COMMON Webcasts

COMMON Webcasts are part of the new "COMMON...Customized" education model, and are offered free to COMMON members as part of their membership benefits. They are one-hour long webcasts on leading edge topics to meet the increasing educational needs of COMMON members.

COMMON Webcasts are designed to enhance the educational opportunities for System i professionals and bolster their daily workplace needs. They are conducted by industry-leading experts and provide focused education at no cost to COMMON members.

If you have questions about any of COMMON's Webcasts, please write to Webcasts@common.org. To submit a topic for consideration as a COMMON Webcast, please send the title, description and speaker contact information to Ian Cartwright.

Upcoming Vendor Sponsored Webcasts

Managing LPAR for Safety and Savings (Free to Everyone)
Sponsored by Barsa Consulting Group
Speakers: Rich Sanfilippo and Peter Mullin, Barsa Consulting Group
December 10, 2008 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
You set up your system with multiple LPARs, but you’re spending more time on the HMC balancing resources and moving tape drives. Join us to find out how to simplify your work and save money by:

• Eliminating operator intervention and error downtime
• Faster response times for key business applications
• Improving batch job running times
• Reduced requirements for additional hardware
• Automatic sharing of Tape, DVD and CD drives

See how Barsa’s APRM software continuously monitors and responds to each partition’s changing demands for CPU, interactive and memory resources. How to guide partition performance tuning with rules-based tools and usage reporting for uncapped and pooled processors. How to use APRM’s commands with BRMS backup software, with a job scheduler or in any CL program to share tape and optical drives automatically.

About the Speakers:
Rich Sanfilippo enjoys over 16 years with Barsa Consulting Group, LLC, and is Vice President of Solutions and Services at the firm. Rich has over 25 years of technical experience with IBM i and its predecessors, with accomplishments in programming, application design, systems integration, high availability and project management. Rich specializes in the design, implementation and management of complex technical projects and solutions. Rich is IBM certified in Technical Solutions Design and implementation with additional certifications in LPAR technology, high availability and server consolidation.

Register online for this Webcast here.

Upcoming COMMON Webcasts

Exploring the DBA Tools in System i Navigator (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Jim Flanagan, IBM
November 20, 2008 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
The V6R1 release of IBM DB2 for i includes a number of new and updated tools that a database administrator can use to easily handle typical, real-life situations.

In this webcast we will explore how someone wearing the "DBA hat" in an organization can use these tools provided by System i Navigator.

About the Speaker:
Jim Flanagan has worked in database development for DB2 UDB for i5/OS for the last thirteen years. He is currently the team leader for the System i Navigator Database team and is a frequent speaker at COMMON events.

Register online for this Webcast here.

What's New for RPG in V6R1 (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Barbara Morris, IBM
December 11, 2008 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
Find out about all the new RPG features in V6R1. Files defined in subprocedures - passing files as parameters - support for huge variables and arrays - no more overrides at compile time - running RPG in multiple threads - and more.

About the Speaker:
Coming Soon.

Register online for this Webcast here.

Modern CL Programming (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Kevin Forsythe, DMC Consulting
January 15, 2009 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
A detailed look at CL Programming that incorporates recent enhancements to the language.  Starting with V5R3 IBM has made numerous improvements to the CL Programming language.  CL now has subroutines, pointers, Loops, structured programming options, and more.  This webcast reviews these changes and examines how they might change the way you write your CL Programs.

About the Speaker:
With 20 years as a programmer and  consultant, Kevin has a wide range of experiences to share. He has been with DMC Consulting for over 10 years. For the last 7 years he has been the primary instructor for their AS/400 based AS/Credentials training program, and has been speaking at COMMON for several years.  Recently Kevin took on the challenge of being a Subject Matter Expert for COMMON, and has authored the book "SQL for eServer i5 and iSeries."

Register online for this Webcast here.

XML and RPG (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Charles Guarino, Central Park Data Systems, Inc.
February 19, 2009 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
XML has quickly become a standard method of encoding data. It can be used for full document transmittals or data provided via a web service. The extraction of this data into useable information is called parsing. RPG provides two different methods for parsing. This session goes step by step through the entire process of receiving an XML document to successfully parsing it to a database file. The XML-INTO and XML-SAX statements will be reviewed. The challenges and requirements of both statements will be discussed. At the end of this session, you will be able to identify which parsing method works best for your particular situation. Included with this webcast are program listings that you can take back and put to use immediately.

About the Speaker:
With an IT career spanning over 25 years, Charles Guarino has been a consultant for most of them. Since 1995 he has been President and founder of Central Park Data Systems, Inc., a Long Island based IBM midrange consulting company. He has published several technical and strategic articles, served as a member of AS/400 Management Magazine's Editorial Review Board, and has received recognition as a COMMON Speaker of Merit. More recently, he was a featured speaker for System i Network's webcast, "Tips and Techniques for Achieving a Successful Encryption Project." He was inducted into COMMON's Speaker Excellence Hall of Fame at the 2008 Spring Conference. Charles is currently a COMMON Application Development Subject
Matter Expert and a member and Director of LISUG, a Long Island IBM System i Users Group. Charles can be reached at cguarino@centralparkdata.com.

Register online for this Webcast here.

What's New with Backup Recovery - Including Virtual Tape and Encryption! (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Deb Saugen, IBM
March 19, 2009 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
Find out what new things you need to know for the very latest releases to ensure you have a good backup strategy. Learn what changes need to be made to update your disaster recovery plans. New and exciting changes for Backup and Recovery in V5R4 and i 6.1 are highlighted including Virtual Tape support, Backup Encryption and the latest and greatest for Backup Recovery and Media Services (BRMS).

About the Speaker:
Debbie Saugen is the Technical Owner of System i5/OS Backup and Recovery in the Rochester, MN Development Lab. She is also a Senior Business Recovery Architect/Consultant with IBM's Business Continuity and Resiliency Services.  Debbie ensures the Backup and Recovery Solution meets the customer's requirements in capability and usability. She does actual Backup/Recovery testing using the new functions, products and publications.  As a recognized expert on Backup and Recovery worldwide, Debbie enjoys sharing her knowledge by speaking at Common, Technical Conferences, Business Continuity and Resiliency Conferences, User Group Conferences and writing for various magazines, books and websites.

Register online for this Webcast here.

30 SQL Tips in 60 Minutes (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Ted Holt, Day-Brite Lighting
April 9, 2009 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
SQL is THE data access language. It runs interactively from green screens and System i Navigator. It's in RPG and COBOL programs, in ODBC and JDBC. It's ubiquitous, and it's everywhere, too! You can't know too much about SQL. This session presents a collection of powerful, effective, and easily implemented SQL tips and techniques. These tips and techniques are based on i5/OS, but many of them apply equally to other platforms. There's something for everyone, from the SQL novice to the advanced user. Come learn some new techniques and reacquaint yourself with some you may have forgotten.

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: 1. Select and sequence data in usual and unusual ways. 2. Apply set theory operations to database queries. 3. Apply the concept of abstraction to data retrieval.

About the Speaker:
Ted Holt has worked in the information industry since 1981, primarily with IBM midrange systems. He is IT Manager, Manufacturing Systems Development for Day-Brite Lighting, a manufacturer of lighting fixtures in Tupelo, Mississippi. He also edits and writes for Four Hundred Guru, a technical newsletter published by itjungle.com. Ted is the author or co-author of seven books, and holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Register online for this Webcast here.

SQL Stored Procedures (Free to COMMON Members)
Speaker: Jarek Miszcyk, IBM
May 21, 2009 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm Central time (1 to 2 pm Eastern time)
The support for SQL Procedural Language in IBM i has recently been instrumental in application modernization and porting projects. To facilitate this work, the Rochester development lab has shipped a number of significant enhancements aimed at improving the SQL PL functionality and performance.

In this webcast, we highlight the new functions and cover non-trivial programming techniques that will increase your SQL PL programming efficiency:
1. Faster Execution with Expression Evaluator.
2. Mastering Nested Compound Statement Handlers.
3. Name and Authority Resolution in Static and Dynamic SQL Statements.
4. Performance Tips and Techniques.

About the Speaker:
Jarek Miszczyk is a Senior Software Engineer at the ISV SolutionsEnablement organization in Rochester, MN. He has been with IBM for 15 years. His mission is to provide consulting services to ISVs, large IBM Clients, and other IBM organizations on DB2 for i5/OS related issues. He also writes extensively and teaches IBM classes in all areas of the System i database. Before joining the ISV Solutions Enablement organization in 2000, he has worked for several years at the IBM ITSO in Rochester, where he was the leading author of several popular database Redbooks. Jarek holds a Masters degree in computer science and has over 18 years of experience in the computer field. His areas of expertise include cross-platform database programming, database performance tuning, and database integration with emerging technologies (XML, Java, Microsoft .NET).

Register online for this Webcast here.

Click here to access a list of 2008 COMMON Webcasts that have already taken place, and can be viewed as archives.

Click here to access an archived list of older COMMON Webcasts that have already taken place.