Workshop Abstracts

Headstart Workshops provide an excellent means of getting up to speed before attending the conference.

All You Need to Know About SQL in 4 Hours

In today's IT environment of mixed hardware and software platforms, you have to know SQL to survive. Uncover the power of SQL for the first time, or refresh your existing SQL skills in this intensive four-hour session.

Start by building a firm foundation with SQL basic theory and terminology, then quickly progress to the frequently used SQL statements: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, and DROP. Learn how to use SQL built-in functions and Subselect, and explore the SQL statements used to query and work with data, to define and manage database objects, and those statements used for miscellaneous functions.

Finally, find out about the various SQL interfaces available on the iSeries: Interactive SQL, Embedded SQL, Query manager, and the SQL Statement Processor.

RPG Meets the Web!

The web can seem like a scary place to the traditional RPG programmer. But it is actually easier to write RPG programs for a web interface then it is for traditional green screen. What is the fastest way to get your System i applications talking to the web? You don't need Java, ASPs, JSPs, Websphere or .Net because you already have everything you need in RPG IV, the System i HTTP Server and CGIDEV2 - a free tool (service program) from IBM to enable RPG programs to interact easily with a browser. In this workshop you will see how to:

• Understand and write basic HTML
• Understand how a browser communicates with a program through the HTTP server powered by Apache (including basic configuration).
• Understand the basic principle of the CGI APIs (and why it is better not to use them directly)
• Use the CGIDEV2 APIs.
• Code RPG programs to write data to and read data from a web page using CGIDEV2 and externally defined HTML.
• Write the equivalent of print programs, subfile programs, maintenance programs.

This workshop is intended for Programmers and Analysts who wish to leverage their existing skills to enable them to write programs to interact with the web.