Re: Java questions

If you stick with standard JDBC, you can easily "swap out" database
connections. I developed an app that switched between the AS/400 using the
Toolbox and an Access database using the JDBC-ODBC bridge with a click of a
button.

This allowed us to demo the thing when there was no connectivity to an
AS/400. The tables and sql statements were basically unchanged between the
two platforms....easy to do if you stay away from AS/400 specific SQL
functions like rrn().

This could be an important consideration when determining what method of
access to use. If your shop decides to move from an AS/400, it's possible
your Java programs could be changed to work with another database with
little effort.

Brad Grier
grier@tconl.com
Linoma Software


-----Original Message-----
From: DAsmussen@aol.com <DAsmussen@aol.com>
To: JAVA400-L@midrange.com <JAVA400-L@midrange.com>
Date: Tuesday, December 22, 1998 4:11 AM
Subject: Re: Java questions


>Ravi,
>
>In a message dated 12/21/98 9:35:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ravi@mhsoft.com
>writes:
>
><<snip>>
>> A basic question seems to be whether to try to use the Toolkit and record
>>  level access, which seems more like something an RPGer can get their
teeth
>>  into (I just want to chain to that record!) or to use JDBC and the SQL
>>  model.  We have never used SQL on the 400, but did purchase the IBM SQL
>>  product last June (another thing set aside until Y2K was complete).
Last
>>  June I never had any success with IBM Java, while at least JDBC and
>JBuilder
>>  let me build an application that sort of worked, except, minor detail,
it
>>  crashed a lot.
><<snip>>
>
>This is an issue that was hotly contested when this list first started.
The
>JAVA "purists" say don't use the toolkit, as it limits your package to the
>AS/400 platform, thus defeating the ultimate purpose of JAVA.  Hard to
argue
>with that.
>
>I feel that my own approach is more pragmatic, although others will argue
the
>point.  Having researched several C/S projects, I would choose (given the
>time) to write the application in as "open" a manner as possible to start
>with, but build in the flexibility to utilize _whatever_ data access method
is
>most appropriate for your platform of choice.  For example, access the
>database with standard JAVA methods in your programs, but build in the
ability
>to "flip a switch" that tells the application to use JDT methods to
>specifically access AS/400 data in order to optimize performance and/or
data
>integrity.  If you have no plans to run the programs on anything other than
an
>AS/400, this point is moot.  Then again, if you have no plans to run the
>programs on anything other than an AS/400, JAVA itself is moot at this
>juncture other than as a career enhancement project...
>
>JMHO,
>
>Dean Asmussen
>Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
>Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
>E-Mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com
>
>"PRESS RELEASE -- Microsoft today announced that shipments of its Windows
2000
>product (formerly known as NT 5.0) would be delayed until the second
quarter
>of 1901."
>+---
>| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
>| To submit a new message, send your mail to JAVA400-L@midrange.com.
>| To subscribe to this list send email to JAVA400-L-SUB@midrange.com.
>| To unsubscribe from this list send email to JAVA400-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
>| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator:
david@midrange.com
>+---

+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to JAVA400-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to JAVA400-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to JAVA400-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---