Our 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.
A 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.
Comparing source code between IBM i partitions has been a desired feature of Code for i. Although connecting to two systems within one Code for i window is not yet supported, comparing source from two systems IS possible.
Patrick Behr recently posted a comparison technique using Git that works for multiple files. Another technique, which seems well suited for comparing single files rather than multiples, was provided by Christian Jorgensen in the Code for i Github repository. We share both versions below.
Sometimes it seems that IBM creates its own terminology for everything. One young colleague told us she was eager to learn about the IBM i platform, but her older colleagues used so many abbreviations and initialisms, the “alphabet soup” deterred her and caused frustration.
We at Seiden Group try to bring teams together. In that spirit, here are several common IBM i terms and their definitions in platform-neutral terms:
PHP 8.4 represents another step in PHP’s evolution, once again improving performance and adding features to help developers write more concise, high quality code.
PHP 8.4 is now available for IBM i from Seiden Group.
Code for i users have been showing interest in Service Entry Point (SEP) debugging. SEP permits debugging of applications that run in a different job than the programmer’s job, such as a web server or prestart job.
Available since Version 2 of the IBM Debug Service, SEP requires several prerequisites, including the IBM i Debug extension, PTFs, and Licensed Program Products (LPPs). This article focuses on the PTFs and LPPs, objects that are frequently overlooked.
Since 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.
IBM 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:
One of the best deals in IBM i services is about to end. Effective January 1, 2025, the “IBM i Service Voucher for Power” program is being withdrawn. The program has long provided Power hardware customers with vouchers for Expert Labs consulting. (Expert Labs was formerly known as Lab Services.)
Many companies are not even aware that they are entitled to vouchers.
Carol Woodbury
I had the privilege of hosting security expert Carol Woodbury as she led a roundtable discussion at this past summer’s OCEAN TechCon. Carol is IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor with our friends at Kisco Systems.