Audience

This intermediate course is intended for Programmers, Systems Analysts and all others needing an introduction to IBM i (formerly AS/400) from a programming point of view.

The overall objective of this class is to provide delegates with a basic understanding of IBM i concepts and an overview of the programming facilities available on the server as well as the client.

Prerequisites

Delegates must be able to:

• Navigate IBM i menus.
• Use common IBM i commands.
• Use IBM i Help and IBM i Knowledge Center.
• Use a Windows-based PC and navigate PC menus and windows.
• Explain programming concepts.
• Write a simple program in any programming language.

Duration

3 days. Hands on.

Course Objectives

This course is critical to building a solid foundation of knowledge for application development. Course material covers many of the tools used by programmers on a day to day basis, therefore this course is a reccommended prerequisite for all programming courses that follow. The skills taught in this class will be invaluable to anyone interested in leaning to develop applications using RPG IV or SQL.

A variety of hands-on exercises provide delegates with an opportunity to use and experiment with the facilities covered in this course.

On successful completion of this course delegates will be able to:

• Describe what application development tools are available.
• Identify platforms where tools are used.
• Describe the purpose and use of each tool.
• Create a user profile, library, output queue and job description.
• Describe the key elements of Work Management, security and device files.
• Write a basic control language (CL) program to run application programs.
• Define physical and logical files on the IBM i.
• Create physical and logical files.
• Use the basic features of the LPEX Editor to enter and maintain file definitions.
• Use the basic features of the Screen Designer and Report Designer to design, create and maintain displays and reports.
• Use Interactive SQL and IBM i Navigator to create schema, tables, views and indexes.

Course Content

Day 1
Unit 1 - Class administration and introduction.
Unit 2 - IBM i application development tools.
Unit 3 - IBM i concepts and overview.
Unit 4 - IBM i Access and IBM i Navigator.
Exercise 1 - Navigating IBM i Navigator.
Unit 5 - Managing work flow on the IBM i.
Unit 6 - Commands, profiles and libraries.

Day 2
Exercise 2 - Create library and work with library list.
Exercise 3 - Modify profile, work with job description and alternate job.
Unit 7 - Introduction to IBM i security.
Unit 8 - Control language programming.
Exercise 4 - Write a basic CL program.
Unit 9 - Basic message handling.
Exercise 5 - Using messages.

Day 3
Unit 10 - Creating reports and displays.
Exercise 6 - Editing display file source.
Exercise 7 - Designing and creating display files.
Exercise 8 - Using Screen Designer to create reports.
Unit 11 - IBM DB2 for i.
Unit 12 - Accessing the IBM i database using SQL and IBM i Navigator.
Exercise 9 - Working with the database using IBM i Navigator.