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Rick Flagler

Contributor

Rick Flagler is a consultant, educator and mentor with 30-plus years' experience on IBM i and various ERP systems. He does consulting for IBM i shops, teaches classes and specializes in Db2 Web Query for i, Db2, SQL and RPG.

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Articles

Geocoding and Mapping Data With IBM Db2 Web Query for i

Rick Flagler

December 15, 2021

Have you ever wanted to apply mapping technology to your data? Ever since Google and Apple Maps became popular, other vendors have used this same mapping technology to provide a basis for business intelligence data analysis. Several towns in my rural area have begun investigating how to improve internet access and have asked vendors to […]

Articles

Use Cases for SQL’s CASE statement

Rick Flagler

October 11, 2021

Have you ever wanted to conditionally do some processing in an SQL SELECT statement? I‘m sure you have, as this isn’t really an unusual situation. In RPG and other languages, we have the IF or SELECT statements for this. In an SQL procedure, you can also use IF. But in a SELECT statement, the way […]

Articles

The Power of Metadata: Part 2

Rick Flagler

September 15, 2021

In Part 1 of this series, I illustrated how Db2 Web Query for i can utilize metadata to improve the information available for reports. This article will continue that discussion, with examples of how metadata techniques can be used to expand the usefulness of your data.  Recall our previous database had some order information (see Figure […]

Articles

The Power of Metadata in the IBM i OS: Part 1

Rick Flagler

August 27, 2021

Developers who work in the IBM i environment may or may not be familiar with the term “metadata.” Metadata can be defined as “data about data.”  Metadata has existed within the IBM i OS since the historic days of the System/38, when an integrated Relational Database was introduced. Consider the commands DSPFD and DSPFFD, both […]

Articles

Basics of Using a Stored Procedure With Db2 Web Query for i Version 2.3

Rick Flagler

August 2, 2021

The most recent releases of Db2 Web Query introduced interface enhancements to the Home page, metadata management and report design. This article will discuss some of these changes in the context of illustrating using an SQL stored procedure (SP) as a data source for one or more Web Query reports. The procedure presents data for […]