Category: Technical Articles
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IBM i Dashboard
In all of those cool computer control rooms you see in the movies, there is always some simple screen that the technician looks at when there is a problem. Admittedly this computer techie is not normally the hero of the movie, nor are they usually the most dashing of characters but nevertheless, they have a…
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When usage is not usage – Inactive user profiles & devices
I’m reminded of an essay I wrote at school “I believe I have no beliefs”, as a good coder I’m sticking to a naming convention! This is a slightly different take on something I’ve seen discussed in various forms, including on the IBM site here: https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1013520 It’s suggested that you look at last sign-on date,…
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“Where did this print come from? How I learned to love the audit journal”
A question that crops up from time to time since the paperless office never materialised. Another variation is ‘I asked for a print but didn’t get it, where did it go?’ This is one of the first things that got me to look in detail at the audit functionality on IBMi, maybe not the…
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Midnight Commander
IBM is doing such a great job on the Open Source front, it’s difficult keeping up with all their offerings as of late. That’s not a complaint, keep going IBM! Another great example of software being added to that list is Midnight Commander – what a great name! Midnight Commander is a very helpful graphical…
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The Joys of System36 – Update your flat files via SQL
For those of you who have a customer that just stopped checking the calendar before the turn of the millennium or really likes the good old-fashioned two character device IDs you’ll sometimes need to update data in a very awkward format. If your data is in a format that UPDDTA can’t read it then perhaps…
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Do I need to pay for Java?
Over the last few months, you may have noticed some rather confusing messages about the need to pay for Java. They imply that you need to pay to use Java if you are a business, and in some cases this will be true but in most cases you will NOT need to pay a penny.…
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Open Source Package Management
To follow on from my PowerWire Open Source on IBM i theme, this time I would like to run through Open Source Package Management with you all. So, what is Package Management? Firstly, let us step back and run through how we typically manage our software on the IBM i. If we had a requirement…
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Removing the storage bottleneck
This article is sponsored by Northdoor. The theoretical peak performance of IBM® Power Systems™ servers continues to rise rapidly with each new generation of hardware, but any system is only as good as its weakest element. In many organisations, end-to-end performance is throttled by bottlenecks in data storage and retrieval. If you can’t get data…
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Selling your expertise
You’re brought in to help because you know something that they don’t. You’ve got a world of experience and an old-school, belts-and-braces approach that makes it much less of a risk for a project if the company has you around. Now, the very fact that—to them—you’re an expert (don’t argue!), means that you can very…
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Node is Weird!
Firstly, thanks to all that attended my Node.js on IBM i workshop at the International i Power conference in June. Once again, a great event, meeting up with old friends and colleagues. Well done to the organisers. In this article I intended giving you a quick introduction to Node.js on our favourite server, the IBM…
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What JDK 9 means for your Terminal Emulator
What is JDK 9 and why does it matter? JDK stands for the Java Development Kit and the 9 refers to the version of it which was released on September 21st 2017. Oracle have stated that as JDK 9’s September release they will be removing support for the Java Applet and WebStart functionality, including the…
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Goldilocks and the RPG Developers
My partners, Jon Paris and Paul Tuohy, and I participated in i-UG’s i-Power event in 2016 and in similar events with i-UG in past years. It’s always great to meet and work with fellow IBM i developers in the UK. Traditional i-UG events offer a series of 45-minute sessions – but many of the detailed…