Linoma Looks to Simplify DB2/400
The emergence of Windows has made DOS a distant, confusing memory for most PC users. Omaha, Neb.-based Linoma Software hopes its Surveyor/400 will likewise make DB2/400 a little bit easier to deal with.
Surveyor/400 is a Java-based graphical database utility for DB2/400 databases that uses a Windows Explorer-like "visual tree" interface to drill down into multiple AS/400s and their libraries. The libraries can be expanded to show physicals, logicals, stored procedures, fields, members, journals, formats, triggers and RI constraints.
The database utility can be used by different users in an organization such as system, database or security administrators and programmers, according to Jeff Petermann, sales director at Linoma Software.
Rather than typing in commands to retrieve information, Surveyor/400 users navigate DB2/400 with a point-and-click interface utilizing toolbars, buttons and pop-up menus. The tool also includes a search utility that lets users search for files by name, type or library; search for files created, modified, last used, saved or not saved within a specific time period; and search for files by min/max size or within a size range. Users can also enter free-form SQL select statements to view and export data into HTML or tab-delimited files.
"Different people like it for different uses," says Petermann. "Some people like the export feature, others just like the graphical environment because they’re sick and tired of the green screens."
Jason Muhs, an MIS administrator at Kendall, Sherwood, Davis and Geck, a Norfolk, Neb. medical products company, says Surveyor/400 is a big improvement over Client Access ODBC for exporting AS/400 files to PC clients. "With ODBC, you have to tell it what system and what library," he explains. "With Surveyor/400, you just point, click and export. We’ve found it a lot easier than ODBC and Surveyor/400 has low overhead and is fast."
Surveyor/400 runs on Windows 9X/NT or any client with a JVM, including IBM’s Network Station. AS/400 users can download a free, fully functional trial copy of Surveyor/400 at www.linomasoftware.com.