Re: Recommendation for a good iSeries SQL reference?

Interesting.  Thanks for the info.

So if IBM is willing to deviate from the standard in these areas, why
the heck won't they give us an easier way to number rows in a query
than writing a UDF?  Just one example.

If I hear "this would be so much easier in
SQLServer/Oracle/MySQL/etc." from my developers one more time...

Mike E.


On 12/21/05, Vernon Hamberg <vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Mike, a little more on extensions. If you go into
> Navigator and worm your way to the "Run SQL
> Scripts" function, take the help from there.
> Search for ANSI. I got 2 hits - one listed what
> some of the differences are between the various
> options you can select for generated SQL. There
> are things not listed, too, but the help makes for interesting reading.
>
> I also found, digging around, that you can turn
> on flagging for non-ANSI statements in the RUNSQLSTM command.
>
> Vern
>
> At 09:13 AM 12/21/2005, you wrote:
>
> >Are there iSeries extensions?  If so, I'd love to know what they are.
> >Any time we've asked for one, they've told us that they adhere to
> >ANSI, and that we need to write a UDF.
> >
> >Mike E.
> >
> >On 12/21/05, Vernon Hamberg <vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > Good points, Mike. And reading iSeries docs would
> > > lead to using iSeries extensions. All flavors
> > > have their own extensions to the standards.
> > >
> > > Now as to ANSI, there is a standards compliance
> > > statement in each SQL Reference manual. Here it
> > > is for V5R3 & V5R2 (V5R1 had only the first 2):
> > >
> > > ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
> > > X3.135-1992, Database Language SQL - Entry Level
> > > ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
> > > X3.135­4: 1996, Database Language SQL - Part 4:
> > > Persistent Stored Modules (SQL/PSM)
> > > ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
> > > X3.135-1999, Database Language SQL - Core
> > >
> > > There is also the "SQL Reference for Cross-Platform Development" book at
> > > ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/partnerworld/vic/hardware/pdfs/b4e.pdf
> > > that has an appendix that lists terminology
> > > differences between ANSI and DB2 - this is a
> > > cross-platform DB2 manual, BTW. It does not go so
> > > far as to relate SQL terms to native iSeries
> > > terms, such as table to physical file, etc.
> > >
> > > I highly recommend going to the site at
> > > http://www.iseries.ibm.com/db2 if you want to
> > > investigate things more thoroughly. There are
> > > comparisons within the DB2 family (iSeries seems
> > > to have almost everything that is in the list at
> > > V5R3) and lots of other stuff. Dig around.
> > >
> > > Finally, I can recommend a nice basic tutorial at
> > > http://www.w3schools.com - I've been using it for
> > > Javascript information, but there are several
> > > other things there, including SQL. It reminds
> > > you, for one, that there is a "standard". But
> > > each vendor has their own extensions. But if you
> > > get through that tutorial (not hard, you can
> > > probably do it in 1-2 hours at most), you will
> > > have a very nice start. Then you need to learn
> > > just what the built-in functions are, what other
> > > statements there might be, etc., from the SQL Reference manual for 
> > > iSeries.
> > >
> > > I'll say what I always do - you don't need to
> > > know much - learn the basic structure of the
> > > SELECT statement and you are good to do for, I
> > > suppose, 90% of SQL work. The WHERE clause is
> > > used in DELETEs and UPDATES (and sometimes in
> > > INSERTs, within a SELECT that returns the rows to
> > > insert). In other words, SQL consists of using
> > > the same basic building blocks repeatedly.
> > >
> > > At the above site there is also a tutorial on ADO
> > > - aimed at usage within ASP in web pages, but
> > > I'll bet the basics are there, very similar to
> > > what you'd do in any Visual Basic example.
> > > There's also one for .NET - both of these can be
> > > used against an iSeries database, so the
> > > generality and universality still comes into play.
> > >
> > > HTH
> > > Vern
> > >
> > > At 11:12 PM 12/20/2005, you wrote:
> > >
> > > >Isn't IBM's implementation of SQL pretty much the ANSI standard?
> > > >
> > > >Reading a book for Oracle or SQLServer may lead you to try some of
> > > >their proprietary extensions, which invariably leads to heads beating
> > > >against walls.  The references really aren't that bad, and the list is
> > > >very helpful.
> > > >
> > > >Learn to write UDF's.
> > > >
> > > >Mike E.
> > > >
> > > >On 12/14/05, Ron Adams <rondadams@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > > > Walden,
> > > > >
> > > > > I am pretty much referring to basic SQL
> > > > statements, but probably from a more
> > > > > advanced (technical) perspective, so I
> > wouldn't exactly call it "basic". I
> > > > > found a really good online reference at
> > > > >
> > > >
> > http://searchoracle.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid41_gci1075959,00.html
> > > > > that has a wide range of examples, however,
> > > > it is geared specifically toward
> > > > > Microsoft & Oracle SQL. As most of us on
> > the list know, IBM's (iSeries) DB2
> > > > > has some special nuances that make coding
> > SQL statements a little bit more
> > > > > difficult. In short, while a general purpose
> > > > SQL manual might be a good read
> > > > > for understanding basic SQL, I was hoping
> > to find something more specific
> > > > > and/or advanced that would be able to help me cut down on the trial 
> > > > > and
> > > > > error coding cycle.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On 12/14/05, Walden H. Leverich <WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > >Some real basic stuff is just missing from the examples.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Jim,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Are you speaking of basic SQL stuff, or basic stuff about 
> > > > > > integrating
> > > > > > SQL w/RPG or Cobol? If it's basic SQL
> > stuff (select, where, join, group
> > > > > > by etc.) have you considered that SQL
> > is a standard, especially with the
> > > > > > basic stuff, and just about any book on SQL (iSeries specific or 
> > > > > > not)
> > > > > > will get you what you need?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > -Walden
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ------------
> > > > > > Walden H Leverich III
> > > > > > Tech Software
> > > > > > (516) 627-3800 x3051
> > > > > > WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx