The QMF Family Newsletter 1 st Quarter 2012 Edition

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Dale Eaton
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In the next fix pack we will provide a classic perspective within both QMF for Workstation and QMF for WebSphere.

1 The QMF Family Newsletter 1 st Quarter 2012 Edition In this Issue QMF Classic perspective Latest Tip using the ISPF editor with QMF queries and procedures A message from the developers of QMF Want to see the new QMF? Schedule a web session We continue to enhance the QMF Family with new releases as well as fix packs. In the next fix pack we will provide a classic perspective within both QMF for Workstation and QMF for WebSphere. These new perspectives are intended to allow the classic user to interface with the newer QMF components in a manner they are accustomed to. QMF Classic Perspective With fix pack 4, QMF now provides the long-standing QMF user a view that should be entirely familiar to them. QMF classic perspective is new and provides a look and feel identical to that found on the TSO version. There is a command line and function key look and feel to this particular interface. To open this perspective you click on the mini-icon in the upper left corner shown in figure 1to see the option for other When you click on other you will then see the window shown where you can select QMF Classic perspective. Figure 1: QMF classic perspective (new with fix pack 4)

Now the user can interact with QMF much as they have done in the past. In figure 2 the user has entered the command DRAW Q.STAFF to have QMF fill out a proper SQL query for that table.

2 Now the user can interact with QMF much as they have done in the past. In figure 2 the user has entered the command DRAW Q.STAFF to have QMF fill out a proper SQL query for that table. Figure 2: Using the draw command in QMF classic perspective Think of this perspective as a means to ease into the new QMF as well as an opportunity to apply skills you may have developed over an extensive period of time. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with changes in technology we have mastered or are at least comfortable with. Now you need not have interface shock in working with the new QMF. From an internet browser, the interface looks like what you see in figure 3.

3 Figure 3: Using the draw command in QMF classic perspective Thus the end user will have an identifiable feeling whether on a 3270 terminal, the rich client, or within a browser. Mike Mike Biere, WW IBM Technical Marketing Manager for QMF, Business Analytics, and Data Warehousing on System z. biere@us.ibm.com Latest Tip Using the ISPF Editor with QMF queries and procedures If you start QMF under ISPF or via ISPSTART or ISPEXEC, you can use the ISPF editor to edit your queries. The command to do so is EDIT QUERY once you have it showing in the query window. The advantage here is that you can use normal editor functions such as copying lines, splitting text and more. Many users like to use ISPF to place each column selected on a separate line so they can apply additional SQL operations such as that shown in figure 4. The query has been passed to the ISPF editor and the author used the TS (text split) function in the line number column. The text is split when the user places the cursor where they want the split to take place, the TS is specified in the appropriate line, and the user just presses enter.

Figure 4: Using the ISPF editor with queries in QMF Once you are finished with the editor, press PF3 to exit and your changes will be reflected on the query screen.

4 Figure 4: Using the ISPF editor with queries in QMF Once you are finished with the editor, press PF3 to exit and your changes will be reflected on the query screen. Some QMF users have created libraries of queries in ISPF that they use to copy into a blank query invoked by the EDIT QUERY command. They initiate a new, blank query, and use ISPF functions to copy a query saved outside of QMF into the blank space. Note: Once in ISPF you can press the Help function key (PF1) to get more information on using ISPF. After a while, many prefer to use ISPF s editor due to its ability to add, copy, move, and split lines. If you ve never tried it, do so. If it produces an error, your installation is not invoking QMF with ISPF services. BE SURE TO TRY THIS BEFORE YOU CREATE ANY WORK YOU DO NOT WISH TO LOSE!! A Message from the Developers of QMF Jump start your QMF installation with quick start road maps Did you know that the QMF Version 10 documentation now provides road maps that lead you through the proper set of steps to install QMF according your specific configuration? The road maps work like flow charts, asking you questions about your desired configuration and the versions of DB2 and QMF that you currently have installed. Each branch of questions leads to a specific installation path. Each path provides a step-by-step overview of the specific type of installation, with links that take you to only the information you need to read in the manual and nothing more.

5 Starting all of your QMF installations with the road maps and following your resulting installation path from start to finish can result in huge time savings, as well as help you to avoid missteps that can cost you a lot of troubleshooting time down the road. You can find the road maps here: m#roadmaps One customer commented Looking at the old doc and this doc, I choose this one every time and I definitely appreciate the work and effort you folks put into it to make it meaningful and understandable. It actually looks so easy when you look at it that it kind of worried me that I must be overlooking something. If this is the new trend in IBM documentation (making it look easy and work better), I like the direction. I just am used to the old way. Bottom line, it went pretty smoothly and if we had had a test environment to run through before going to production, we could have made all the required changes and checks then finished this whole process in minutes instead of the couple of hours + Version 10.1 Fix pack 4 enhancements The following enhancements and features have been added to QMF Version 10.1 Fix Pack 4: Support for DB2 temporal data in the query diagram and prompted query views QMF now supports DB2 temporal data management technology in its query diagram and prompted query views. A new Time Period button has been added to the Prompted Query and Diagram Query editors. Users can use the button to add a FOR specification to a query to support tables that have been configured for temporal data. New QMF Classic perspective and support for RUNTSO command The QMF Classic perspective provides an interface that is very similar to the QMF TSO / CICS interface. Because the interfaces are so similar, QMF for TSO and CICS users will have little difficulty applying their skills in the QMF for Workstation environment. Users can also now issue the RUNTSO command to invoke QMF for TSO as a DB2 for z/os stored procedure. The procedure name is Q.DSQQMFSP. Upon invocation, users pass the name of a query or procedure to run on QMF for TSO. Output returns to the workstation in a result set. Up to 21 result sets can be specified for a QMF procedure. Classic forms are created on the basis of the returned result sets. These classic forms are generated without any additional form formats, but they can be specified in the Form design tab. Automatic generation of dashboard and report URLs A new Web Link wizard has been added for creating web links to QMF objects that can be opened directly in web browsers. Additional reformatting capability for SQL queries

6 A new capability has been added for specifying any integer between 10 and 1000 for the line width of SQL queries. QMF uses hardcoded line width of 79 characters. This enhancement enables users to circumvent the way QMF reformats a query's text. Enhanced refresh capabilities for data-driven components A new event action has been added for refreshing a component in a visual dashboard by invalidating a query cache. This event action reruns the query and the results are displayed in the refreshed component. New Launch LOB event action A new capability has been added for opening LOB data from an object of a visual dashboard. The new Launch LOB event action allows you to select an object of a visual dashboard based on the table containing LOB data and display this data. This action can be applied only to the objects that are contained in the data template.

7 JavaScript API support for visual dashboards embedded in a web page A new JavaScript function has been added that allows users to set dashboard global parameters when a dashboard is open in HTML IFRAME via the GetObject command. New global variable (DSQEC_RUN_MQ) A new global variable named DSQEC_RUN_MQ has been added to control the manner by which statements in a multi-statement query are run. New global variable (DSQAO_HOME_WORKSPACE) A new global variable named DSQAO_HOME_WORKSPACE has been added. This new global variable contains the key to the user's home workspace if it exists. Support for launching a QMF batch job from the QMF for Workstation environment The QMF batch query/procedure application is designed to minimize the amount of effort involved and knowledge required to run a query or procedure in batch mode. The QMF Website Direct inquiries and comments to: mbiere@us.ibm.com

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In This Issue. The Enhanced Editor in QMF 11.2: Highlights. 1st Quarter 2016 Edition 1st Quarter 2016 Edition In This Issue The Enhanced Editor in QMF 11.2 From the Developers: QMF for TSO/CICS access to DB2 LUW and access data using 3-part names The Enhanced Editor in QMF 11.2: Highlights