Archive for category: Open Source

Alan Seiden

What’s New with Mapepire Database Connector for IBM i

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Since its release by IBM two years ago, the open-source Db2 for IBM i connector known as Mapepire has become a trusted part of our ecosystem.  In 2025, we wrote about Seiden Group professional support for Mapepire and answered common questions. Since then, the project has continued to advance and prove itself. Here’s what’s new.

Recent Mapepire news and updates

Seiden Group experience on projects using Mapepire

  • Implemented multiple Node.js API projects using Mapepire to access data and stored procedures (SQL and RPG)
  • Load/speed testing showed excellent throughput
  • Used Mapepire as the connector for the MCP Server and AI agents we developed
  • Developed projects in multiple languages (Node/JavaScript, PHP, Python, etc.) using Mapepire for database access

Mapepire’s proven benefits

  • Simpler deployment of applications — no driver needed
  • Easier to secure, Mapepire requires only a single open port, which is configurable, rather than multiple host server ports
  • No license needed
  • Open source means no surprises from release to release
  • No vendor lock-in

Your partner for IBM i support and Mapepire

  • Seiden Group can help you reach your goals for modern development on IBM i.
  • We support Mapepire at every stage – development up through production as well as break/fix support and the creation of new client language libraries.
  • Contact us to learn more.
Alan Seiden

What the Shai-Hulud npm Worm Means for Node.js Developers

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node.js ibm iThe Node.js ecosystem has been disrupted by self-replicating malware called Shai-Hulud.

In September 2025, researchers found that Shai-Hulud had infected more than 500 npm packages, including some from trusted maintainers. The worm did not just publish a few bad versions. It spread automatically, using stolen credentials to infect other packages owned by the same developer.

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Alan Seiden

Mapepire Q&A

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A friend in the IBM i vendor community asked me about Mapepire popularity and security. He had read about Seiden Group’s support for the Mapepire Db2 for i driver. I have provided his questions and edited versions of my answers below.

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Alan Seiden

Physical File GREP (PFGREP): Fast IBM i Source Code Search

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pfgrep: Fast search for IBM i PFsOur 2023 article on searching source physical file members using the QShell grep command showed grep’s potential. In practice, while we found QShell grep to be flexible, we also experienced slow performance and occasional errors.

Now, our own Calvin Buckley has built an improved grep command called pfgrep to search traditional IBM i source physical file members. Quick and reliable, pfgrep is also free and open source.

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Richard Schoen

New QSHONI Commands: Integrate Python, PHP, Java with CL & RPG

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QSHONI integration for IBM i RPG, CL and open sourceA few years ago I introduced you to my QShell on i utility – QSHONI. QSHONI makes it easy for traditional CL, RPG, and COBOL programs to call Python utilities and other QShell/PASE utility programs (PHP, Node, Java, etc.) and directly use their output. QSHONI opened up a whole new world of integrations to open-source apps from traditional IBM i applications.

I keep thinking I will run out of interesting things to add to the library, but the ideas keep on flowing.

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Amy Lantz

Integrating Open Source on IBM i: Advanced Topics and Optimization

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Pairing open source with traditional IBM i programs works great for APIs, web, and mobile applications. But how do you stay on top of your business’s requirements for speed and scalability?

OCEAN User Group recently asked Alan to help answer that question. In the recording of their November meeting (also linked from the graphic below), he covers:

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Alan Seiden

What’s in Your ODBC Driver? A 2024 Update

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ODBC with Db2 for IBM iSince IBM announced Yum support for installing the IBM i Db2 ODBC driver, as documented in our 2022 tutorial, users can update their driver more easily.

To help users determine what’s changed, IBM maintains a list of fixes and enhancements for each IBM i ODBC driver release.

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Alan Seiden

Update Corrects an Issue Loading libpq.so

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PostgreSQLIBM has delivered a fix for an issue with the libpq (PostgreSQL) package. The libpq RPM installer script had a subtle issue where the symbolic links did not get created correctly. IBM i users saw warnings like these:

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Richard Schoen

Call/Parm Your Open Source Apps from RPG and CL with QSHCALL

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QSHONI integration for IBM i RPG, CL and open sourceA few years back I created the QShell on IBM i (QshOni) project to allow QShell/PASE (open source) apps to be more easily integrated and used with traditional IBM i job streams written in RPG and CL. Since then, many developers have adopted QshOni to utilize their open source apps in conjunction with their classic traditional apps.

Recently I added several new commands to QshOni to make living the PASE life even easier for RPG developers. Today’s focus will be on the QSHCALL command.

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Alan Seiden

Node.js v20 and Other Updated Packages Require New IBM i Repositories

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IBM i open source for businessAs we mentioned in our article on installing ODBC via yum, the latest IBM i open source packages require new repositories.

A notable example is Node.js v20. When we hear users say, “I don’t see Node.js v20 listed in available packages, and yum returns ‘No package nodejs20 available‘,” the reason invariably is that the new repositories, ibmi-base and ibmi-release, have not been installed.

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