWER6 hardware. When programs are compiled on V6R1 running on the new hardware, the program can take advantage of new processor features. In previous releases, some hardware features couldn’t be leveraged until several releases later, to provide program compatibility. With ACG and V6R1, if a program is compiled to leverage V6R1 and the new hardware, and it’s moved to an earlier release, the program is converted to use only the hardware features common to all processors. This flexibility lets you to take full and immediate advantage of new POWER6 hardware.
Functionality—V6R1 features three functional improvements: making programs more thread safe, the capability to utilize teraspace addresses, and making it easier to use trace functions and Performance Explorer (PEX) to address application-performance issues.
V6R1’s addition of thread-local static storage makes programs more thread safe. Programming languages RPG, C and C++ will offer new syntax for accessing this new storage class. You can find details on how to use thread-local static storage in the V6R1 Integrated Language Environment (ILE) Concepts manual.
Utilizing teraspace isn’t only a performance enhancer; it’s also a functional benefit. All programs can employ teraspace in V6R1, which means programmers’ jobs just got easier. They no longer bear the burden of ensuring they don’t pass tera-space addresses to programs that aren’t teraspace enabled.
The PEX tool can’t automatically collect this detailed level of performance information and trace data by default. A recompile is often needed to allow the PEX trace points to hook into the program. That’s no longer the case in V6R1, making it easier to collect detailed trace and performance data to analyze an application-performance issue.
The V6R1 conversion opens the door to using teraspace for memory allocations, which offers a performance boost for your applications
What the Conversion Does
The program conversion for V6R1 involves recreating all Machine Interface programs. This includes both ILE and Original Program Model programs. All program objects (*PGM), modules (*MODULE), service programs (*SRVPGM) and SQL packages (*SQLPKG) will be converted during the upgrade.
Spooled files residing in the system auxiliary storage pool (ASP) will be automatically converted when the SystemÊi server is IPLed, as will any spooled files stored in basic user ASPs. Additionally, as ASP groups are varied on, any spooled files contained in them will be converted.
Files stored in the IFS in pre-V6R1 releases are stored in Unicode Standard 2.0 format. When moving to V6R1, the Unicode version changes to Unicode Standard 4.0 format. Noncase-sensitive files will be converted to Unicode Standard 4.0 format. File systems that contain noncase-sensitive files are root (*/) and any user-defined file systems created with option CASE(*MONO) specified.
Additionally, any Java* programs created and stored in the IFS will be converted during the upgrade.
Preparing for the Conversion
The best way to prepare for the V6R1 conversion process is to use the Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) tool that’s delivered via PTFs for both V5R3 and V5R4. This tool analyzes the objects on your i5/OS server and provides reports predicting how long conversions will take. The tool also notifies you of any program objects that won’t convert when you upgrade to V6R1 or migrate to a new system installed with V6R1.
While the ANZOBJCVN tool isn’t required, it’s highly recommended for proper planning. To acquire the tool, order PTF SI29369 for V5R3 or SI29370 for V5R4. Request that any prerequisite PTFs be downloaded with these PTFs.
There are two methods to run the ANZOBJCVN tool: in collection mode (*COLLECT) and in report mode (*REPORT). It’s best to submit the commands to run in batch mode when both collecting and reporting information.
Collecting the Data—To collect program conversion data, use the ANZOBJCVN command with OPTION(*COLLECT) specified. You can collect most of the information with one command or submit multiple commands to collect the data. It’s important to remember that every time you run the command, previously collected information is overwritten.
If you want to collect the majority of information with one command, here’s an example of the command you’d use:
SBMJOB CMD(ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) LIB(*ALLUSR) SPLFILE(*YES) OBJ(‘/’)) JOB(ANZOBJCOL)
When I submit a batch job, I like to provide a job name that describes the type of job I’m submitting. In this case, I’ve chosen a job name of ANZOBJCOL for the ANZOBJCVN command with the option *COLLECT.
While execution of this command takes some time, you’ll have almost all of the information available for report-generation purposes. The value ALLUSR for the LIB parameter includes all user libraries and many libraries that start with the letter Q. However, if you have Lotus* Domino* running on your server, the QDOMINOxxx libraries are unfortunately not included in this grouping, so it’s easy to overlook them. For a peek at the specific conversion details related to Domino, see my Web-exclusive supplement to this article, “Impact to Domino”.
If you’re concerned about command execution time, you can collect information about the program conversion times for objects on your system by using multiple jobs to collect the data. For example, one ANZOBJCVN job can collect information related to libraries on the system and another can gather information on objects residing in directories. These might look like:
SBMJOB CMD(ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) LIB(*ALLUSR) SPLFILE(*YES) OBJ(*NONE)) JOB(ANZOBJCOL)
SBMJOB CMD(ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) LIB(*NONE) SPLFILE(*NO) OBJ(‘/’)) JOB(ANZOBJCOL)
If you choose the multiple collection command, you’ll need to run multiple reports as well because each collection overwrites the data stored in the collection files.
The tool estimates how long the conversion process will take based on the CPW of the system in which the tool is run. If you’re upgrading your existing system to V6R1, you can use the default program conversion times. However, if you’re upgrading to a new V6R1 system at the same time you upgrade to V6R1, you’ll want the tool to estimate conversion times based on the CPW of the new system.
To do this, you can use the data area QIZAFTCD in library QUSRSYS. This data area doesn’t exist by default. To create it, use the Create Data Area (CRTDTAARA) command. Let’s say you’re running the ANZOBJCVN tool on a model 520 with a feature code of 7735, but you’re moving to a new V6R1 processor. You’d want to create the data area with the processor feature code of the new system. Here’s an example of the CRTDTAARA command, where VALUE(‘XXXX’) represents the feature code of the new POWER6 processor.
CRTDTAARA DTAARA(QUSRSYS/QIZAFTCD) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(10) VALUE(‘XXXX’)
If the system you’re generating the reports on isn’t capable of being upgraded to V6R1, the ANZOBJCVN tool will show the following exception in its job log: CPFB0E3 “Type and model information not available for this system. Model 0904, Processor Feature Code 7454 will be used to estimate conversion times.”
Generating the Reports—Once the object-conversion data is collected, generate reports to determine if any objects won’t convert and to see the estimated conversion times. Do this using the ANZOBJCVN tool and this time passing in *REPORT in the OPTION parameter. When passing in OPTION(*REPORT), you should specify one additional parameter to indicate the type of report to generate. Six options are available for the RPTTYPE field:
*ALLAVL—Provides information for all object types in both summary and detailed format
*CVNPRB—Shows the objects that won’t convert
*LIBSUM—Provides summary information related to the data collected about conversion times for library and spooled file objects
*LIBDTL—Provides *LIBSUM information in detail
*OBJSUM—Provides summary information on objects to be converted in the IFS
*OBJDTL—Provides *OBJSUM information in detail
You can also generate reports that include more than one option for the RPTTYPE field. Figure 1 shows the first section of the report generated with this command. Its first portion shows which objects will have issues converting. We see that library ASICGI has a total of 48 objects, one of which will have issues converting to V6R1. Figure 1 also shows us that a total of 299 objects were analyzed, of which 297 will be converted with no lost attributes; only one object can’t be converted; and the estimated conversion time is 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
Figure 2 shows a portion of the next section of the report, the library summary report. We see the total time required to convert each library, along with the time to convert spooled files on the sever.
To see the details of each object within each library and how long each will take to convert, the RPTTYPE option of *LIBDTL would need to be passed in. Figure 3 shows an example of how the library detail report looks.
The report shows several columns for each object within a library. Object name, type, system level and creation data are all pretty self-explanatory. The items that may have you wondering are state, digital signatures and profiling. The state of the program is reported as either user or system. Application programs run in user state, while operating-system code normally runs as system state. A program with a digital signature shows that the program object hasn’t been modified and that it came from a trusted source. The tool shows whether objects have digital signatures. Programs will also be categorized as being profiled or not. When an application has been profiled, it contains statistics on control-flow paths used to optimize its execution times. The profiling information will be lost during the program conversion and must be regenerated after the conversion.
Figure 4 shows the object summary section of the report, which summarizes the objects in the IFS and any user-defined file systems created with option CASE(*MONO) specified. In this example, there are 235 objects to be converted with a total estimated conversion time of 10 minutes, 32 seconds.
You can also create your own reports by writing queries over the underlying files containing the collection data. For details on how to write your own queries, see chapter 2.5 in the IBM Redpaper REDP-4293, “i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting Ready for i5/OS V6R1,” available online (www.redbooks.ibm.com).
You can create your own reports by writing queries over the underlying files containing the collection data.
When the Conversion Happens
You have three options to consider for determining when program conversions occur. The first option is for objects to be converted when they’re restored to a V6R1 system or when an unconverted application is installed. Second, program conversions can be scheduled using the Start Object Conversion (STROBJCVN) tool. Third, they can convert on first touch of an object. Regardless of the program conversion option selected, the conversion will only happen on a V6R1 system. You can’t preconvert the programs on a V5R3 or V5R4 system.
Conversion during restore—Option 1 should be seamless to the end user. When restoring objects, the Force Conversion on Restore (QFRCCVNRST) system value specifies what should happen with objects to be converted.
Conversion with the STROBJCVN tool—I highly recommend converting objects with extensive conversion times using this method. It avoids saddling end users with the penalty of conversion time the first time the object is accessed.
Two options are available when running the STROBJCVN tool in V6R1: *CHECK and *CONVERT. *CHECK is a good sanity check against the output of the ANZOBJCVN tool with option *REPORT. *CONVERT is the main option you’ll use.
Conversion with first touch—Objects can also be converted when they’re first used, which is commonly referred to as first touch. This option is viable for objects that take a fraction of a second to convert.
Restoring to Previous Versions After Conversion
Objects that have undergone conversion when upgrading to V6R1 must be converted back if they’re restored to V5R3 or V5R4. To accommodate this conversion, you need the necessary PTFs on the V5R3 or V5R4 system prior to attempting to restore program objects created in V6R1.
The following table lists the PTF required on earlier versions of i5/OS for programs having undergone the V6R1 program conversion to be restored back to these releases:
i5/OS release
PTF
V5R3M0
MF41354
V5R3M5
MF41734
V5R4M0
MF40520
V5R4M5
MF42655
Happy Converting
I hope I’ve given you some valuable information about the V6R1 conversion. You should know why the program conversion is happening, what you should do and how best to do it. I’ve provided some tips for working with the tool in a Web-exclusive article, “Tips for Working With the V6R1 Conversion Tool” (www.ibmsystemsmag.com/i5/19325pl.aspx). These additional references may also be helpful:
Redpaper REDP-4293 “i5/OS Program Conversion: Getting Ready for i5/OS V6R1” (www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/pdfs/redp4293.pdf)
KB 1288199 “Considerations for Domino when upgrading to i5/OS V6R1” (www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&q1=1288199&uid=swg21288199&loc=en&cs= utf-8&lang=)
II14306 “Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) for V5R3M0 and V5R4M0” (www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?)uid=nas23af47a966c4df94586257306003c6868)
System i upgrade planning Web site (www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/systems/support/i/planning/upgrade/index.html)
Best of luck in your upgrade or migration to V6R1!
More Articles From Kim Greene
Impact on Domino
Tips for Working With the V6R1 Conversion Tool
Tips for Working With the V6R1 Conversion Tool
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IBM recommends using the Analyze Object Conversion (ANZOBJCVN) tool to prepare for your conversion to i5/OS V6R1. ANZOBJCVN analyzes the objects on your i5/OS server and provides reports predicting how long conversion will take. The tool also notifies you of any program objects that won’t convert when you upgrade to V6R1 or migrate to a new system installed with V6R1.
I found three issues with the ANZOBJCVN tool that I’d like to share with you to make your life easier.
The first issue relates to the default setting for the maximum number of spooled output records allowed for the file QPIZARPT in library QSYS. By default, this file can have 100,000 spooled output records. Once you exceed this amount when generating program conversion reports, you’ll see the following message associated with the ANZOBJCVN *REPORT job you’re running.
Message ID . . . . . . : CPA4072
Date sent . . . . . . : 12/28/07
Time sent . . . . . . : 19:32:22
Message . . . . : Maximum number of records reached for file QPIZARPT. (C R NOMAX 1-999999)
To temporarily get around the issue, you can specify R, NOMAX, or a number up to 999999 to allow the program to complete its execution. I understand the built-in precaution of not allowing more than 100,000 spooled output records to be generated to protect disk consumption on a customer’s system. However, my experience has proven that almost no system can run with the default settings and have the reports generate without throwing this error. To get around it, change the print file attributes for the QPIZARPT file in library QSYS and specify *NOMAX for the maximum number of spooled output records, with this command:
CHGPRTF FILE(QSYS/QPIZARPT) MAXRCDS(*NOMAX)
The second issue was an annoyingly simple error. Regardless of how you run the *COLLECT portion of ANZOBJCVN, the *REPORT version will always report that you specified “/” for the objects to collect information about and the subtree parameter will always show “*ALL.”
For example, I specifically ran the tool to collect only information about all user libraries and spooled files. I explicitly specified *NONE for the OBJ parameter and *NONE for the SUBTREE parameter and, voila, the report says I collected information over *ALL for the OBJ parameter and *ALL for the SUBTREE parameter. To better explain, the command I actually submitted is:
ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) OBJ(*NONE) SUBTREE(*NONE)
The results in the report indicate that I submitted this command:
ANZOBJCVN OPTION(*COLLECT) OBJ(/) SUBTREE(*ALL)
It’s definitely not a showstopper, but be aware that it could skew your results if you thought you really ran the program conversion collection tool over “/” for the OBJ and *ALL for the SUBTREE parameter when, in fact, you didn’t collect any of this information.
The third issue concerns missing libraries. I recommend you check the reports to see which libraries are reported by specifying option *ALLUSR for the LIB parameter when collecting the program-conversion information. As the sidebar indicates, Domino program libraries aren’t included in the all user library selection. Check the list of libraries the tool reports back against a list of libraries on your System i server to ensure none was overlooked. The Domino conversion can be time consuming so checking for all critical libraries on your server will help ensure your estimates are accurate. For more specific conversion details related to Domino, see “Impact on Domino.”
Many happy returns of our dear AS400s Birthday
Hi All
21-June-2008 is our dear AS/400’s 20th birthday. Having been a bachelor (System i) for many years it got married to System p (RS/6000) and now the union is called as IBM Power Systems (i to We).
The AS/400 (I still love to call this way) had an amazing journey picking up all the hot technologies both at the Software and Hardware level. No matter how much ever has changed, there are few things that will make this rock-solid business machine stand out amongst the rest of the crowd. These are:
1) Security, Reliability, Availability and above all Scalability.
2) Single-Level Storage
3) Technology Independent Machine Interface (TIMI)
Anyways, these are known stuff that everyone is aware of, thought it will be a good refresher.
I attended a Webinar last Thursday (6/19) hosted by Tango/04 where I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Frank Soltis talk about “THE FUTURE OF THE IBM i PLATFORM”. On this special occasion, I thought it will be worth while to share some of the key points in random order:
1) Rochester, Minnesota (birthplace of AS/400) will celebrate the birthday on Monday (6/23). I THINK WE MUST ALSO CELEBRATE BY CUTTING A BLACK AND GREEN CAKE.
2) 2008 is a special year for 3 things:
a. OCT 2008 marks the 30th Anniversary of SYSTEM/38 (Predecessor of AS/400)
b. NOV 2008, marks the 40th Anniversary of Dr Soltis’ move to Rochester when he was assigned a task for replacing a SYSTEM 3
3) After the iSeries merged with RS/6000 during Apr 2008, there were mixed reactions in the market.
a. Large Customers are very happy about the merging of platforms
b. Small and Medium customers felt they are losing their dear AS/400
c. Dr. Soltis mentioned that the exact same feeling was there 20 Yrs ago when small and medium customers refused to buy/upgrade to AS/400 from S/38
4) We all know during the year 1995 IBM introduced a major hardware change that led to moving 48-bit CISC to 64-bit RISC
a. The transition was smooth no rewrite and in rare instances a recompile was required
b. When 64-bit processor was introduced, everything inside the box was 64-bit including the OS & DB.
c. The platform had already set stage for 128-bit
5) Now here are some of the Futures that IBM is focusing on:
a. World of Super Computers. IBM currently holds the record building the world’s fastest computer (Road Runner)
b. The trend is to bring in Super Computing to desktops using super fast processors
c. Currently the POWER 6 (introduced in 2007) processor running within IBM Power Systems is the fastest processor in the world
d. In 2010 IBM is coming out with POWER 7
e. With the new faster processors there might be extensions to OS, Programming Languages
f. IBM has introduced HYBRID ARCHITECTURE involving POWER6 + 8 Special Purpose Processors giving a 10-12% performance improvement
g. POWER7 will introduce a Virtual Accelerator that further improves the performance.
6) The session ended with a Q&A with Dr. Soltis. Key among them are:
a. Will windows run on POWER6?
IBM initiated the discussion with Microsoft in Year 2000 regarding this but did not materialize. As per Dr. Soltis, Microsoft is too busy now to move windows to 64-bit (which IBM has already done in 1995).
b. Will Intel compete with POWER processors?
Dr. Soltis’ personal opinion is that for the next few years, IBM and INTEL are going to be the only two chip making vendors. The target markets for these chips are entirely different. IBM POWER chips are clearly for High-end computing whereas INTEL is more for Mobile and Low-end computing.
Sorry if I had bored you with this long detail. If you have read this so far it clearly shows your commitment/loyalty to AS/400.
Once again a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to AS/400, A VERY HAPPY MARRIED LIFE WITH SYSTEM P and MAY YOU LIVE LONGER.
Thanks
TEMPLATES IN A NUTSHELL
A gamut of IT Utility templates which can be put to use immediately so that s/he can save a lot of time, and can win the confidence of the supervisors with the accelerated producitivity. These are free for our members and will be supplied on-request. Send us an email to friends400@gmail.com if you need these forms/templates.
Common Templates in IT for any platform
You must have heard the saying “Work Smarter than Harder”. Why do you want to spend hours/days together to get/develop the templates, when you can request them just by a click of an email. We want you to concentrate on your other precious jobs, and use our templates, thereby win the confidence of your companies stake-holders. (just we would be glad to hear your feelings after you have put to use our templates). You may be surprised to note that some of these terminologies you may be hearing for the first time (since they might be used under a different name in your company).
1. Business Requirements Document(BRD)
2. Functional Requirement Specifications(FRS) or Functional Specifications Document(FSD) or High Level Design (HLD)
3. System Requirement Specifications(SRS) or Technical Specifications(TS) or Detailed Design Document(DDS) or Program Specifications(PS) or Low Level Design (LLD).
4. Unit Test Plan (UTP)
5. Integration Test Plan (ITP)
6. System Test Plan (STP)
7. Regression Test Plan (RTP)
8. User Acceptance Test Plant (UAT)
9. Test Plan Results collection template for each of the above test plans.
10. Peer Review Templates at every stage.
11. Implementation Plan
12. Production validation plan after implementation.
13. Back out plan in case of any issues.
14. Post-production support plan.
15. Software Configuration Management Plan (SCM)
16. Software Project Management Plan (SPM)
17. Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQA)
18. Write up on Change Control/Management/Approval/Configuration Control Board.
19. Code Review Template.
20. Coding Standards (with special reference to AS400) Document.
21. Estimation Template. - Various approaches - Function Points; Lines of Code, Guestimates,
BEG (Best Engineering Guestimates).
22. Standards/Deviations +/- variance percentages.
23. Use Cases. (your users will be happy to understand the flow with the use case templates).
24. User Manual Template (normally used to train the users on the new/modified functionality).
25. Technical Manual Template (normally used by the Operations People to troule-shoot).
26. User Acceptance Sign-off form.
27. Quality Testing Sign-off form.
28. Traceability Matrix between: Business Requirements..Functional Specs…Program Specs…Code…various Test Plans.
29. Internal Audits. Observations which are called as non-conformities.
30. External Audits - non-conformities.
31. Management Review Meetings - they are called with different nomenclatures in different companies; somebody calls it as “SIR” (Structured Indepth Review) meetings; and another calls it as MPR (Monthly Project Review).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Templates in IT for any platform
You must have heard the saying “Work Smarter than Harder”. Why do you want to spend hours/days together to get/develop the templates, when you can request them just by a click of an email. We want you to concentrate on your other precious jobs, and use our templates, thereby win the confidence of your companies stake-holders. (just we would be glad to hear your feelings after you have put to use our templates). You may be surprised to note that some of these terminologies you may be hearing for the first time (since they might be used under a different name in your company).
1. Business Requirements Document(BRD)
2. Functional Requirement Specifications(FRS) or Functional Specifications Document(FSD) or High Level Design (HLD)
3. System Requirement Specifications(SRS) or Technical Specifications(TS) or Detailed Design Document(DDS) or Program Specifications(PS) or Low Level Design (LLD).
4. Unit Test Plan (UTP)
5. Integration Test Plan (ITP)
6. System Test Plan (STP)
7. Regression Test Plan (RTP)
8. User Acceptance Test Plant (UAT)
9. Test Plan Results collection template for each of the above test plans.
10. Peer Review Templates at every stage.
11. Implementation Plan
12. Production validation plan after implementation.
13. Back out plan in case of any issues.
14. Post-production support plan.
15. Software Configuration Management Plan (SCM)
16. Software Project Management Plan (SPM)
17. Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQA)
18. Write up on Change Control/Management/Approval/Configuration Control Board.
19. Code Review Template.
20. Coding Standards (with special reference to AS400) Document.
21. Estimation Template. - Various approaches - Function Points; Lines of Code, Guestimates,
BEG (Best Engineering Guestimates).
22. Standards/Deviations +/- variance percentages.
23. Use Cases. (your users will be happy to understand the flow with the use case templates).
24. User Manual Template (normally used to train the users on the new/modified functionality).
25. Technical Manual Template (normally used by the Operations People to troule-shoot).
26. User Acceptance Sign-off form.
27. Quality Testing Sign-off form.
28. Traceability Matrix between: Business Requirements..Functional Specs…Program Specs…Code…various Test Plans.
29. Internal Audits. Observations which are called as non-conformities.
30. External Audits - non-conformities.
31. Management Review Meetings - they are called with different nomenclatures in different companies; somebody calls it as “SIR” (Structured Indepth Review) meetings; and another calls it as MPR (Monthly Project Review).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AS400 QUIZ
1. When the AS/400 was introduced in June 1988, how many processor models were there?
Answers:
1. b, Six models
2. a, 5 times the performance
3. c, 2,500
4. c, 1958
5. a, Coca-Cola Co.
6. d, Every 12 minutes of every workday
7. d, February 1999
8. b, 1998
9. c, 2000
10. c, 4 — OS/400, Unix, Windows NT/2000, Linux
Bonus question answer: 1996, V3R2 and V3R7
a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8
2. When IBM introduced the AS/400, it touted its superior performance over the System/36 and the System 38 computers. What kind of performance did the AS/400 offer over the System/36?
a. 5 times the performance
b. 7 times the performance
c. 8 times the performance
d. 10 times the performance
3. Approximately how many applications were available for the AS/400 when the first one shipped in 1988?
a. 1,500
b. 2,000
c. 2,500
d. 3,000
4. What year was IBM’s Rochester, Minn., plant completed?
a. 1956
b. 1957
c. 1958
d. 1959
5. The 250,000th AS/400 was sold in 1994 to which company?
a. Coca-Cola Co.
b. Pepsi-Cola Co.
c. Dr Pepper/Seven-Up, Inc.
d. National Beverage Corp.
6. During 1998, IBM says it sold an AS/400 to a customer every
a. 5 minutes of every workday
b. 8 minutes of every workday
c. 10 minutes of every workday
d. 12 minutes of every workday
7. When was the relational database included in OS/400 branded DB2 UDB?
a. December 1997
b. February 1998
c. June 1998
d. February 1999
8. What year was native Lotus Domino for the AS/400 announced?
a. 1997
b. 1998
c. 1999
d. 2000
9. In what year was the AS/400 renamed the eServer iSeries?
a. 1998
b. 1999
c. 2000
d. 2001
10. Today, how many operating system environments can be run simultaneously from a single iSeries server?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. 5
Bonus question: OS/400 was the first operating system to be certified Year 2000-ready by the ITAA. What year was this and which versions of the operating system?
Answers:
1. b, Six models
2. a, 5 times the performance
3. c, 2,500
4. c, 1958
5. a, Coca-Cola Co.
6. d, Every 12 minutes of every workday
7. d, February 1999
8. b, 1998
9. c, 2000
10. c, 4 — OS/400, Unix, Windows NT/2000, Linux
Bonus question answer: 1996, V3R2 and V3R7
a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8
2. When IBM introduced the AS/400, it touted its superior performance over the System/36 and the System 38 computers. What kind of performance did the AS/400 offer over the System/36?
a. 5 times the performance
b. 7 times the performance
c. 8 times the performance
d. 10 times the performance
3. Approximately how many applications were available for the AS/400 when the first one shipped in 1988?
a. 1,500
b. 2,000
c. 2,500
d. 3,000
4. What year was IBM’s Rochester, Minn., plant completed?
a. 1956
b. 1957
c. 1958
d. 1959
5. The 250,000th AS/400 was sold in 1994 to which company?
a. Coca-Cola Co.
b. Pepsi-Cola Co.
c. Dr Pepper/Seven-Up, Inc.
d. National Beverage Corp.
6. During 1998, IBM says it sold an AS/400 to a customer every
a. 5 minutes of every workday
b. 8 minutes of every workday
c. 10 minutes of every workday
d. 12 minutes of every workday
7. When was the relational database included in OS/400 branded DB2 UDB?
a. December 1997
b. February 1998
c. June 1998
d. February 1999
8. What year was native Lotus Domino for the AS/400 announced?
a. 1997
b. 1998
c. 1999
d. 2000
9. In what year was the AS/400 renamed the eServer iSeries?
a. 1998
b. 1999
c. 2000
d. 2001
10. Today, how many operating system environments can be run simultaneously from a single iSeries server?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. 5
Bonus question: OS/400 was the first operating system to be certified Year 2000-ready by the ITAA. What year was this and which versions of the operating system?
DISCUSSION FORUM - Simple things but take us a long time if we don’t follow rules
A simple rule of a keyword ‘Blink’ in an AS400 display file has made me spend more than 6 hrs. for debug. Whenever a display attribute Blink (DSPATR(BL)) is to be given in a display file, we must necessarily associate it with a COLOR RED failing which the blink will not appear on the screen. I learnt it the hardway hence thought of sharing it with everybody relevant to this field.
Any comments are welcome.
Any comments are welcome.
Archives of Discussion forum from our old site
DISCUSSION FORUM
Displaying 1 - 81 of 81 total posts.
::Post/Reply Query::
submitted on February 2, 2009 6:28 AM EST
Name:
v
Email Address:
Subject/Topic
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on February 2, 2009 4:57 AM EST
Name:
vijetha
Email Address:
vijetha_kadapala@mindtree.com
Subject/Topic
Sorting array data structure
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi, I have defined an array data structure with 3 fields D ds D ArrVat 33 2 dim(999) D VatPrc 11 2 overlay(Arrvat:1) D VatAmt 11 2 overlay(Arrvat:*next) D VatTot 11 2 overlay(Arrvat:*next) I want to sort the data structure with VAT percentage which is the first field defined in the data structure. I tried using sorta and the array name…it is not working - it is making the entire array as blanks I tried ascend keyword next to array name, this also is not working. If anybody has any idea, can you please help me out with this.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on December 11, 2008 6:59 AM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
WRKQRY
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear VVN Murthy Can I do substring in timestamp field in WRKQRY, I need to truncate the field, pleas advice
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on November 8, 2008 10:14 AM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m_rajendranath@yahoo.com
Subject/Topic
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear VLN, Congrats! hope you reach more heights in near future
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on October 31, 2008 4:05 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
vvnmurty@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
VL Narasimham’s message
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
VLN, Thanks for your email. First of all congrats. on your elevation. It’s really a great achievement during the crisis time, when entire world markets (financial, IT and all sectors) are going down - it is only the REAL WORTH that would be recognized now. Keep it up.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on October 27, 2008 2:32 AM EST
Name:
narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
*** HAPPY DEEPAVALI ***
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello All,May the festival of lights be the harbinger of joy and prosperity. As the holy occasion of Diwali is here and the atmosphere is filled with the spirit of mirth and love, here’s hoping this festival of beauty brings your way, bright sparkles of contentment, that stay with you through the days ahead. Best wishes on Diwali.
Additional Comments(if required)
Wishing you & your family a happy Deepavali.
submitted on October 24, 2008 10:06 AM EST
Name:
narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
Thanks to Friends400
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear Friends, I have been promoted to a higher level in my organization and in this happy moment, i would like to thank all the friends400 members for contributing in updating my knowledge through this site and Especially to Soumendra and Murty.
Additional Comments(if required)
hope this site will help a lot more guys in the future in attaining higher grades in professional life as well as in personal life.
submitted on October 24, 2008 10:00 AM EST
Name:
na
Email Address:
Subject/Topic
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on October 14, 2008 1:10 PM EST
Name:
Soumendra Mishra
Email Address:
Subject/Topic
Reply to Paul Query
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi Paul, I hope your problem was with EDTCDE.Try with EDTCDE(J) that may work. thanks, soumendra
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on October 7, 2008 3:34 AM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
Subject/Topic
XML Into
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Oh, sorry, I missed
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on October 5, 2008 9:38 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
vvnmurty@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
query on xml into
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Rajendra, I am talking about the usage of the new software called “xml into”.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on October 4, 2008 1:32 AM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
XML
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear Murty, Currently I am using Business Objects to put the data into XML. I am extracting the data into Excel via Query400 and importing into XML. But I couldnt find any way to import directly into XML from RPG output
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 28, 2008 5:01 AM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m_rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear Murty, I am also trying into put in XML, couldnt, please do let me know if you find anything, Dear All, Can anyone help us in this regard
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 26, 2008 4:25 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
vvnmurty@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Any ideas on using “XML-INTO” in an RPG pgm.
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Has anybody used XML-INTO in an RPG program. If yes, shall be grateful if some examples can be posted in this forum or emailed to me AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Thanks Murty
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 22, 2008 4:55 AM EST
Name:
Paul Flynn
Email Address:
ppflynn@yahoo.com
Subject/Topic
Leading Zero not printing
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
When running a French Payroll System (Anael Paie) on a UK AS400, Leading Zeros aren’t printed. i.e. ‘0.756′ prints as ‘ .756′. Why is this?
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 13, 2008 3:42 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
This is meant for ReethiPrasad(new member) — Can you pl send your email for our records.
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Name Reethi Email(this will be your userid) reethi.prasad Date of Birth 05/10/1982 Phone(s) Company(enter NA if not interested to disclose) NA Qualifications/Technology Bachelor of Engineering(AS400) Work Experience(No.of yrs/brief details) 1 year
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 13, 2008 3:37 PM EST
Name:
vvnmurty
Email Address:
vvnmurty@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
reply to VL Narasimham’s query.
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
If you declare the field in Output-mode, then you should be bale to get the desired function. (by selecting F4). — May be you will have to play some trick to position the cursor with a Row+Line positioning, so that f4 can be taken there.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 12, 2008 9:19 AM EST
Name:
vlnarasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com,
Subject/Topic
Preventing the user from keying in an input field
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello Friends, I have a display file consisting of 4 input fields(FLD1,FLD2,FLD3,FLD4). For one of the fields say FLD3, i need to protect it from the user by directly keying on the field and entering the values. There should be only one way in which the user can enter value to this field and that is by pressing F4 on the field and choosing the value from a drop down list. Any idea on this, I tried by protecting the field and turning off the indiactor when F4 is pressed, but the problem is the cursor is not making progression to this field. Need help.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 5, 2008 3:28 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
vvnmurty@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to M.Rajendranath’s query on incremental save
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
1. Your concept of CRTSAVF is good to increment the Savefile number i.e., to build the savefile dynamically on the fly by concatenating Libname + current date etc. 2. In addition, only the FIRST TIME SAVE you should take a SAVLIB (i.e., entire library will be saved). - you may use this from commandline itself instead of a pgm. 3. Next time onwards you should use SAVCHGOBJ (Save Changed Objects) command. You have to specify the relevant parameters in it, like the library name, and the date. (normally the library originally saved date will be taken by default). The incremental back-up will happen from the date the library was originally backed up. NOTE: If you specify the lib-saved date, ensure that no-other process is backing up the library i.e., if you write a pgm. for incremental back up and some other pgm. takes a SAVLIB on the same library, your incremental backup may not get any objects due to this latest SAVLIB command used by the other pgm. Alternatively, you can specify a date from when you need the incremental back up. This date can be currentdate minus 1 etc. passed as a CL parameter.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on September 5, 2008 2:05 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
vvnmurty@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
SQL Statement using MULTIPLE-Case When
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
SELECT REGION, ITEM , COST2-OCST2 AS UNIT_COST, CASE WHEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR1 > 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR2 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR3=0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR4=0 THEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR1 WHEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR1 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR2 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR3>0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR4 =0 THEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR3 WHEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR1 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR2 > 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR3=0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR4 =0 THEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR2 WHEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR1 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR2 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR3=0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR4 >0 THEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR4 WHEN ITM_FILE.XUNPR1 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR2 = 0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR3=0 AND ITM_FILE.XUNPR4 =0 THEN 0 END AS RETAIL_PRICE FROM ITM_FILE, FILE2 WHERE IREGION=XREGION AND ititm#=XVitm# and REGION=’ABC’
Additional Comments(if required)
thought the above will be useful to our friends.
submitted on September 3, 2008 8:15 AM EST
Name:
M Rajendranath
Email Address:
Subject/Topic
Daily Backup
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi All, I need to take backup of a library everyday, I need to increment the save file name every time I execute the CL program. FYI: I am using CRTSAVF and SAVOBJ for taking backup, your inputs please
Additional Comments(if required)
No specifc it can be CL or PGM
submitted on August 27, 2008 4:14 AM EST
Name:
Lekha
Email Address:
lekhasingh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Cool APIs CEEDATE and CEEDAYS for date formating
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello friends below is a nice link for Dateformating in rpgle(Exceptionally for wordy date formating like 27-AUG-2008 etc…).Now no need to mess up with Compile time arrays and %Subst etcc.. you can convert any date format to any other with this
Additional Comments(if required)
http://systeminetwork.com/article/wordy-date-formatting
submitted on August 26, 2008 9:34 AM EST
Name:
Narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
Look before you %Lookup
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Just read how %Lookup works faster than Lookup opcode on sequential arrays http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/i5/december02/enewsletterexclusive/8276p1.aspx
Additional Comments(if required)
Regards Narasimham
submitted on August 17, 2008 8:22 AM EST
Name:
Asuthosh
Email Address:
s.asutosh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to Lekha’s query on SQL cursor
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello Lekha, While compiling the SQLRPGLE program set the following parameters as shown below CLOSQLCSR(*ENDMOD)
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 28, 2008 2:24 AM EST
Name:
lekhasree
Email Address:
lekhasingh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reg. SQL cursor
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello all, How to close an SQL cursor from outside the program.I am opening cursor in the program but if any abnormal termination occurs,iam unable to close that from outside the program.
Additional Comments(if required)
Thanks, Lekha
submitted on July 22, 2008 10:19 AM EST
Name:
Ashutosh
Email Address:
s.asutosh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reg SEU color
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
wow can we change it using SQL400, then iam eagerly waiting for murty’s reply
Additional Comments(if required)
regards Asutosh.
submitted on July 22, 2008 7:00 AM EST
Name:
soumendra mishra
Email Address:
som_som78@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
SEU color change
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Thanks, ashutosh.this really good but I think there is way to change the color through SQL400 also.Mr Murty had told me once this.Murty if you are free can you reply.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 21, 2008 9:33 AM EST
Name:
Ashutosh
Email Address:
s.asutosh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
further clarification to som’s query
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi, Som in the below list i have separated each hexadecimal details with symbol. please go through accordingly
Additional Comments(if required)
Regards Asutosh
submitted on July 21, 2008 9:29 AM EST
Name:
Ashutosh
Email Address:
s.asutosh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reg. Som’s query on SEU colors
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Here is a list of hexadecimal values apl 23 (Ctl-W = White Bkgd) apl 22 (Alt-W = White Font) apl 29 (Ctl-R = Red Bkgd) apl 28 (Alt-R = Red Font) apl 31 (Ctl-T = Turquoise Bkgd) apl 30 (Alt-T = Turquoise Font) apl 33 (Ctl-Y = Yellow Bkgd) apl 32 (Alt-Y = Yellow Font) apl 39 (Ctl-P = Pink Bkgd) apl 38 (Alt-P = Pink Font) apl 21 (Ctl-G = Green Bkgd) apl 20 (Alt-G = Green Font) apl 3b (Ctl-B = Blue Bkgd) apl 3a (Alt-B = Blue Font) apl 20 (Alt-Enter = Green Font)
Additional Comments(if required)
If you are using the client access,1)Click the button “remap keyboard functions” button in the tool bar,2)Click on the key “R” 3)Now in the space against Alt,enter apl 28 4) save the changes. Now in the seu editor if you type Alt+R against a columan and press enter, the entire line will appear in red color. let me know whether this can help you. Regards Ashutosh
submitted on July 21, 2008 1:38 AM EST
Name:
Soumendra Mishra
Email Address:
som_som78@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
hi , I want to change the color of my RPG code.by default it is showing green.Can I change it to Red or white.I know there is some hexadecimal code for each color.We can use that hexadecimal code to chnage the color. Can anybody tell me how to do it?And where can I get what is the hexadecimal codes for each colors. thanks, soumendra
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 19, 2008 5:58 AM EST
Name:
M Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
FTP
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi, Till now I was doing SAVF option only, every time I need to do entire process, thats the reason for doing direct FTP
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 15, 2008 9:21 AM EST
Name:
anil
Email Address:
kanil354@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
as400
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
I should design a PF in which we should be able to insert records into a PF but we should not be able to modify any records? How can we achieve that?
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 15, 2008 9:19 AM EST
Name:
anil
Email Address:
kanil354@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
as400
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
PF1 is having 3 LF’s and LF1 is having 5 key fields and LF2 is having 4 key fields and LF3 is having 3 key fields, which will u compile first and why?
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 15, 2008 9:17 AM EST
Name:
anil
Email Address:
kanil354@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
as400
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
PF1 is having 2 LF’s LF1 & LF2, LF2 is having unique keyword associated with it, and if u are trying to insert a duplicate record into a PF? What happens and what is the error which u get?
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 13, 2008 11:26 AM EST
Name:
Shakthi Kumar
Email Address:
Kumar75@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
M.Rajendranath’s query on FTP
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
In my opinion, i think it is something to do with the versions of the as400 between the source system and the target system. Why don’t you try like this. Before ftp’ing it, just make a SAVOBJ with the *previous (or whatever is the target as400) and then create a savefile. FTP the savefile. Your target system team can restore the savefile. It should work, since I also faced same issues sometime back. If both your source and target systems are having same versions, then you will have to dig further to know the root cause. Let me know if u r successful either with my suggestion or with any other process since the issue looks typical and is interesting.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 12, 2008 5:04 AM EST
Name:
M Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
FTP
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear All, I am try to FTP a file (Qry400 output) to another AS400 server, but after transfering when I try to execute the files- its is giving junk values or flat file that also junk values, please help me out in soving the FTP issue
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 11, 2008 8:11 PM EST
Name:
MURTY VARANASI
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
beware of some important Free format RPGLE coding issues
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
A realtime issue that occured today with a best of friend of mine: In the OPM RPG, to chain a file, the keyfield length and the work-field length in the pgm. should EXACTLY MATCH. Otherwise the pgm. will not be even compiled. But in the RPGLE-freeformat coding, it is not checking the lengh. e.g. Chain(Work_Employee_Name) EMPPFP (work-employee-name is a 100 char. field; whereas the file is keyed with EMPNAME as 50 char. The pgm. got compiled, but in the run time, it was not giving the expected results. (this employee file feed had come to us as interface from some company in a flat file format). Thought this info. is useful for our other friends in the group. You can also try this and see if you also experienced the same issue. The acid test is if the pgm. gets compiled with the mismatched fields, that is enough to kill us with debug later for production issue. Any comments/suggestions to overcome this will be highly appreciated. (not a suggestion to create the workfield like the emp.name etc. but looking for a realistic solution. We know one of the ways is %KDS, but if it is a single key field, just chain (field) should suffice.
Additional Comments(if required)
I just used today in my office work, without searching too much google; one of the suggestions given by Lakshminarasimham in this forum, about the version number retrieval. It worked well. Thanks to Lakshmi. I was trying to savobj with an older version, and wanted to know my current version of as400.
submitted on July 10, 2008 8:58 AM EST
Name:
Deeraj
Email Address:
deeraj@hotmail.com
Subject/Topic
reg. file with max rec length
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Thanks to Sreekar and Lekha for their valueble suggestions. I got my problem solved
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 10, 2008 8:24 AM EST
Name:
lekha
Email Address:
lekhasingh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
reply to sreekar’s answer
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
wow sreekar, superb.with this you will get the answer in few secs. Deeraj just follow Sreekars’ answer it is so simple and fast.
Additional Comments(if required)
Regards Lekhs
submitted on July 10, 2008 8:09 AM EST
Name:
sreekar
Email Address:
ss.sreekar@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to Deeraj’ squery on file with max.rcd length
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi, Deeraj start an SQL section and try the below query SELECT DBNAME,NAME, RECLENGTH FROM SYSTABLES WHERE RECLENGTH = (SELECT MAX(B.RECLENGTH) FROM SYSTABLES B)
Additional Comments(if required)
you will get a list of LIBRARY, FILE and RECORDLENGTH in few secs.
submitted on July 10, 2008 7:08 AM EST
Name:
lekha
Email Address:
lekhasingh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
reply to Deeraj’s query
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello Deeraj One solution is to create an OUTFILE for the command DSPFD over all files in the system with parameter TYPE(*RCDFMT) and then make a query on the file
Additional Comments(if required)
to find the file with largest record length use the following SQL query on the outfile. SELECT RFFILE,RFLEN FROM FRLIB/FRFILE WHERE RFLEN IN (SELECT MAX(RFLEN) FROM FRLIB/FRFILE) where FRLIB/FRFILE is the outfile created by DSPFD command. but it is a lengthy process as the DSPFD command takes lot of time to create the outfile over all the files in the system. Let’s see whether any of our member can suggest a simple solution
submitted on July 10, 2008 6:08 AM EST
Name:
Deeraj
Email Address:
deeraj@hotmail.com
Subject/Topic
file with max. record length
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello friends, How to identify the file with largest record length in the system
Additional Comments(if required)
thanks deeraj
submitted on July 7, 2008 7:14 AM EST
Name:
Arvind
Email Address:
Araj@hotmail.com
Subject/Topic
MQ Series and WSDS
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello Guys, Since I am getting the required information from this site and find it very much useful, thought I should use this forum only when compared to other forums. Can anybody let me know the steps for MQSeries. I know there are fixed APIs in AS400 for these. But a sample code will help me on: 1. Connect MQ 2. Open Queue - I believe there are some open parameters here like Open for read only, inquire only, write only etc. 3. MQ Put / MQPUT1 /MQ Get 4. MQ Close 5. MQ Disconnect Any other details on creating the Q Manager, Queues, remote queues, deadletter queues, model queues, local queues. Establishing Channels.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 7, 2008 6:23 AM EST
Name:
Arvind
Email Address:
araj@hotmail.com
Subject/Topic
SQL Stored Procedures and Data Description Language
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Can anybody throw some light on how to use SQL stored procedures from AS400 to connect to .net or vb. A detailed step-by-step process will help me attend an interview this week. How does the ODBC/JDBC connectivity work from AS400. What are the differences between SQL Stored procedures and the ODBC and JDBC connectivities. Are there any other types connectivities anybody is familiar with. sorry, I included total 3 queries in this mail itself.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 7, 2008 6:20 AM EST
Name:
Arvind
Email Address:
Araj@hotmail.com
Subject/Topic
Thanks Sreekar, but need some more details
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Thank u sreekar. I know embedded sequel. Can you let me know an example of a full sql statement for dynamic sql, say from a front-end screen, user will select a file and some field(s) on his own. The file(s) and the field(s) both are dynamic. Will we give a subselection or file.a and file.b and file.c where a.file.fielda = b.file.fieldb and a.file.fielda = c.file.fieldc. pl let me know which is preferrable.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 7, 2008 5:41 AM EST
Name:
harish
Email Address:
harish.dandu@yahoo.co.in
Subject/Topic
How to close SQL cursor
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi, How to close SQL cursor outside the pgm.I have a pgm where iam opening an SQL cursor.But due to some error the program is crashing without closing the Cursor. But when i ran the pgm second time it is throwing -00000502 error indicating that cursor is already open.how to solve this?
Additional Comments(if required)
regards harish
submitted on July 7, 2008 3:20 AM EST
Name:
Sreekar
Email Address:
ss.sreekar@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to Arvind’s query on dynamic SQL
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello Arvind, First of all let me know are you aware of using Static SQL in your SQLRPGLE program.If you are aware of this you can easily use Dynamic SQL.The only diff. is that, this time we will first prepare an SQL statement in a host variable and using EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement we will execute that command. If you doesn’t know how to use Static SQL then please let me know so that i can explain the process in a more elaborated way.
Additional Comments(if required)
Thanks Sreekar
submitted on July 5, 2008 3:05 PM EST
Name:
Arvind
Email Address:
araj@hotmail.com
Subject/Topic
Dynamic SQL
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear Friends, I am interested to know the dynamic sql details. Can anybody respond what is the syntax for the dynamic sql.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 2, 2008 6:50 AM EST
Name:
MURTY
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
file updates thru odbc - query from raj
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
1. Either the file size might be full. 2. Or the authorities on the file are changed. 3. If by any chance any triggers (journalling) is there on the PF need to look into. ODBC doesn’t require the journalling, but if it is there need to ensure that it is properly pointed to the correct journal/journal receivers. 4. File might be locked up in AS400 for some EOD jobs etc. for system saves/backups. Or some pgms. in AS400 might be running giving an exclusive lock on the file; at the same time ODBC might be trying to insert the records. Except the journalling issue, all others can occur commonly. Journalling issue can be verified, if no issues in the other points.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 2, 2008 5:37 AM EST
Name:
M Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
Error
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi, while uploading data from access to AS400, its throwing error ‘FILE NOT VALID FOR OPERATION’ I checked the ODBC connection, file in the lib, all are fine but i am getting the error, can anyone please help me in this regards
Additional Comments(if required)
Error shown: ODBC-insert on a linked table ‘TEMPLIB_ZYAMPF FAILED #7008 IBM iseries Access ODBC
submitted on July 1, 2008 8:46 PM EST
Name:
nancy
Email Address:
nancy@aol.com
Subject/Topic
level identifier on a file
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Guys/Gals, one can overcome most probably, the record level identifier issue by compiling the object as level check *no. I never tried it but read it in theory, Would anybody mind trying it and see whether this suggestion is useful.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on July 1, 2008 7:32 AM EST
Name:
Narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to Leka’s query
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello Lekha, The record level identifier(Also called Format level identifier) is the one through which a HLL program(Like RPG) identifies a file.Generally it will be a 13 character Hexa decimal value.To view the record level identifier of a file use the command DSPFD and look at the record format list. This identifier will change every time we change the file format(Like adding a new field,changing the attribute of a field etc..) When this identifier associated with the file changes,Running the HLL program would result in LEVEL CHECH ERROR.To overcome this you have to again compile the program
Additional Comments(if required)
Thanks, Narasimham
submitted on July 1, 2008 5:08 AM EST
Name:
Lekhasree
Email Address:
lekhasingh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Recordlevel identifier
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hello all, Can anybody tell me what is a record level identifier,how it changes and the impact on a HLL program when this identifier changes?
Additional Comments(if required)
Thanks, Lekha
submitted on June 30, 2008 6:20 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
Amit’s query on Arrays
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
I forgot to clarify. Since the file has I/O affect, you may resort to the file usage only when it is absolutely necessary. Otherwise you may think of other options like the Data Queues etc. if the Arrays cannnot be used.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on June 30, 2008 10:33 AM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to kumar11.amit@gmail.com query - Arrays
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Since the program has to allocate the memory it needs to know the array elements in advance. There is no way to increase the array dynamically. Only way is to create a work-file and populate with the necessary fields. (same like array structure, you can define the workfile) and populate ‘n’ number of records without any limit. Thanks Murty
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on June 30, 2008 9:24 AM EST
Name:
Amit kumar
Email Address:
kumar11.amit@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
Regarding array dimension
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Dear friends400 members How to increase the dimension of an array at runtime. I have declared a character arry with DIM(1000),But the no. of elements may increase during runtime.Obviously i can’t declare the array with max.dim of 32767 as it would cause memory wastage. So is their any way that i can increase the DIM of the array at run time?
Additional Comments(if required)
Regards Amit
submitted on June 30, 2008 8:31 AM EST
Name:
Narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply to Sreekar’s query
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
Hi,Sreekar The data area name is QSS1MRI and it resides in QUSRSYS library. Type DSPDTAARA QSS1MRI on the command line and you can find the version of the operating systems you are using.
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on June 30, 2008 6:05 AM EST
Name:
Sreekar
Email Address:
ss.sreekar@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
How to know the version of OS/400
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Hello, How to know the version of the OS/400 we are using apart from the spooledfiles data. I heard that there is a data area that stores the version of the operating systems,but iam not sure exactly what is it.
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Thanks in advance Sreekar
submitted on June 30, 2008 4:45 AM EST
Name:
Asuhtosh
Email Address:
s.asutosh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply for Narasimham’s answer
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Wow Narasimham, Thanks’s for your quick reply.That’s all solved my problem.
Additional Comments(if required)
Regards Ashutosh
submitted on June 30, 2008 4:34 AM EST
Name:
Narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
Reply for Asutosh’s query
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Hi, Asutosh Use FRCDTA keyword for the window in the Display file and in the program use WRITE opcode instead of EXFMT for the window. The FRCDTA keyword for window would make the control to come back to the program after the window is displayed
Additional Comments(if required)
Let me know whether this can help you
submitted on June 30, 2008 4:14 AM EST
Name:
Ashutosh
Email Address:
s.asutosh@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Needs help to display the wait screen
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Hi, Friends I am writing a subfile program where in the load subroutine iam using SQL to get data from 3 to 4 files. My problem is currently the system is taking some time to display the records when the user enters a value in the search field as i need to get data from 3 to 4 files. So i have designed a window with some text like “System is searching records please wait…” and EXFMT it to present to the user until the screen gets loaded.but the control is not passing back to the program to load the data until i press ENTER button after the window popped up. Is there anyway that i can pass the control back to the main program after the window gets popped up without pressing ENTER key?
Additional Comments(if required)
Any help would be appreciated. Regards Ashutosh
submitted on June 30, 2008 12:04 AM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
Process structure
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Dear All, Can anyone help me in providing production support process structure. We have more than 500 users working on one AS400 application. Team of 5 members need to handle the production issues,
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Authority sanctioning, table ownership, user query maintenance, etc.., all these needs to be maintained. THANKS
submitted on June 27, 2008 5:13 PM EST
Name:
MURTY VARANASI
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
Got the SQL query issue resolved.
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The issue is resolved by using Digits(
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submitted on June 27, 2008 6:38 AM EST
Name:
Narasimhamurty Varanasi
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
SQL suggestion.
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I need to convert a numeric field to a character field in SQL by retaining the leading zeros. eg. a numeric field consisting of a date as ‘06272008′. When I use int(
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submitted on June 23, 2008 7:33 PM EST
Name:
Friends400 Admin. Team
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
ljai007 reg. GUI
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Hi ljai007, Thanks for your input. Since a lot of members do not know the full advantage of the GUI, if you don’t mind, can you please send just halfpage to onepage document on this, so that it can be published in friends400 site. Needless to mention, your proactive white paper will bring in a good momentum to the members. Thanks Murty Friends400 Admin.
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submitted on June 23, 2008 6:12 PM EST
Name:
ramana
Email Address:
ramv@rediffmail.com
Subject/Topic
Absolute value query of Amit
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Amit, looks like u will hv to manipulate it in the CL on your own. If it is RPG the %abs function is there. Anyway thought of sharing this with you. May be you may hear from others.
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submitted on June 23, 2008 9:32 AM EST
Name:
ljai007
Email Address:
ljai1@aol.com
Subject/Topic
Let us not forget lovely GUI
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Don’t forget about the beauty of making that green screen look like a web browser screen by utilizing such tools at Seagull Software’s Jwalk Developer to create a Graphical User Interface for those simpletons who don’t “get” the green screen
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submitted on June 23, 2008 6:06 AM EST
Name:
Amit kumar
Email Address:
kumar11.amit@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
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Hello friends How to get the absolute value of a numeric variable in CL. I want to round off a value like 3.3 to nearest integer 3. Any help would be appreciated
Additional Comments(if required)
Regards Amit
submitted on June 23, 2008 3:41 AM EST
Name:
Friends400 Admin. Team
Email Address:
friendindeed@friends400.com
Subject/Topic
Charges on friends400 - suggestion of Rajendra
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As a policy, effective from 20th June 2008, friends400 has taken a decision not to charge to the members. Still if any member is interested to pay/to support the cause of friends400, it can be in the form of releasing a classifieds like ‘birthday wishes’ to a friend/family members etc. which will be published in a 3*3 Cms. space in a prominent place in the friends400 website. The charges for such a classified ad. will be Rs.100.
Additional Comments(if required)
Note: Irrespective of whether a person releases a classified ad. in friends400 or not, our treatment of all members is ‘at par’ and we continue to extend our services to all our members who are customers with the same tempo.
submitted on June 23, 2008 12:58 AM EST
Name:
M Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
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Just my Opinion:- We should charge some minimal amount to access this site, because what the member is getting info on AS400/SQL is some thing very high technical points, in my opinion they cant get detailed as this site provides. Ofcourse they may get but difenetly not like clarifying the root cause of the issues, CAN ANYONE PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS
Additional Comments(if required)
Even though we are less in numbers but still we can wait some more time to take this site in strides.
submitted on June 20, 2008 3:45 PM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
Re:SQL Query
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Great!!! Your advice is working perfectly, it was a show stopper, now its done, Thanks a LOT!!! **Tushar & Srikant, please take a look on this, it will be usefull for us frequently
Additional Comments(if required)
submitted on June 20, 2008 1:36 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
friends400@gmail.com
Subject/Topic
SQL update.. Reply to Rajendranath’s query
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Suppose if your field has 500 char. and you need to update the words between 300 to 310 following is the query. Update
Additional Comments(if required)
I gave the example if you need to update all the HDR records in a file.
a name="1213986470060">
submitted on June 20, 2008 1:27 PM EST
Name:
Rajendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@bharti-axagi.co.in
Subject/Topic
SQL
Query/Response(use.comment field for extra space)
I need to update few words in a line via sql, how to do it, please help immed
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submitted on June 19, 2008 6:35 AM EST
Name:
MURTY VARANASI
Email Address:
friends400@gmail.com
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
Further details on Sreekar’s query.
Additional Comments-1
Whether you create a source or not, you need to have the file-object present in advance to enable your RPG pgm. to get compiled. Just to create the object use the DSPFFD on a command line on a testfile, and clear the contents.
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If you are using a change-control tool like ALDON, Turnover, Implementer it insists a source. Hence you can use an AS400 source from the DDS or the SQL source like DDL (Data description language) and use the RS (Run SQL statement) which creates the object based on the DDL.
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submitted on June 19, 2008 6:32 AM EST
Name:
MURTY VARANASI
Email Address:
friends400@gmail.com
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
This is the response to query by Sreekar. ss.sreekar@rediffmail.com
Additional Comments-1
1. Create a file with structure like the output file of DSPFFD. - just the structure - And declare the file in your program. (You may not need to have a source also, just like the SQL table you can define in your pgm. in file-spec. by renaming the record format since SQL tables will have file/record format as same). Make sure to declare it with USER OPEN/CLOSE option for this file. 2. Either by calling a CL or using QCMDEXC API, give the DSPFFD command on the file with output-to-file created in step-1 above. 3. Open the file. Read the records sequentially. You will get all the field names like WHFILxx. 4. Please let me know if this helped you. 3.
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By the by, we encourage you to become a member in friends400. It is free.
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submitted on June 19, 2008 4:17 AM EST
Name:
Sreekar
Email Address:
ss.sreekar@rediffmail.com
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
Hi friends, How to get all the field names of a file in the program. I have to write a program where given the file name, i have to store all the fields names of that file in an array. Any help would be appreciated Thanks Sreekar
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submitted on June 17, 2008 9:25 PM EST
Name:
Murty Varanasi
Email Address:
friends400@gmail.com
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
This is Partial response to Soumendra’s query. The admin. team feels that you cannot give in SQL the (ISO…). Your query is sent to the expert team. Please await for their response.
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submitted on June 17, 2008 9:23 PM EST
Name:
Soumendra Mishra
Email Address:
som_som78@rediffmail.com
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
I want to compare two date TIBSHT and WRKDT.TIBSHT is 14 digit numeric field and WRKDT is Date type ISO field.These ae from two different files.When I tried to do a SQL query it is giving me error .My SQL query and error is below. SELECT tibsft from Testlib/Cktimel1 WHERE date(substring(char(tipstr),1,8)) in(select wrkdt from Testlib/Sfltl1a8) Error:Selection error involving field TIPSTR.
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My error is coming because thee is a mismatch in the field type.If I can convert numeric fileds to *ISO date then my problem will be solved
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submitted on June 17, 2008 9:22 PM EST
Name:
MURTY VARANASI
Email Address:
friends400@gmail.com
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
Response to Rajendranath’s query on getting excel file into as400. 1. Make sure Excel has only ONE sheet. 2. Use SaveAS and save the Excel into a .CSV (Comma separateed values) file. 3. Use FTP (thru DOS prompt), since client access may not be available with some people, but DOS is available for everybody. Make the CD as your AS400 library (otherwise the file goes to QGPL). 4. Use the put Testfile.CSV to TESTxxx. 5. Create a STRUCTURED FILE (with the fields you need, say, if your excel has 5 columns, create 5 fields - to be on safeside give the max.length for each field eg. 100 char). 5. Use the command CPYFRMIMPF (Copy from import file). It asks for either an IFS file or a database file. Give the TESTxxx in the database file name, and TO-FILE as the STRUCTRED1. By default the field delimiter will be (,) comma hence no need to change it. That’s all. Data is copied. Let us know if you are successful. Best of luck.
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There are some tools available like CVTXLSxxx etc. but everybody may not have tools library, hence the safe method is to do the above.
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submitted on June 17, 2008 9:21 PM EST
Name:
narasimham
Email Address:
vlnarasimham@gmail.com
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This is to confirm that three more members TusharBambharolia,Rajendra varma,Srikanth rao were added to our members list.
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submitted on June 17, 2008 9:20 PM EST
Name:
M Rajinendranath
Email Address:
m.rajendranath@Bharti-axagi.co.
Query/Response(use.comment fields for extra space)
How to upload the data from excel to AS400 DB2, please help me out in this process
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Membership in FRIENDS400 will be the KEY to success!!!. Hurry up and become a friend of friends400. Just send an email to friends400@gmail.com to get the key. Don’t delay - since by the time you try to get the key somebody may open the lock.
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