Transactional logic that works across heterogeneous databases needs to use global transactions. The IBM Data Server Provider for .NET supports the distributed transaction model from the System.Transactions namespace, which has the capability to create and manage global transactions. The code examples in this article show how to use the IBM Data Server Provider for .NET to create and manage global transactions on the IBM data servers.

Encoding in mainframes is EBCDIC, and encoding in distributed system is ASCII. Mainframe computers need to communicate with distributed systems that include Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and other platforms. The EBCDIC and ASCII code page conversion happens in each communication between the IBM z/OS operating system and the distributed system. However, some characters cannot go round trip between EBCDIC and ASCII in some non-English languages. As a result, the application doesn't work correctly. One solution is to modify application code, but that is often complicated and time consuming. This article presents a light-weight solution as an alternative. No application code change is needed, and you can resolve the issue quickly.

Learn some considerations that new software as a service (SaaS) vendors need to take into account when developing applications or modifying existing ones to enable them for multi-tenancy on the cloud. The article discusses the considerations only from a database perspective -- specifically, from an IBM DB2 perspective. Six cases or methods are described.

In this article, learn how to use a DatgaStage extension called InfoSphere DataStage Balanced Optimization to rewrite a DataStage job to enhance performance by sharing or redistributing the processing load among Infosphere DataStage and the source and target databases. Special emphasis has been given to features unique to Netezza Connector, including Action Column, Unique Key Column for update support, and Temporary Work Table. The article also discusses additional features available in the InfoSphere Information Server V8.7 release, including the Filter stage, and multiple output links of Copy, Filter, and Transformer stages.

The pureXML capabilities of IBM DB2 allow you to store XML natively in a database without modification, while Adobe Flex applications can read XML directly and populate Flex user interfaces. In this three-part article series, you will create a microblogging application that takes advantage of pureXML, Web services, and Adobe Flex; and even allows you to publish your microblogging updates on Twitter.

When executing SQL statements you can run them either using System or SQL Naming. The System Naming conventions follow the traditional methods used on IBM i systems such as library support. The SQL Naming mode on the other hand is defined in the SQL Standard and used by all other databases. When asking what is the difference between SQL and System Naming, you will normally get the answer, schema and object are either separated with a slash or a period. However there are many more differences especially with regard to the access authority and ownership of database objects created either using SQL or System Naming. This article will show the differences between SQL and System Naming primarily focusing on how the ownerships and access authorities vary when creating DB2 for i database objects (such as tables, stored procedures or triggers) with the two naming conventions.

This article shows you how to deploy the SAP side components of the IBM InfoSphere Information Server DataStage Packs for SAP Applications. It explains the various stage types and gives an overview of the relevant installation and security administration concepts.

Since the DB2 Control Center tools have been deprecated in DB2 9.7, users have been encouraged to adopt IBM Data Studio and IBM InfoSphere Optim tools for managing DB2 databases. IBM Data Studio 3.1 was released in October/2011 with several enhancements over previous versions that make it an excellent replacement for Control Center. This article aims to help DB2 users who are familiar with Control Center tools to quickly transition to IBM Data Studio.

The second part of this 2-part series discusses alternative data representations like XML, JSON, and RDF to overcome normalization issues or to introduce schema flexibility. In the 21st century, digitized business records are often created in XML to begin with. This paper compares XML to normalized relational structures and explains when and why XML enables easier and faster data access. After a discussion of JSON and RDF, it concludes with a summary and suggestions for reconsidering normalization.

This document is aimed to provide understanding on what IBM Cognos Express is, how it works and where to find troubleshooting information.

Get an introduction to the various editions of IBM Informix, and compare features, benefits, and licensing considerations in a side-by-side table. Regardless of which edition you choose, Informix brings you legendary ease of use, reliability, stability, and access to extensibility features.

Data warehouse environments continue to experience an explosion in data growth. As a result, you might find yourself in a situation where you need added capacity to cope with increased enterprise demands. To help you meet these demands, the IBM Smart Analytics System is a flexible data warehousing solution that supports a building block approach to expansion. This document discusses how to identify, plan and prepare for an expansion of your system and discusses the milestones and options involved in an expansion project.

This paper explores some of the frequently asked questions about database administration on an IBM Smart Analytics System data warehouse database.

This best practice article provides a step-by-step approach to installing and configuring IBM DB2 Express-C software, PHP Hypertext Preprocessor, and Apache HTTP Server on a system running the Ubuntu Linux operating system. After completing the installation and configuration steps in this paper, you will have a fully functioning PHP web application server with DB2 Express-C as the back-end data server.

This article describes the best ways to implement a successful workload management solution using DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, Version 9.7.4 or higher. The information in the article reflects the latest experiences of IBM field personnel and customers within the data warehouse arena.

A set of proven practices and guidelines to be taken into consideration when securing the IBM Cognos 10 BI environment.

IBM InfoSphere Optim Performance Manager V5.1 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is a major step forward in bringing the ability to monitor very large workloads spanning 100 plus partitions. Key to these enhancements are architectural changes including collecting state-of-the-art in-memory metrics for DB2 V9.7 or higher databases instead of relying on snapshots. Additionally InfoSphere Optim Performance Manager V5.1 provides a rich set of new monitoring features that are surfaced in the Web-based user interface like real-time monitoring, in-depth connection analysis and enhanced SQL analysis including time. Enriched reporting on detailed recent performance data or on aggregated long-term historical data provide the capabilities you need for proactive tuning and capacity planning. For pureScale or DPF performance analysis all dashboards now facilitate partition-level or member-level drill downs enabling easy viewing and comparing. Optim Performance Manager provides easy configuration of DB2 Workload Manager by deploying the newest best practices template to get up and running quickly with DB2 Workload Manager.

Normalization is a methodology devised in the 1970s to minimize data duplication to safeguard databases against logical and structural problems. Times have changed, and assumptions about computer systems have changed with the times. This two-part series examines the problems associated with data normalization, such as complexity and the difficulty of mapping business records to normalized data in a changing world. The first part then discusses cases for denormalization and explains how the World Wide Web has impacted the creation and exchange of non-normalized business records.

Recent new features and functions of the DB2 Utilities Suite for z/OS help this set of tools better meet your needs and improve your return on your investment in DB2. In this article, get details about new LOAD parameters, new REPAIR options, and new flexibility for REORG.

A key challenge in assessing and monitoring information quality is starting the process to validate key business requirements. Rather than start off with a blank slate, this article includes and shows how to use pre-built rule definitions to get under way.