Connecting DB2/iSeries From .net Application

I need to connect to a DB2 from a .net application. But it’s  in iSeries system. I did not know what is the way do it. I read lot of articles/blog posts and really helped me. But in this post, I thought to consolidate them for fast reference.

There are two .net data providers for DB2.

1. IBM.Data.DB2.iSeries
2. IBM.Data.DB2

Both provider follows same rules/guidelines of common ADO.net components. For an example, both have Connection, Command, DataAdapter, DataReader. But there are differences and limitations.

IBM.Data.DB2.iSeries

Using this provider you can only access to iSeries system. You have to install iSeries Client Access to development machine and/or server. It is quite a bit setup file ( > 3GB with 64Bit version), but we required (refer the bellow screen shots)

• .NET Data Provider
• Header,Library and Documentation.

Figure 1

 

There are limitations/unsupported features [IBM Redbooks 2005 ,Page 38]  in this provider, bellow lists 3 out of 11.

1. User-defined types (UDTs): Although some features may work, extensive testing has not
   been done using the IBM.Data.DB2.iSeries provider with UDTs.
2. Distributed relational database architecture (DRDA®), including the CONNECT and
   DISCONNECT statements.
3. SET TRANSACTION, COMMIT, and ROLLBACK statements: Instead, we recommend
   using the built-in transaction support provided via the iDB2Connection.BeginTransaction()
   method, and the iDB2Transaction object.

I think they have stopped update/improvements for this provider after .net version 1.1

IBM.Data.DB2

This comes as new IBM  data provider for .net 2.0 and having rich features. For the easier development, it is coming with Visual Studio Add-in. Also IBM released beta version for .net 4.0 and add-in for VS 2010. You can see details and download by clicking this link.

Testing DB2 .net connection

After installing either IBM Data Server Client or IBM Data Server Runtime Client, we can test the connection by running following command,

To connect iSeries system, we have to give the port no 446 (default) to the connection string, Server=[IP:PORT].

C:\Program Files\IBM\SQLLIB\BIN>testconn20.exe "User ID=[UserName];Password=[pwd];

Database=[Data Base Or Alias];Server=[IP];"

If this success, it should dump output to the console similar to the following.[Beginning DB2 2008, Page 282]

Step 1:Printing version info

    .NET Framework version: 2.0.50727.42

    DB2 .NET provider version: 9.0.0.2

    Capability bits: ALLDEFINED

    Build: 20070524

    Factory for invairant name IBM.Data.DB2 verified

    Elapsed: 7.15625

Step 2: Connecting using "User ID=fuzzy;Password=fuzzy;Database=SAMPLE;

    Server=localhost;ServerType=db2;pooling=false"

    Server type and version: DB2/NT 09.05.0000

    Elapsed: 4.640625

Step 3: Selecting rows from SYSIBM.SYSTABLES to validate existence of packages

    SELECT * FROM SYSIBM.SYSTABLES FETCH FIRST 5 rows only

    Elapsed: 0.890625

Step 4: Calling GetSchema for tables to validate existence of schema functions

    Elapsed: 1.78125

Test passed.

---

References

[IBM Redbooks 2005]:  Hernando Bedoya,Carlos Carminati,Lorie DuBois,Jarek Miszczyk,Ajit Mungale. Integrating DB2 Universal Database for iSeries with Microsoft ADO .NET. 2005

[Beginning DB2 2008]: Grant Allen,Beginning DB2: From Novice to Professional, Apress 2008

Visual Studio Add-Ins not showing in the “Tool” menu

For my developments, I am using VS 2005, VS 2008 and VS 2010 side  by side. I have developed couple of Add-ins (XML Add-Ins) for my own use to ease the development, one can be found in this blog.

Last week I installed DB2 connection tool kit( for testing purposes) which installed a VS Add-in (COM Add-in) too. I removed that product from my system, it also removing the Add-ins. My other Add-ins also gone from the “Tool” menu (This happened only to VS 2005 & 2008).

But in Add-In Manger I can see them,

What I did?

I found lots of tips from the Net. All are talking about Registry Entries and devenv command.

1. running

   devenv /setup
   

   
   
   
   
   failed.
   
   
2. 
   
   Changing
   
   

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\<version>\PreloadAddinStateManaged
    <MyAddIn Name> value
   

   
   
   value 2 to 1 failed.
   
3. running
   

   devenv.exe /resetaddin [Namespace].Class

   
   
   worked. This wont delete any Add-ins from the disk. You have to re-load them from the Add-ins Manger.

 

References

1. Visual Studio Forums
   
2. MZ-Tools

Creating MS SharePoint meeting workspace from MS Outlook 2010

Microsoft SharePoint is tremendous collaboration tool for an organization.  As a software engineer I’m using SharePoint to manage my team, their activities, event customers requirements.

In SharePoint, we can manage meeting workspace where we can store relevant documents, agenda, decisions etc. All attendees can share them, hence it is easy to use for later references.

Here is the simple steps to create meeting workspace from Outlook 2010.

1. Adding “Meeting Workspace” icon to the Quick Access tool bar of Meeting window.
   • Go to “Calendar”
   • File-> Option & follow the numbered
     
2. Setup the meeting request as usually.
   • Click on “Meeting Workspace” icon
   • Now you can see a panel named “Meeting Workspace” on the right hand side of Meeting request window.
   • There,
     Select a Location.
     Select a type of Meeting workspace. Eg. Basic Meeting Workspace, Blank Meeting Workspace etc.
   • Click on “Link” button and it will embed to meeting workspace link to the email body.
     

Security

By Default, all invited associates will be granted to read, write and delete information in the workspace.