It’s CLOBberin Time!IBM® Electronic Service Agent™ on IBM i has introduced a new feature to...

It’s CLOBberin Time!By: Mike Zaringhalam

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CLOBBER?

• A CLOB is one of the LOBS (large objects) in db2.

• CLOB – Character large object for single byte character sets.

• BLOB – Binary large object for noncharacter data such as pictures, voice, and mixed media.

• DBCLOB – Double byte character large object.

• A LOB can store up to 2GB of data.

WHY SMASH, WHEN YOU CAN CLOBBER

• When you need to overcome size limitations of other data types.

• When you would like to hold onto the size of the data within the LOB field.

• When your planned LOB field is NOT part of the key.

• When you want a varying length database field.

• When your table is being created using DDL.

HOW WOULD ONE CLOBBER?

CREATE TABLE TEST (

SEQ# DECIMAL(3,0),

DATA_1 CLOB(30K),

PRIMARY KEY(SEQ#)

)

RCDFMT TEST1;

HOW WOULD ONE CLOBBER IN RPG?

• CLOBS CANNOT BE ACCESSED USING NATIVE I/O

• Since we cannot use native I/O, we will create an externally described data structure to be an exact copy of our database table.

• This data structure will NOT have the CLOB field in it so we must create our own.

• Example:

d TestData e ds extname(Test) qualified

d data_1 s SQLTYPE(CLOB:30000)

HOW WOULD ONE CLOBBER IN RPG?

• d data_1 s SQLTYPE(CLOB:30000)

• An SQLTYPE declaration comes with 2 variables that resembles a non-qualified structure.

• Data_1_len

• Data_1_data

• Data_1 is a combination of data_1_len and data_1_data which is based on how large data_1 is declared.

HOW WOULD ONE CLOBBER IN RPG?

• Now that our CLOB is created in RPG we can now insert it into the database.

• We must give it the SQLTYPE we created.

INSERT INTO TEST(SEQ#, DATA_1)

VALUES (1,:DATA_1);

• Since we have the externally described structure and the CLOB is at the end of our table definition we could also do:

INSERT INTO TEST

VALUES(:TestData, :DATA_1);

• This would fill in every field in the table since TestData was declared to match the table definition and it doesn’t include LOBS. So we add the LOB into the values section since our CLOB is at the end of our table.

HOW WOULD ONE CLOBBER IN RPG?

• Now lets read in our CLOB data.

SELECT DATA_1

INTO :DATA_1

FROM TEST;

• Using the INTO syntax we must make sure that only a single record is returned.

• We can also gather all the fields that come before the CLOB to fill our externally described data structure.

SELECT *

INTO :SQLRESULT, :DATA_1

FROM TEST;

DATABASE JOKE

• What did a query say to 2 tables?

IT Trends

Mmike Jacobs

Mike Jacobs LISUG 2018

In 2018

Projection for 2019

Move Forward

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.”

- George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans)

You Never Know Where IT May Lead

An adventure that started with an IT Project

Hobby Accomplishments

Webmaster – Caribbean ChipGuide

President – Caribbean, Atlantic City and NY Metro Clubs

Webmaster – Museum of Gaming History

Presenter – Annual Convention Seminar Speaker

Webmaster – ChipGuide

Club Magazine (CC&TN) – Contributing Author

Vice-Chairman – Museum of Gaming History

Chairman – Museum of Gaming History

President’s Award – Casino Collectibles Association

Greg Susong Award – Casino Collectibles Association

Inducted into Hall of Fame – Casino Collectibles Association

Professional Accomplishments

LISUG - PHP and MySQL Seminar Series

LISUG - Several Pre-Sessions on PHP and MySQL

LISUG/NESTU/FASUG - Panel Discussion on Website Development

LISUG/NESTU/FASUG - Developing Websites with a Template

Farmingdale State College - Adjunct Professor – Web Database Development

First Care Givers - Website Development & Webmaster

CasinoChips.com - Website Development & Webmaster

First Krystynopoler Society - Website Development & Webmaster

Follow your Dreams,

Follow your Passions,

You Never Know Where IT May Lead .

ACS TipsWorking with the latest ACS client on Windows 10

Alan Baisch

TIP #1

Print Screen in the ACS client

If you are using an PCL based driver stick with PCL5 and not PCL6.

PROBLEM:

Some display attributes such as column separators do not print properly with the

data.

TIP #2

Running the ACS client on the IBM i IFSWhen running the ACS client from an IFS share you may get the following message:

ANNOYING PROBLEM:

In order to remove the message that you are executing a program on another system,

go to the control panel and select “network and internet”.

Select “Internet options”.

Select the “Security” tab, then “Local Internet”.

Select “Advanced”.

Add the location to the Website zone.

TIP #3

Change of the emulator font

PROBLEM: (windows 10 pc)

When changing a display font, the ACS client will “Lock Up”.

This is caused by an issue in JAVA 32/64 version 8 where it tries to read

all the various fonts on your system.

Upgrade to higher level of Java 64 if possible.

Do I Need Java?

Which version of JAVA ? The 32 Bit JAVA is currently at version 8.

The 64 Bit JAVA is currently at version 11. (IBM recommends JAVA 8 or 11 64 bit)

Issues with the ACS client have been addressed in JAVA 64 but not in JAVA 32.

On a 64 bit PC you can use either version, but the Java 64 gets more attention.

Which version of JAVA ?

End of Public Updates for Oracle JDK 8

Oracle will not post further updates of Java SE 8 to its public download

sites for commercial use after January 2019. Customers who need

continued access to critical bug fixes and security fixes as well as general

maintenance for Java SE 8 or previous versions can get long term

support through Oracle Java SE Advanced Desktop, or Oracle Java SE

Suite. For more information, and details on how to receive longer term

support for Oracle JDK 8, please see the Oracle Java SE Support

Roadmap.

https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm10719405

Public updates for Oracle Java SE 8 will remain available for individual,

personal use through at least the end of 2020.

Public updates for Oracle Java SE 8 released after January 2019 will not be available

for business, commercial or production used without a commercial license.

(https://www.java.com/en/download/release_notice.jsp)

IBM document on Java options

End of Oracle Free UpdatesOracle Will Charge for Java Starting in 2019

Free?Is Oracle Java still free?

The current version of Java – Java SE 9 as well as Java SE 8 – is free and available for

redistribution for general purpose computing. Java SE continues to be available under

the Oracle Binary Code License (BCL) free of charge. Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

use for embedded devices or use of commercial features may require a license fee from

Oracle. Read more about embedded use of Java SE, or contact your local Oracle sales

representative to obtain a license.

What releases of Java technology are currently available?

The Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) and Oracle Java SE Advanced and Suite

products are currently shipping from Oracle in the form of the Java Development Kit (JDK),

and Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The current releases of the software and links to

older versions are available from the Java SE download page.

What are the Oracle Java licensing changes?

Due to the Oracle Java licensing changes, companies will need to collect and identify

every application that is running Java SE 8 before the beginning of 2019.

Doing so will ensure an accurate forecast of costs and potential non-compliance risk

for future software audits in upcoming years.

However, the Oracle Java Usage Tracker requires a commercial license –

even though it’s included in the installer that comes with the free components.

The cost of Oracle Java SE Subscription

The price is $25 per month per processor for servers and cloud instances, with

volume discounts available. For PCs, the price starts at $2.50 per month per user,

again with volume discounts. One-, two-, and three-year subscriptions are available.

What’s covered by the Java SE Subscription

Access to some Oracle Java SE versions past their end-of-public-update (EoPU) times.

Early access to critical bug fixes.

Licensing and support for cloud, server, and desktop deployments.

Performance, stability, and security updates.

Enterprise management, monitoring, and deployment capabilities.

Around-the-clock support.

What happens if you don’t renew

If users do not renew a subscription, they lose rights to any commercial software

downloaded during the subscription. Access to Oracle Premier Support also ends.

Oracle recommends that those choosing not to renew transition to OpenJDK binaries

from the company, offered under the GPL, before their subscription ends.

Doing so will let users keep running applications uninterrupted.

Cost of Oracle Java

Do I really need Oracle Java?

Java Is Still Free

Java SE / OpenJDK / Oracle's OpenJDK Builds / Oracle JDK

The OpenJDK community creates and maintains the (GPLv2+CE) open-source Reference

Implementation (RI) of the Java SE Specification as governed by the Java Community Process

(JCP) and defined through an umbrella Java Specification Request (JSR) for each feature release.

There are implementations of Java SE from various providers (such as Azul, Eclipse, IBM, Red

Hat, Oracle, SAP, and others), the most common of these being Oracle JDK.

Oracle JDK 8 is undergoing the "End of Public Updates" process, which means there are no

longer free updates for commercial use after January 2019. However, since Java SE 9, Oracle is

also providing Oracle's OpenJDK builds which are free for commercial use, and there are free

OpenJDK builds from other providers like AdoptOpenJDK, Azul, IBM, Red Hat, Linux distros et al.

Providers prove that their implementation meets all the requirements of the Java SE specification

by having it pass all the tests of the relevant Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK).

You can still get the Oracle JDK, Oracle’s OpenJDK builds and OpenJDK by other

providers for free. This is possible because multiple providers offer implementations

of the Java SE specification.

TIP #4

AdoptOpenJDK.net

Installation

Open Source. No installer available.

Install in the ACS path of:

Start_Programs\Windows_x86-64

ACS will automatically use the

JDK or JRE that resides here!

No need to do the path statement.

Place the JDK or JRE folder with the Launcher

You can have a

different JDK

or JRE for each

system if

necessary!

Verify the setup

The AdoptOpenJDK uses the Oracle Java

SE Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK)

AdoptOpenJDK

Oracle Java

What ever you choose…

System Error:*Attention* Contact your hardware service provider now.

TIP#5

While on the subject of Java…

Electronic Service AgentIBM® Electronic Service Agent™ on IBM i has introduced a new feature to help clients

easily manage the refreshment of their update access keys (UAKs) for IBM i stand-alone

partitions. For several IBM POWER8® processor-based server models, the initial UAK is

installed during the manufacturing process with an expiration date that corresponds to

the server's warranty period. When the UAK is unexpired, the application of entitled

firmware updates is permitted.

This improved UAK management feature can be installed on IBM i 7.2 and 7.3 releases

by applying PTF SI58783 (IBM i 7.2) and PTF SI58566 (IBM i 7.3).

For Hardware Management Console (HMC) controlled IBM i partitions, Electronic Service

Agent on HMC will update the UAKs. The Electronic Service Agent on IBM i will only

handle partitions not managed by any management system such as the Integrated

Virtualization Manager (IVM). Also, note that the UAK management feature is applicable

for POWER8 (and later) systems with firmware 840 and later versions.

Go Service option #20

Check and refresh Update Acess Key

TIP#6: V7R2 and above will need Java SE 8

WARNING - 5770JV1 Option 16 (JDK 8.0 32-bit) and 5770JV1 Option 17 (JDK 8.0 64-bit) are required to be installed before

installing this package if you use Electronic Service Agent (ESA) or Management Central (MGTC). For information on how to

obtain these options and Java PTF group (SF99716) requirements, see

http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1020692

The End

I CLICKED IT. SO WHAT?

A brief example of Holy $#!^ !

LENNY THAW

Information Security Officer

P.C. Richard & Son

.

I CLICKED IT. SO WHAT?

• Browser and version

• Browser plugins and versions

• Operating System and version

• IP Address

• Compare against list of browser,

plugin and Operating System

known vulnerabilities

• Determine best combination of

vulnerabilities to exploit

• Automatically download and

execute selected malware

DO I REALLY NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THIS?

• Ignorance is bliss,

until your savings account is emptied.

• Just because you’re not paranoid

doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

• Update your Operating System

• Update your browser

• Update your browser plugins

• Disable unnecessary browser plugins

• Update your antivirus software

AM I SAFE NOW?

• No

• Only visit trusted websites

• Don’t trust advertisements, even if they appear on a trusted

website

• Don’t follow links in emails

• Don’t reuse passwords between sites

IF YOU’RE NOT SURE,JUST DON’T CLICK IT.

The ART of

Being a Teflon

Programmer

Clark Heiser

P.C. Richard & SonClarkH@PCRichard.com

Version Control application

Get up and leave for a while

Pick up the phone and tell your boss you’re on with IBM

RDi

Formal Night

in the Dining

Room