Getting the
Db2 for i .NET Data Provider
Up and Running

• Use Visual Studio IDE and c#, VB.NET or 3rd Party Languages to run Db2 for i SQL and stored procedures
  
  
• Installing and Specifying Settings (Plumbing)(Call Us if you get stuck!)
• the latest version of the .dll (from IBM i ACS Version - 1.1.8.0 Build ID - 8250 and later) shows File Version 13.0.20.2 (in Windows/assembly).  13.0.0.2 is quite a bit older (Client Access 7.1) but works fine with old versions of Windows and IBM i OS combinations 
• for a website project or a web app, installation of the .NET Data Provider is the only component group that is required on development workstations and the only component group required on the production web server (Windows Server 20xx running IIS). 
  
  So specify a custom install as shown in the picture when running the setup.exe. 
  
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• In other words, please do not take the default installation path when installing the ACS Windows Application Package on the Windows Server. By installing everything, the result can be that a number of extra things that you don't need get installed.   Not only is not installing everything considered best practice (lean and mean is the best path to a sturdy and fast Windows Server build), but it reduces unknowns or unused duplicates for your Windows Server admin(s) and reduces the chance you'll get saddled with roadblocks or prerequisite hurdles.
  
  
• To enable drag and drop from Db2 for i physical files and external data structures into new OO DataSets at design time in Visual Studio, install the OLE DB Provider on the workstation also.  The OLE DB Provider is not needed at run time, so again, please do not install the OLE DB Provider on Windows Server for this purpose.  Of course we are assuming the developers aren't using Visual Studio to develop directly on Windows Server (LOL).  The OLE DB Provider is not required to dynamically create a list of columns in an OO DataSet at run time based on the columns in a Db2 for i SQL statement or Stored Procedure.  However, the OO DataSet is rather useful when programming the highest level of optimistic concurrency based on only a subset of columns...
  
  
• Let us help you with Q&A, providing examples or custom development contracting
• We can help you formulate strategy, train your resources or do the development
  
  
• Get the full scoop in our new tutorial, training and source code bundle, Get Running - TechCrystals Code Package™
  
  
• The SQL features available to use will be based on the target IBM i server OS level, so the latest and greatest stuff from IBM i 7.3 and 7.4 will be available.  Similarly the .dll works fine with i5/OS V5R4 through IBM i 7.2.
  
  
• For compiling of the .NET project, the .dll will work with FW projects compiled all the way up to the latest, such as FW 4.8
• In some cases, when targeting older versions of the FW and/or using old versions of the .dll and/or using the website project model, special web.config syntax may be required, please contact us.  Actually Chapter 6 of the Get Running - TechCrystals code package addresses everything you need to get beyond these challenges and includes source code for web.config and global.asax.  Occasionly we offer this chapter as a free download.
  
  
• connection strings can take advantage of *LIBL technique (probably only with Db2 for i version)
  
  
• Eliminate library and schema and testing-based hard-coding with library list technique!
  
  Please use the Contact Us phone number and extension for a no-cost, no-obligation discussion.
  
  See this article from MC Press for good details on setting the path and using *LIBL and system naming versus SQL naming
  
  
• Here is a connection string example from a web.config file, based on a working production version, using the library list technique.  Remember to create your stored procedure and SQL PL with compatible syntax and options based on the system naming technique.  Long passwords with lower case can be used if the IBM i OS setting enables it...  A specially powered profile is not required for this. 
  
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• <connectionStrings>
  
  
• <add name="strDotNetDB2iCnnName" connectionString="DataSource=192.168.1.10; UserID=USRPRFNAME; Password=USRPRFPWD; Naming=System; LibraryList=LIBNAME1,LIBNAM2,LIBNAM3;"/>
  
  
• </connectionStrings>
  
  

• Use inline SQL or stored procedure calls
  
  
• Use Equivalent Constructs as with Other Data Providers for .NET Environment
• define methods for Db2 for i access at the same scope and with the same functional equivalent as with those for MS SQL Server
  
• most adapters are supported
  
• your choice of whether to use system column names, ALIAS names or SQL column names
  
  
• populate and work with .NET FW OO DataSet objects that were created via drag and drop from Db2 for i file columns and subsets
• we like to characterize DataSet objects as multi-occurrence data structures on steroids
• for those really wanting column name verification and intellisense for column names at design/programming time, you can use these OO DataSets to qualify columns with the same name as the database column name (OO feature we got working with both Db2 for i and MSSQL).  Similarly, this prevents run-time errors due to typos in referencing the columns by hand-typed array-element name. 
  
  

• Let us help you with development services or to supply examples
• We can help you formulate strategy, train your resources or do the development