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Using the Eclipse Data Tools Platform and SQL Tools in RDi

One of the longest running debates among IBM i programmers is which is the better language: DDS or SQL? Personally, I was well familiar with SQL from university but found DDS to be like learning cryptology. I think most newcomers to the IBM i arena would prefer SQL. But whether you’re an IBM i newcomer or a DDS supporter, I want to introduce you to the SQL way of defining and maintaining your database files on IBM i.

This article introduces the Eclipse Data Tools Platform (DTP), an open-source project developed by the Eclipse community that provides tools for creating, managing and using data across multiple platforms and data sources. I’ll also describe the SQL tools included in the IBM Rational* Developer for i (RDi) workbench. I’ll concentrate on working with IBM DB2* for i, but this applies to other DB2 versions or data sources.

Installing DTP

To begin, install DTP into your RDi workbench. From the workbench, select Help>Software Updates. Switch to the Available Software tab and click “Manage Sites.” Select “DTP Update Site” from the list of available software sites, put a check mark beside the name and click “OK.”

You’ll see the DTP Update Site node added to the list of sites in the Software Updates and Add-ons window. Expand the DTP Update Site node and select the latest version of Eclipse Data Tools Platform along with the corresponding version of Enabling Features for DTP from the list of available packages (see Figure 1). Then click “Install.”

When developing RPG or COBOL applications with embedded SQL, you can use SQL development tools in DTP to create, debug and test your SQL statements.

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