28th Annual New Hampshire / Vermont IBM i User Group Meeting

Wednesday, June 8, 2016 - Fireside Inn, West Lebanon NH

This event was free to IBM i professionals, and sponsored by NHMUG and VTMUG

IBM Announcements - Steve Fier, IBM

Steve will cover the latest IBM Announcements including:

• IBM i 7.3 and 7.2 TR4
• Significant DB2 enhancements, especially around analytics
• Security updates
• RPG and open-source tools
• Hardware enhancements

About Steve

Steve Fier has been with IBM over 30 years, initially starting as a systems engineer, and then becoming a senior marketing specialist. His current role is POWER Platform Leader for the Northeast, responsible for former System i and System p products. Steve's areas of expertise include application development, DB2 for i, Windows Integration and Server Consolidation.

What you need to know to upgrade to IBM i 7.3 - Pete Massiello, iTech Solutions 

When doing an upgrade to IBM i, it's more work to plan the upgrade than to execute the upgrade itself. Once you have a plan, the actual upgrade is simple. Do you know what you need to upgrade to IBM i 7.3?

Pete Massiello, president of iTech Solutions, and past-president of COMMON, has helped many IBM i users make the move to upgrading their OS level. He will get you on the right path to an upgrade by helping you answer these key questions:

• What is the right size for the load source?
• How do i increase the licensed internal code?
• Which version of Java is compatible with the new release?
• Which console options are no longer available with 7.3?
• Do I have the correct set of disks for the upgrade?
• What do I need to do differently when upgrading from 5.4, 6.1, 7.1 or 7.2?

About Pete

Pete Massiello has been working with the AS/400, iSeries, IBM i since 1989, focusing on systems management and technical support. He has held numerous technical positions throughout his career and is currently the President of iTech Solutions Group, an IBM Premier Business Partner delivering solutions and services to IBM i shops throughout the United States. He is a member of IBM's certification test writing team and an IBM Certified Systems Expert with certifications in iSeries Design, Administration, Virtualization, Implementation, LPAR, and HMC Management.

Pete has a BS in Computer Science from Hofstra University and an MBA from the University of New Haven. He was President of COMMON from 2010 to 2012, and is now Immediate Past President, a COMMON Hall of Fame speaker, and a frequent speaker at user groups all over the world. In 2011, IBM established the Champions award for Power Systems; Pete was one of the first recipients.

Modernizing IBM i Applications - Dan Cruikshank, IBM

Session 1 - Data Modeling Overview

Building a solid database foundation requires the use of modern design tools. Using the tools provided with IBM Data Studio, Rational Business Developer, Infosphere Data Architect and other bundled products, a Database Architect/Engineer can develop graphical data models; conceptual, logical and physical.

Having a tool is one thing, being able to use it is another. This session will cover topics such as: What is Data Modeling?, How do I use these tools to create Conceptual, Logical, Dictionary and Physical Data Models and Using the tools to diagram entities, tables, views, relationships and other shapes

The following is the agenda for this session:

• Data Modeling Concepts
• Types of Graphical Data Models
• Getting Started with IBM Graphical Tools
• Diagramming Concepts

Session 2 - Embedding SQL in High Level Language Programs

In this session you will be introduced to SQL programming techniques that take advantage of advanced data centric development methods such as blocked FETCH and INSERT, extended indicators, ROW NUMBER, ROW CHANGE TIMESTAMP, ARRAY types, GLOBAL variables, , MERGE, result set consumption in host languages and dynamic SQL descriptors.

We will discuss how to exploit these new capabilities to build advanced data centric applications based on concepts such as optimistic locking and stateless pagination. In addition, techniques on how to populate and access arrays in SQL routines will be discussed.

The following is the agenda for this session:

• Getting Started with Embedded SQL
• Variables and Indicators
• Cursors and Result Set Consumption
• Dynamic SQL

Handouts

Down load the handouts for Dan's sessions:

Overview of Data Modeling Using IBM Graphical Tools
Embedded SQL the IBM i Way

About Dan

Dan is an IBM Sr. Consultant and is a member of the IBM DB2 for i Center of Excellence team which is part IBM Rochester Lab Services. Dan has published several articles relating to IBM i performance analysis, database optimization and database reengineering. More recently he has done webinars and user group presentations on application development methodologies and database re‐engineering topics (e.g. DDS to DDL, RPG Open Access). Dan’s main role is to illuminate, educate and enable IBM i customers in how to take advantage of this remarkable system and it’s integrated, state of the art relational database.