Re: DRDA Connection Support (was news400 goes negative on IBM?) -- MIDRANGE-L

Comments inline

At 08:14 PM 5/22/2005, you wrote:

On 5/22/05, Jon Paris <Jon.Paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> Or should I install DB/2 for xxx (where xxx is the other platform) to > get one (tiny) function operational? > > Carel, > > I guess my problem is that I think the issue here is _who_ should be > supplying the driver/connection/name_of_your_choosing ? > > ODBC and JDBC are standards which most everyone supports. > > DRDA is a database connection standard that IBM and a number of other > vendors support. Your iSeries can connect to any DRDA compliant DB. > > Shouldn't we be getting on MS' case for not supporting DRDA? Just why is it > the iSeries' fault if MS don't supply a DRDA driver, or if Oracle (who do > support DRDA) choose to charge for it? That makes no sense to me.
Is DRDA and open spec in terms of what it takes to connect the as400
to another database?  For example, can MySQL be run in the PASE or a
Linux partition of the as400, then code written to route SQL commands
from an RPG program running on the iSeries to the MySQL database on
that same iSeries?

The developer of the RDBMS - not IBM - is the one who should provide the ARD (application request driver - the DRDA analog to an ODBC driver) that lets the iSeries send SQL statements to that RDBMS. The developers of MySQL have not done this. It does not matter where it is installed - there is nothing in the middle to handle things. And hardly any other database vendors have created one of these things. Oracle has but charges an arm and a leg plus you're first and second born to get it.

Using the same method, that is if all the necessary aspects of the IBM
DRDA spec are open and documented, can Windows code be written that
would implement a jury-rigged type interface between the SQL Server
database and a DRDA connection to the iSeries DB2 database?   I assume
that at some level of DRDA an SQL stmt string comes thru that contains
the "select * from table" sql command issued by an RPG program.  A 3rd
party DRDA interface, running on the Windows PC, would process that
SQL "select * from table" stmt by opening a connection to the SQL
Server database, running the sql command, capturing the resulting data
set, then sending that resulting dataset back to the iSeries thru the
DRDA connection, in the open spec and fully documented form expected
by DRDA.

IBM already has this DRDA interface for Windows - it is called Information Integrator and costs a LOT of money - I had posted the prices in an earlier post to this list, a couple days ago.

And we make a product that is similar. It doesn't use DRDA, so you do not use embedded or other kinds of SQL. We provide an API that is similar to the CLI (command line interface) on the iSeries. CLI is an SQL interface based on the same open standard as ODBC. In fact, the CLI API calls are exactly the same as those you would use if you programmed directly to the ODBC layer in VB.

Our product, as well as IBM's, does just what you described - opens a connection to any ODBC-reachable database, sends the SQL statement to the database, and sends the result set back a record at a time to the iSeries RPG program as you request the records.

I know I work for RJS, but I have been there a short time and am still thrilled to see how I can get data from anywhere from an RPG program. I've fought just the battles we all have for at least 10 years and love not to have to jump through all the hoops we are used to. So sorry for the blatant "endorsement", but I really like this thing. BTW, I'm thinking about finding ways to make it more native - haven't told my boss yet, but he watches this list. Oh, well! I'm not doing it yet!! Just thinking! And that is not an official statement of direction for the RPG2SQL product.

-Steve
> > Is it your contention that IBM should write the DRDA drivers and supply them > FOC for every platform/database combination under the sun? Doesn't sound > very realistic to me. > > Jon Paris > Partner400