I have two files on my System i. One is a parts list that includes prices. The other contains new prices. Is there an easy way to get the new prices into the parts list?

Use SEQUEL to do a JOIN UPDATE. When you do a JOIN UPDATE you automatically update a System i file with data from another System i file! (We believe this is unique in the System i world.) Here’s an example:

UPDATE SET((LSTPC.1 NEW_PRICE.2))
SQL(’FROM PARTMAST, NEWPRICE JOIN PRDNO.1 = PRDNO.2′)

Important note: The file you are updating must be the primary (first) file in the SQL statement.

The first parameter in the SET clause is the column name (field) to be updated. In this example, it is the LSTPC (List Price) field. The second parameter in the SET clause assigns the new value to the column name. In this example, we specify that another field, NEW_PRICE, will supply the value. Alternatively, the value parameter could contain a literal value or a derived character or numeric value, depending on your requirements. For instance, you might want to multiply LSTPC by a numeric value to come up with a new List Price.

The SQL FROM clause specifies the two database files required for the operation and the JOIN identifies the fields used to join the files together. The SQL statement in this example is fairly basic. It updates all LSTPC fields in the PARTMAST file. You also could use WHERE and CASE statements to apply conditional updates in your target file.

When you do a profile exchange in Robot/SECURITY, does the Security Audit Journal (QAUDJRN) show actions taken as being carried out by the “original” user profile or the “exchanged to” user profile?

Any changes made by a person using profile exchange show up in QAUDJRN as being carried out by the “exchanged to” or alternate user profile. If you need to investigate further, check the Robot/SECURITY Profile Exchange Activity List to determine who was using the alternate user profile at that time. The activity list also shows actions performed during the exchange.

Here’s a rundown of some ways to use SEQUEL’s CVTDATE function

At some point, almost all SEQUEL users need to work with dates that are stored differently in several databases. This article looks at some uses of the CVTDATE function to help you handle this common problem.

Using the CVTDATE function
SEQUEL has a unique date conversion function called convert date (CVTDATE). This function converts numeric or character date fields into System i date data-type fields. When you convert numeric or character values to System i date values, the system recognizes the values as dates. The System i then can handle all kinds of date calculations, such as counting days between dates, subtracting dates, or sorting by dates. Not only can you perform calculations on dates, but you can present difficult date formats (such as Julian dates) in more readable formats. The general syntax is:

CVTDATE(fieldname,fieldtype)

Enter the name of a numeric or character date field in the fieldname portion of the expression. Use the fieldtype to indicate to SEQUEL the format of the date, as it is stored in the file.

How SEQUEL looks at dates
Let’s look at how SEQUEL works with some common date formats.

Dates with century values
MDY1 is shorthand for dates represented as mmddyyyy. For instance, if your field name is SHIPDATE and it is stored as mmddyyyy (09302007), you have an MDY1 type date.

Date types of CYMD and CJUL must have a century digit preceding the year value. The century digit is zero (0) for years between 1900 and 1999 and one (1) for years between 2000 and 2099. For example, the CYMD representation of September 30, 2007, is 1070930.

Dates without a century value
SEQUEL interprets date types without a century value (MDY, DMY, YMD, JUL) by assuming years between 40 and 99 are the years 1940 to 1999, and years between 00 and 39 are the years 2000 to 2039. For example, a MDY-type date of 093007 would be read as September 30, 2007. However, 093040 would be September 30, 1940. If you have dates in your database, such as birth dates, that are earlier than 1940 and don’t have a century digit, contact technical support to determine the best way to handle your situation.

Creating one date from several fields
You can also use CVTDATE to unite dates that are separated into three or four fields containing century, year, month, and day values. The field names in the CVTDATE calculation must be specified in the following order: century (if available), year, month, day. CVTDATE can work with character or numeric fields and the value must be a valid date. To unite dates, use one of these syntaxes:

CVTDATE(yy or yyyy,mm,dd)

CVTDATE(cc,yy,mm,dd)

You can use the CVTDATE syntax in the SELECT, WHERE, or HAVING clauses. Like other calculated fields in SEQUEL, you can use the alias names of the converted date fields from the SELECT clause in other clauses, including the ORDER BY clause.

Controlling Date Styles
SEQUEL commands contain a date style (DTSTYLE) parameter. This parameter controls the date formats that are shown when you use CVTDATE. You can control the default style from the Define View or Define Table screen.

Working with dates containing zero or invalid dates
Data mapping errors result when records contain zero as the converted date because zero is not a valid date. You can use SEQUEL’s GREATEST and CASE functions to avoid these errors. The statement below converts any field with a date value of zero, or a value lower than January 1, 1940, to the date of 01/01/40:

CVTDATE(GREATEST (FIELDNAME,400101),FIELDTYPE)

The statement below changes zero values to null, producing output of N/A, using SEQUEL’s CASE function:

CASE FIELDNAME WHEN 0

THEN NULL

ELSE CVTDATE(FIELDNAME,FIELDTYPE) END

A data mapping error also occurs if there is invalid data in a date field, such as a date of 09/32/2007. In this case, you can identify the record number in the error message. If you have the proper authority, you can edit the date using using SEQUEL’s UPDATE command.

Calculating working days
Sometimes you need to calculate the number of working days (Monday through Friday) between two dates. For example, how would you calculate the number of working days between June 1, 2006 and June 17, 2006 using SEQUEL?

A SELECT statement is a good approach:

SELECT

CVTDATE(2006,6,1) NAME(a), date 1

CVTDATE(2006,6,17) NAME(b), date 2

DAYS(b)-DAYS(a) LEN(5,0) NAME(c), delta

FLOOR(c/7)*5 LEN(3,0) NAME(workdayweek), days in whole weeks

c MOD 7 LEN(1,0) NAME(d), restdays

DAYOFWEEK(a) NAME(da), day of week date 1

DAYOFWEEK(b) NAME(db), day of week date 2

CASE WHEN da=1 THEN 2 if date 1 is equal

WHEN da=7 THEN 2 Sunday or Saturday

ELSE da END I start on Monday

LEN(1,0) NAME(dc),

CASE WHEN db=1 THEN 6 if date 2 is equal

WHEN db=7 THEN 6 Sunday or Saturday

ELSE db END I stop on Friday

LEN(1,0) NAME(dd),dd-dc

LEN(1,0) NAME(de), helpfield

CASE WHEN da IN(1,7) AND db IN (1,7) THEN workdayweek {correction of weekends}

WHEN de<0 THEN workdayweek+5+de+1

ELSE workdayweek+de+1 END LEN(5,0) NAME(tot)

This solution isn’t perfect if date 1 is a Sunday and date 2 is a Saturday. But with some revision, you can still use this approach. SEQUEL is very flexible. Just use your imagination!

How do I copy a list of reports from one recipient to another in Robot/REPORTS?
Robot/REPORTS (7.19 or higher) includes the REPCPYDST command to copy distribution from one recipient to another. This command copies both the distribution and its related history, so the recipient sees reports processed in the past, as well as receiving future reports. You must supply three parameters to the command:

• From Recipient (FROM): Enter the name of the report recipient whose report list will be copied.
• To Recipient (TO): Enter the name of the report recipient who will receive the reports.
• Copy Distribution List reports (COPYDIST): Specify whether to copy all of the reports the From recipient receives, including reports distributed from distribution lists.

• Y (Yes): Include the reports the From recipient receives from distribution lists.
• N (No): Exclude the reports the From recipient receives from distribution lists.

Here are some other things you should know about this command:

• You cannot use the name of a distribution list for either the To or From recipient.
• The REPCPYDST command produces a report (REP746) listing which reports will be distributed to the To recipient.

If I have the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) enabled in Client Access, can I use
SEQUEL ViewPoint?
Yes, as long Client Access Certificates have been established for the Sign-On Server, Database Server, Remote Command, Central Server, Data Queue Server, and DDM/DRDA Server. Run the iSeries Navigator SSL Connection test. If it is successful for all but the Network File application, Print application, and Telnet application, you should be good to go.

Here are tips on using SEQUEL’s Client Table feature

Do your end users want to slice and dice their data many different ways? Do some of your users need access to data even when they are not connected to the network? SEQUEL’s Client Table feature can help.

What is the Client Table feature?
SEQUEL’s Client Table is an interactive online analytical processing (OLAP) tool that gives end users the ability to interact with System i data and allows them to summarize large quantities of data quickly.

When a Client Table view is executed, data is copied to the user’s PC. The data is static until the next time the view is executed. Users perform interactive analysis locally on their copy of the data. This allows them to disconnect from the network and continue to work with the data. Users can filter data, pivot (rearrange) data, drill down for more detail, preview (and print) results, and export their data to Microsoft Excel.

Getting Started
Select a view and choose New > SEQUEL Client Table. The Client Table Wizard creates a table from any view in four easy steps:

1. Give the table a title. (The Wizard creates a default title which you can change.)

2. Identify the rows or dimensions for the table. The rows are the unique records listed down the left side of the table. You can group your data by customer, salesperson, country, state, or other fields. You can even select multiple fields as the unique rows in your table.

3. Select the field(s) that will be the columns or categories of data across the top of your table. This spreads the data across the table as it is built. You can identify product class, sales region, month, year, or any other field as your column. Again, you can choose multiple categories, such as fiscal year and quarter.

4. Decide what field(s) you want as your table data. People usually choose a numeric field, such as year-to-date sales, expenses, or budget, that can be summarized in the body of the table.

Note: Help/Systems recommends that you select all of the fields in the underlying view with which you want to work.

Design mode
Once the Wizard has created the table, you can work with a subset of your data in the Client Table designer. In design mode, you can change the rows or columns by dragging and dropping from the list of available fields. You also can apply data markers, create percentages (for rows and columns), or add ranking.

To add calculated fields, go to Format > Calculated Fields. Click on add and enter your formula. Once you close the panel, your table is updated instantly with the new column.

Go to Format > Layout to change display characteristics of the fields, hide fields, or apply ranking or percentages.

Data markers provide a powerful way to add visual impact to the information displayed. You can apply background and font colors conditionally for any number of ranges. Go to Format > Data Markers to add high and low values for a specific field and define the colors you want to apply based on this range. Continue adding data markers until all the ranges are defined.

The result
Once you have defined the view, files, and fields, added calculations, data markers, and other layout changes to the table, you are ready to run the view.

While displaying table data, you can filter the results by using the drop-down menu for any field. When you identify the data to be filtered, the field is highlighted in the display to indicate that the data has been filtered.

One of the most powerful Client Table features is the ability to pivot (rearrange) data once it’s displayed. By moving fields in and out of the rows and columns, or swapping a row or column, data can be analyzed and displayed in many ways. And, because the data is local on your PC, this analysis happens almost instantly!

Another Client Table feature is the ability to drill from summary data into detailed records. Select the summary value you want to drill into by double-clicking its cell. A new window with the detail data displays.

Finally, you can decide which levels of data you want to show or hide, depending on the analysis you are trying to perform. Simply expand or collapse fields to create your custom view.

Summary
There are many advantages to using the Client Table feature. It offers dynamic pivoting and filtering capabilities that you don’t have with the Host Table feature. You can apply data markers, create calculated fields, and save the results as a special object that can be viewed without SEQUEL ViewPoint. You can take data with you, even when you are not connected to the network. You even can export your table to Excel for further flexibility. It’s time to take a closer look at the SEQUEL Client Table feature.

Contributed by Jill Martin, Technical Services Manager

I have created a connection to a remote database. How do I connect to it and use the tables?
The way to do this is to create a new view in SEQUEL ViewPoint. On the design menu, select File > Properties. Use the database drop-down on the View tab to select the remote database. Then, select files and fields, creating a view as you normally would.

How can I calculate the first and last days of the current month?
For the first day of the month use the following calculation:

(CURRENT DATE - DAY

(CURRENT DATE) DAYS) + 1 DAY

For the last day of the month, use:

CURRENT DATE + 1 MONTH - DAY (CURRENT DATE + 1 MONTH) DAYS

How can I remove non-alpha characters from a string?
This requires using two functions. Use TRANSLATE to convert non-alpha characters to blanks, and use STRIPX to remove the blanks from the string.

Let’s look at building this calculation step by step. For example, if field X has a value of a!b@c#d$e, you can use TRANSLATE to replace the non-alpha characters with blanks:

TRANSLATE(X,” “,”!@#$”)

The result is a b c d e.

By adding STRIPX, you can remove multiple occurrences of a character from a string. In this case, you want STRIPX to remove the blanks created by the TRANSLATE function. The final calculation would be:

STRIPX(TRANSLATE(X,” “,”!@#$”),” “)

The final result is abcde.

Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York was founded in 1886. Over the years, they have weathered depressions, wars, and recessions to emerge as one of the leading mutual life insurance companies in the United States. Currently, Security Mutual markets products in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. From $15,000 in assets its first year in existence, Security Mutual has grown to more than $1.9 billion in assets, with more than $29 billion of life insurance in force.

SEQUEL extracts data easily
David Lunzman, a senior software developer, describes the role SEQUEL plays at Security Mutual. “I started with Security Mutual three and a half years ago and I had used SEQUEL for several years at my previous employer. Naturally, when I came to Security Mutual I recommended we purchase SEQUEL. Now, we use SEQUEL with our Genelco LSP application database to extract data. Extracting data is really easy with SEQUEL. Before SEQUEL we had to use SQL/400, or write RPG programs.

“With SEQUEL, I can pull out the data I need and format it into reports or create Excel files. We often use SEQUEL’s conditional processing, string handling, and date manipulation capabilities when we extract data. Date conversion has also been very helpful. We store our dates as packed fields. SEQUEL lets us convert them to date data types and show the number of days between dates. SEQUEL’s UNIQUE KEY function lets us remove duplicate records.

Drag-and-drop makes everything faster
“Using SEQUEL Viewpoint with its drag-and-drop capabilities makes everything easier and faster. For example, a user called and asked for an ad hoc report on our agents. I delivered it within five minutes. Most of our users access SEQUEL-manipulated data using a browser and the SEQUEL Web Interface. A browser is all the software they need to get the information they need.

Reports accessible through Windows or a browser
“We use SEQUEL to provide reports containing vital operating statistics for upper management. We often build run-time prompts into the reports to allow users to select a date range or a company. And, SEQUEL lets us provide drill-down options to our browser users. For example, management might run a summary report by agent, then pick an agent and drill for further detail. With SEQUEL, we can quickly build a view or report and make it immediately accessible through a browser or Windows. Our users can print a report or create Excel files. They really like the versatility of SEQUEL.

E-mail distribution a plus
“SEQUEL’s e-mail distribution is very useful. We have some reports that we run during our nightly cycle. With SEQUEL, we can automatically e-mail the reports or Excel files as attachments. SEQUEL also lets us e-mail from a browser. SEQUEL prompts for the e-mail address and sends out an Excel file attachment.

Short learning curve another bonus
“Recently, we hired a developer. With SEQUEL’s short learning curve, he learned SEQUEL quickly and thinks it’s fantastic. When I program, I use SEQUEL about half the time. I find that combining SEQUEL and RPG makes it easy to develop applications on the IBM System i. Because SEQUEL is command driven, it is easy to invoke from a CL program. I also like SEQUEL scripting, which we can run from a browser. I can do amazing things with SEQUEL—convert data to Excel, format and e-mail reports, perform drill-down analysis, and so on.”

To sum it up, David concludes, “SEQUEL is great. I have only good things to say about it.”

I have a library on my system called HELPNETLIB. Do the Robot products use this library?
This library is no longer used by the Robot products. Here’s how to remove it:

• Add the Help/NET library to your library list: ADDLIBLE HELPNETLIB
• Start the cleanup process: CALL HLPCLEAN
  • • Note: If Help/NET is at Release 2.31 (or higher), skip to step 5. Otherwise, continue with step 3.
• Delete the routing table entry, distribution queue, and secondary names: CFGDSTSRV
• When the menu displays:
  • • Select option 3 to display the secondary names. Remove all eight entries that begin with NETCUST.
    • Select option 2 to display the routing table entry. Remove the entry that has HELPNET in it.
    • Select option 1 to display the distribution queue. Remove the entry that has HELPNET in it.
• Delete the HELP/NET library: DLTLIB HELPNETLIB

The name of a data library changed. How do I change my SEQUEL views to use the new library name?
Here’s an easy way using the SEQUEL command DSPVIEWD.

1. Create a source file that you can edit using these commands:
   CHGCMDDFT CMD(SEQUEL/CRTVIEW) NEWDFT(’replace(*yes)’)
   DSPVIEWD LIB/*ALL TYPE(*SRC) OUTPUT(*OUTFILE) OUTFILE(QTEMP/QXLSRC) OUTMBR(ALLVIEWS)

2. Start the source edit utility: STRSEU QTEMP/QXLSRC ALLVIEWS

3. Select option 2 (Edit) and press function key 14 (Find/Change) to change the old name to the new name.

4. Compile and run the program. All the views will be re-created.

5. Reset the CRTVIEW command to its default value: CHGCMDDFT CMD(SEQUEL/CRTVIEW) NEWDFT(’replace(*no)’)

People often want to know how current the data on their SEQUEL dashboard is. To answer this question, you can add a Run Date/Time or System Date/Time time stamp to the dashboard. This article offers a couple of different ways to do this.

Use a SEQUEL View for a System i time stamp
You can use a simple SEQUEL View to display the reserved values Current Date and Current Time from the System i:

SELECT current date COLHDG(”Run Date”), current time COLHDG(”Run Time”)

FROM sqlexec

In this View the date and time values appear on two lines. To merge these into a single time stamp field, use the CHAR (character conversion) and CAT (concatenation) functions.

SELECT cat(char(current date) , ” - - “, char(current time))

NAME (time stamp) COLHDG(”Run Date/Time”)

FROM sqlexec

This displays the time stamp on one line as a single field.

Save the View, then add it to the dashboard using the Insert > SEQUEL Object menu option. After you’ve added it to the dashboard, you can drag it to any location and use the masking technique (explained later) to hide the heading and borders.

Use JavaScript for a desktop time stamp
Another approach is to use a text editor such as Notepad to create a simple Web page (.html file) containing the following HTML and JavaScript code:

<html>

<body>

<script type=”text/javascript”>

document.write(Date())

</script>

</body>

</html>

This code produces a time stamp in a browser window (shown below).

To improve the appearance, you can add HTML <font> tags and formatting specs around the <script> tags to change the font color, style, and weight, as shown in the following example.

<html>

<body>

<font color=”#000099″ size=”3″ face=”Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif”><b>

<script type=”text/javascript”>

document.write(Date())

</script>

</b></font>

</body>

</html>

Save the HTML file in a location on your Internet or network server.

Adding the time stamp to your dashboard
Open a dashboard in SEQUEL ViewPoint, or create a new one by choosing Select File > New > SEQUEL Dashboard. (The dashboard must be in design mode to add or modify objects. You’ll know you’re in design mode when the Insert menu option appears in the menu bar.)

Click on the Insert > Web Page option to add the new time stamp page. When the Web browser window displays, enter the Internet or network server address of the file you created earlier and click OK.

If you want the time stamp to show the last time the dashboard data was initialized or refreshed, use the default refresh settings. If you want the time stamp to function as a clock displaying the latest time, click File > Properties to display the Dashboard Properties window (below).

Select the Web page you just added. Then, click the Refresh Rate button at the bottom. Enter a 1 to refresh every second and click OK.

Formatting tip
If you want to display the time stamp window (or other dashboard objects) without the title and scroll bars, you can mask them. Click the Insert > Text option to display the Dashboard Text window. Enter some text in the Text box, then set the Text Color and Background Color to the same selection. You probably want this to be the background color, but initially it may be useful to pick a contrasting color. Uncheck the Show Border check box.

Create as many “blank” text boxes as you need. Next, resize and arrange them around the object you want to mask. Finally, edit the text boxes to match the background color.

Contributed by Jill Martin, Technical Services Manager

If I need to re-use a tape before its original expiration date, can I expire it manually in Robot/SAVE?
Yes, Robot/SAVE lets you expire a tape manually. Go to the Save Media Management Menu and select option 2 (By Volume Name). Locate the volume that you want to expire and enter a 9 next to the volume. A warning displays that the volume and its history will be removed. Press Enter to remove the history and expire the tape.

When you do this, you remove all the history for the objects saved on this tape. At this point, the data is still on the tape, but Robot/SAVE allows you to re-use the volume. The tape is reserved for the system on which you manually expired it.

I am trying to join two files using a derived field. SEQUEL ViewPoint displays the following error: “File xxx is not referenced in the JOIN specification.” How do I avoid the error so I can run the view?
Click OK to close the error message. Then, on the menu, select Options > ViewPoint Options > Design Tab. Un-check both “Ensure files are joined” and “Enable auto joining” in the File Join Options section. This allows the view to run with the derived join.

I have a Type 1 backup, with libraries that have objects to encrypt and libraries that do not. What is the most efficient way to set this up in Robot/SAVE?
To make your backup efficient, use one sequence number for all the libraries that do not have encrypted objects. Then, use another sequence number for the libraries that need encryption.

Is there a way for me to display just my monthly jobs in Robot/SCHEDULE?
It depends on how the jobs were set up. If your monthly jobs have a specific value in the application field, you can list them easily by doing a Robot query on this field. If your monthly jobs are scheduled using the DAYNO scheduling option, you could query that value. We recommend that when you set up Robot/SCHEDULE jobs you develop a naming convention that works for your installation. If monthly jobs are important, consider starting all job names with a dedicated character to identify them easily.

Yes! Here’s how to set up business intelligence quickly and cost-effectively.

During the development of a typical business intelligence solution, you gather user requirements, catalog existing data elements, identify the new data elements for the data warehouse, and make your hardware selections. You create procedures and programs to reformat, redefine, summarize, and transfer the data to data warehouse files. You define dimensions and drill pathways to structure your data warehouse properly. You hire additional staff to manage the new environment. Typically, the project timeline expands as new requirements surface and original specifications change. Finally, often months after the original target date and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, your business intelligence system may be ready.

Data Warehouse: The real costs
What are the real costs of the traditional data warehouse for the System i-centric customer? It’s a lot because you are used to managing a technology that has consistent processing, security, operations, and system availability. The traditional data warehouse usually runs on another platform that brings new management challenges: new staff, new vendors, and new operational requirements. Change is often a good thing, but in this case, at what cost? System i customers cannot continue to lose time to these large-scale, out-of-scope projects.

Data Warehouse: The better way
There is a better way—business intelligence centered around the System i using SEQUEL. The information is there, waiting for you to extract it directly from your transaction database without data warehouse files or additional hardware. In less than five minutes, you can use SEQUEL to create a view and perform “drill-down” analysis of a transaction database containing millions of records. There’s no need to define “drill paths,” create data warehouse files, or perform any other setup. Users can view data at a summary level and drill down into the details that make up the summarized information, all on the fly. And, if you need to modify the view, you can make changes in minutes.

With a System i-centric solution like SEQUEL, you can deploy a business intelligence solution faster and more effectively than with any other approach. The argument that you need to off-load the data to achieve performance just doesn’t make sense. With the System i, you can leave the data where it is and access it in real time. The benefits are enormous. No out-of-sync databases, and no questions or skepticism from the end users on the validity of the data. If running a business intelligence solution does impact your performance, you can upgrade your System i. Chances are the upgrade is far less expensive than setting up a traditional data warehouse.

You might think that an upgrade is too expensive. But, it shouldn’t be if you do a real cost-of-ownership analysis. Consider the cost to build the data warehouse: new hardware, new staff, new BI software, new operations software (anti-virus, security, backup, scheduling), and more. Factor in the costs of waiting 9 to 12 months to put a non-System i-centric solution to work and it becomes an extremely expensive sell to upper management. Contrast this with investing in a System i-centric solution that can be available within days of receiving some training.

What about the performance on the production System i? How will this impact your environment? Starting with V5R3, enhancements to i5/OS allow the System i to crunch millions of data records in a fraction of the time previously required. Business intelligence tools written specifically for the System i use IBM APIs and the i5/OS query processor, allowing you to retrieve database information in the fastest, most efficient ways. Instead of investing in a staff of data warehouse professionals, consider training your current System i staff to better understand database access processes.

Data Warehouse: An easier implementation
Sound too good to be true? It’s not. With System i-centric tools like SEQUEL, you avoid the time-consuming and costly process of defining a data warehouse. With the enhanced query processor, you can run requests directly over transaction files or extract files, eliminating the need to create separate data warehouse files. If database files are extremely large, you can refine access paths, indexes, and JOIN relationships to fine-tune and improve performance. And, if summary files are required, it’s easy to create them directly on the system.

Do you have old native queries that you want to convert? It’s simple with a System i native business intelligence tool. SEQUEL can read those definitions and, in a matter of minutes, your old query is an object on a multi-panel dashboard. Your old query has just been given new life as a summary table ready for management to drill into against the live data. A range of industry-standard formats are supported.

Because native BI tools can access the native file definitions, they have an advantage over other solutions. All field definitions, file layouts, and relationships are readily available within seconds. There’s no need to redefine your database on another platform.

Count on your System i
What about your data on other platforms? If you have DB2/400 along with other databases such as SQL server on Windows or an Oracle database on AIX, your System i can link this data, too. Your executive dashboard or key performance indicators can include data from all of your databases. And, you can access this information from a single query engine centered on System i.

Using the System i, you can quickly and easily set up a powerful, cost-effective, and flexible business intelligence solution at your site, without a time-consuming, expensive data warehouse development project. Every user—from executives to managers to end users—can enjoy fast, easy access to the information they need to make better-informed business decisions. It’s never too late to pull the plug on your traditional data warehouse project.

Contributed by Tom Huntington, Vice President of Technical Services