Planet i

System i Blogger: IBM Confrence & Events Schedule

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:45:04 +0000

LINK :: IBM 2009 Confrences and Events

Again thanks, Joe

System i Blogger: IBM Power Systems Technical University

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:40:51 +0000

LINK :: IBM Power Systems Technical University

This information came to me via Joe Lundy, thanks Joe! If you are in Denver and need to contact an IBM rep about POWER System or you need an AIX Guru, Joe is your man. Here is his contact info:

Joe Lundy
I/T Specialist, Power Systems
IBM Server Group, Denver CO
(303) 773-5725, TL 656-5725

Details about the University:

The IBM Power Systems Technical University featuring IBM AIX/Linux and IBM i is the premiere Power technical event.

This university is an intense, consolidated way to learn how you can reduce your operating costs, simplify your IT environment, access more solution providers and leverage the newest technology innovation — virtualization with the IBM POWER6™ technology.

Sharpen your competitive edge by honing skills and learning to exploit the latest Power System p™ and Power System i™ tools and solutions. Don’t miss the opportunity to gain new skills, obtain an update on what’s new, network with colleagues, and meet with our subject matter experts in a professional networking collaboration of technical gurus and industry professionals like you.

Never has there been a better time to refresh your skills and learn about the new generation of technology at the same time.

Date		21 Sep 2009 - 25 Sep 2009



Location		Orlando, Florida, USA



Duration		4.5 days



Price		USD TBA

iDevelop: That Was 2008

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:23:01 +0000

Even without the ongoing financial crisis, 2008 was quite an "interesting" year from the IBM i perspective. So we thought for our first blog entry...

Morpheus Blog: BIRT and EGL Application File Paths

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:36:38 +0000

From Andy Steele who can be found at the EGL Cafe and Morpheus

Whilst working through the EGL BIRT tutorials, I found that the reporting engine required fully qualified path names for the input and output files. This can cause problems when promoting applications from development to test and production systems. As part of the build process you will need to set up and maintain the file system resources; and make sure you are referencing them correctly in your application code.

In some cases this may be exactly what you need but I wanted to make sure that I could bundle my report designs into my application and not have to worry about changing any code or properties files or other parameters when deploying.

Fortunately, there are standard JEE API calls that can resolve file paths relative to your web application and EGL's ExternalType mechanism gives you easy access to these. This example shows how I managed to do this. Using these standard APIs means that this method will work whether you're using Websphere or Tomcat.

The first choice was where to store the report designs. I put mine in a directory called reports under the WebContent/WEB-INF directory of my web application. The main reason for this to ensure that the actual report design was not available directly to the users of the application. The WEB-INF directory is a protected directory under the JEE specifications so will not be accessible with URLs such as http://my-server/my-app/WEB-INF/some-file.

I wanted to make the generated reports available through my application so I created an output directory directly under the WebContent directory of the web application.

Now we need the EGL code to allow us to resolve a relative file path to a fully qualified path. This uses the getRealPath() method defined in the interface javax.servlet.ServletContext. Of course we also need to get a reference to the ServletContext before we can use it.

// FacesContext is already available in the EGL JSF support, we // call this one ExtendedFacesContext as we need access to one // of the other methods ExternalType ExtendedFacesContext type JavaObject {JavaName = "FacesContext", PackageName = "javax.faces.context"} static Function getCurrentInstance() returns (ExtendedFacesContext); function getExternalContext() returns (ExternalContext); End // ExternalContext is a a JEE wrapper class to allow support for Portlets // as well as Servlets. We're only concerned with Servlets just now ExternalType ExternalContext type JavaObject {JavaName = "ExternalContext", PackageName = "javax.faces.context"} Function getContext() returns (ServletContext) ; End // The object containing details of the context in which your JSF // servlets are running. This allows us to resolve the path ExternalType ServletContext type JavaObject {JavaName = "ServletContext", PackageName = "javax.servlet"} Function getRealPath(path string in) returns (string); End library HttpUtils type BasicLibrary // resolves a path relative to the web application root function resolvePath(path string) returns (string) realPath string = ""; // use the ExternalTypes declared above to get a reference to our ServletContext facesContext ExtendedFacesContext = ExtendedFacesContext.getCurrentInstance(); externalContext ExternalContext = facesContext.getExternalContext(); servletContext ServletContext = externalContext.getContext(); // resolve the relative path realPath = servletContext.getRealPath(path); return (realPath); end end

All that's left now is to use the code above to resolve the paths for the report design and output files and pass them to the report engine.

designPath string = HttpUtils.resolvePath("/WEB-INF/reports/BugReport.rptdesign"); reportPath string = HttpUtils.resolvePath("/output/MonthlyReport.html"); ... report BirtReport = new BirtReport(designPath, null, reportPath, "HTML", reportHandler); ...

This is a very basic example and for use in your applications there are one or two things to look out for

Web applications are, of course, multi-user so you'll need to ensure that users don't overwrite each other's output files. Maybe include a timestamp or further subdirectories for the output reports.
You will need to make sure that the user profile running Websphere (or Tomcat) has the correct permissions to write or update files in the output directory.
As indicated by the name of the Java interfaces (ServletContext), this will only work when invoked as part of an HTTP request into your web application.

Of course you're not restricted to using this for BIRT reports; for example, in Java applications we've used the same technique when uploading files to the server using a web application. Please feel free to use and extend the code samples above - we'd be grateful for a mention if you do.

Concept for the Day: BOGO:

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:43:00 +0000

• BOGO, an acronym in the retail industry that stands for Buy One Get One. For example, you could say "Buy 1 DVD, Get 1 FREE!"
• BOGO, an acronym in the marketing industry that stands for Buy One GIVE One. For example, you could say "Buy One Meal and Feed a child for a day"

System i Blogger: David Vasta - Linux for IBM i: Commands and terminology - PART 2

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I hear Linux is hard, and is for geeks… I am not a geek, so is it still for me?

Of course you’re not…

Now that we have cleared that up let’s get into how we’re going to “talk” to Linux. Linux talks to us people using a shell. It’s that green or text-based screen that we i users are familiar seeing. I, of course like the shell sometimes much more then I do some GUI application, but have been known to use a GUI and smile at times. The shell is just a layer that is between you the user or administrator and the kernel.

LINK :: Linux for IBM i: Commands and terminology

System i Blogger: David Vasta - Linux for IBM i: Introducing Linux to IBM i people-PART 1

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:11:16 +0000

The IBM i is a great platform. Not many of you out there will argue that point. It’s solid, robust and very powerful. Part of that power is just that power or the hardware that we now call Power. The operating system (OS) is nothing unless it has rock-solid hardware to run on. So part of the IBM i’s stability is the hardware. Another fine example of a powerful OS that runs on Power is AIX. The problem is that not everything needs an IBM i or an AIX partition. Sometimes, you just need a file and print server or maybe a DNS or mail router. Of course you could do this all on Windows, but that gets really expensive and it does not run on Power. So, what do you do? Linux on Power: It’s easy, cheap and very powerful, much like its AIX cousin.

The next hurdle is the OS and how it works. If you have never seen Unix or Linux, your first few weeks can be painful. So lets take this one step at a time and talk about Linux, you the Administrator and what to do with your new best friend.

LINK :: Linux for IBM i: Introducing Linux to IBM i people

System i Blogger: David Vasta :: Linux for the IBM i Authorities & Permissions - PART 3

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:06:47 +0000

I wrote a little something for Search400.com, this is PART 3 of the Linux for the IBM i Admin Series.

Link:: Linux for IBM i: Authorities and permissions

Mike's i5 PHP blog: Happy New Open Source!

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:13:00 +0000

It’s that time again to look into the crystal ball of the New Year and make some optimistic predictions about what we will get done. I, for one, am very excited as one of my New Year’s resolutions is to explore the other sides of the PHP house in more detail. Since joining Zend back in May I have spent a majority of my time focusing on the IBM i products and market position. Don’t worry, you will continue to see me pop up here and there to chat about IBM’s latest festivities and what Zend and PHP have to offer the ever challenging midrange space. There is a world beyond IBM i.

First I am exploring Zend Infrastructure on Windows. While Windows is hardly new to me, I am not nearly as well versed in XP, Vista or the various Server models as I am with IBM i. Going through the installation process was a pleasurable experience as there were very few bumps along the way. Got one of my favorite applications, Sugar CRM, up and running in no time. Next challenge to tackle is the LAMP stack.

As I have railed about in the past, you need to take control of your own career. Learning something outside your core competency will pay dividends right now as nearly EVERYONE is being asked to do more with less. Those who have focused beyond the four walls of their comfort zone will now be able to contribute and present more value to the organization. Thus, challenging management to look elsewhere when the old “RIF” devil comes haunting around.

Economic figures are all pointing downward for 2009 and Washington is about to do what it can, print more money. But we in the open source space are confident. One of our CTO’s, Andi Gutmans wrote a nice blog entry that summarizes Zend’s position for 2009. I couldn’t agree more with Andi. And I think this plays well in the IBM i space as well as the LAMP/WAMP stack. Companies need to continue to do more with less. Open Source makes that a REAL possibility.

A recent message on the midrange.com thread WEB400 discussed the merits of creating a CRM on demand application vs. acquiring an open source solution and “tweaking” it. It was a lively discussion, but one that tasks all of us. To do more with less, we must be willing to think outside the box. Open source is available to the IBM i. Consider taking a look, even if you don’t look at PHP. There are many solutions worth noting!

IT Jungle -- The Four Hundred: The Four Hundred--Now What?