Re: Maybe LOB, BLOB, CLOB is for storing stream objects in a relational database

OK. But I was replying specifically to when the usage of a DataLink column was "without Link Control via the DLFM", which I infer would be the case for using "DB2 for i to links on a Windows network?" Unless the Windows network files were accessed via a DB2 LUW [or other DRDA AS] DataLink File Manager (DLFM), the files would\could not be "linked", and would be little more than a URL.?

Regards, Chuck

On 09 May 2012 00:15, Craig Pelkie wrote:

I think this section from the web page URL given below is a good
summary of the advantage of a DataLink vs. a URL as column data. It
can provide some degree of management over the linked-to object.

<from_the_manual>
Using DataLinks also gives control over the objects while they are in
"linked" status. A DataLink column can be created such that the
referenced object cannot be deleted, moved, or renamed while there
is a row in the SQL table that references that object. This object
are considered linked. Once the row containing that reference is
deleted, the object is unlinked. To understand this concept fully,
one should know the levels of control that can be specified when
creating a DataLink column.
</from_the_manual>

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/sqlp/rbafydatalinks.htm

CRPence on Tuesday, May 08, 2012 3:29 PM wrote:

As I had understood the DataLinks from a cursory review way back
when, without Link Control via the DLFM, there seemed to be little
obvious value for using them to store references to external files
as compared with just storing the URLs as column data.? Perhaps
there are still some benefits that I never learned, as I did not
investigate them too much further.

On 08 May 2012 14:48, Gqcy wrote:

cool, have people used this to link DB2 for i to links on a windows
network???

On 5/8/2012 3:53 PM, DeLong, Eric wrote:

I think perhaps you should look at datalinks...

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r4/topic/sqlp/rbafydatalinks.htm