Schedule
Tuesday, February 25
Room One
Focus on VSCode4i – Database Extension
Speaker: Scott Forstie
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM
In this live and interactive session, Scott will explain and demonstrate how those who develop code on IBM i can go above and beyond by using Code for IBM i Database Extension.
Deep Dive: Turbocharging IBM i Development with the Latest Development Tools
Speaker: Aaron Magid
10:45 AM – 12:45 PM
The modern development landscape has transformed dramatically – powerful version control, cloud tools, AI assistance, automated testing, code scanning, and automated promotions and deployments are now essential components of any development environment. IBM i developers can and should take advantage of these powerful capabilities. In this hands-on technical workshop, you’ll learn how to build a complete modern development environment from the ground up. We’ll walk through practical implementations of VS Code, Git for version control, AI assistants, automated pipelines, and dashboarding tools. We’ll show you exactly how these pieces fit together. You’ll get your hands dirty with real implementations and leave with access to demo repositories you can continue exploring after the session. Most importantly, you’ll see how these modern tools can enhance productivity while maintaining the reliability for which IBM i is famous.
Focus on ACS – Database features
Speaker: Scott Forstie
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
In this live and interactive session, Scott will explain and demonstrate the many and varied database and SQL features found within IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS).
Room Two
Securing IBM i in the Age of Cyber Threats
Speaker: Koen Decorte
10:45 AM – 12:45 PM
As cyber threats evolve in sophistication and frequency, securing IBM i environments has never been more crucial. This session provides a comprehensive overview of the current cybersecurity landscape and its implications for IBM i systems. We’ll explore emerging security challenges specific to IBM i and discuss cutting-edge solutions to address them. Attendees will learn about advanced security features native to IBM i. Join us for an in-depth look at safeguarding your critical business assets in an increasingly complex threat environment.
Modernization Without Madness: The Practical Guide to IBM i Application Transformation
Speaker: Koen Decorte
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
A comprehensive roadmap for transforming legacy applications into modern, maintainable systems without disrupting business operations. Through real customer case studies and hands-on examples, learn how to strategically modernize RPG applications using incremental approaches, modern tooling, and web technologies. Discover proven patterns for breaking down monolithic applications, implementing APIs, and introducing modern UI frameworks while maintaining the reliability that IBM i is known for.
Room Three
SQL Views and UDTFs – Powerful Features for Masking SQL Complexity
Speaker: Birgitta Hauser
10:45 AM – 12:45 PM
SQL has become very powerful. It includes for example recursions, multi-dimensional grouping, OLAP specifications, IFS and Webservice access.
But not everybody will be able to code those complex queries … and this is not necessary as long as the average programmer or analyst can easily use the queries.
With SQL Views complexity can be hidden. Since a SQL View can be used in a SELECT statement like any table even beginners can write reports based on complex SELECT statements.
Sometimes information has to be set in the stored SELECT statement. With SQL global variables, values can be set on a job/connection level … and SQL global variables can be specified within SQL views.
How ever, sometimes more than one step is needed to retrieve the desired data. In this situation User Defined Functions (UDFs) or User Defined Table Functions come into play.
Wednesday, February 26
Room One
Capitalize Your IBM i Testing History and Automate Testing
Speaker: Pascal Polverini
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Developers spend from 25% up to 50% of their working time for testing. Automating testing is a critical matter in the IT industry.
In this session we will cover the subject and the following aspects:
Capitalize your IBM i test history.
Best practices.
The 3 laws of testing.
A.I. and testing.
ROI
Integrate retroactively test history including manual testing in an automation engine.
Automate the generation and execution of unit, integration, end-to-end and workload tests.
Leverage metrics & coverage.
Integrate DevTestOps, DevOps, DevSecOps.
ListAgg and Split – Grouping, Aggregating and Dividing Again
Speaker: Birgitta Hauser
10:45 AM – 12:45 PM
Almost everybody working with SQL knows the GROUP BY specification for accumulating identical information. Those queries are quite often combined with aggregate functions such as SUM() or AVG().
With the multi-dimensional grouping it is possible to also add all kinds of sub-totals as well as a grand total to the queries.
In composition with CASE clauses it is possible to accumulate information and return the data in different columns, for example monthly or quarterly sales per customer. Pivot tables can be easily created … as long as the number of output columns is fixed.
Sometimes, however, we have to accumulate information that is located in multiple rows in a single row, for example all items in an order.
Unfortunately, the number of output columns (i.e. Items) may differ. However, with the LISTAGG aggregate function a string containing the different information separated by a comma (or any individual separation string) can be built.
As far as good … but how to split a string with multiple information separated by a comma or any other individual separation string? No problem with the SPLIT service! … in composition with other services even *.csv files located in the IFS can be decomposed
One Dashboard to Rule Them All: IBM i Monitoring Workshop
Speaker: Aaron Magid
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Is your IBM i environment a monitoring black hole in your enterprise? Can you see real time graphical visualizations of your key business indicators? When systems fail, does everyone point fingers at IBM i because “we can’t see what’s happening in there”? Or, does your IBM i require monitoring tools that are different from those used by the rest of the organization? Time to change that narrative. In this intensive workshop, you’ll learn how to integrate your IBM i systems into enterprise monitoring platforms like Grafana, Splunk, Datadog, and Swagger, making your IBM i metrics as visible and actionable as any other system in your infrastructure. Through live demonstrations, you’ll see how to build comprehensive dashboards that track everything from system performance to application metrics. You’ll leave with working configurations and practical skills you can implement immediately.
Room Two
Making My RPG Application Universally Understood
Speaker: Barbara Morris
10:45 AM – 12:45 PM
This session is about writing RPG programs that can “travel” to anywhere in the world.
Code for IBM i Deep Dive
Speaker: Liam Allan
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
VS Code is really built with developers in mind. IBM has been building a neat Visual Studio Code extensions that makes accessing and working with the database much simpler for developers. Not only can VS Code be used for writing in many different languages, but now it has great tools for working with Db2 for i.
In this session, we’ll show off the brand new things you’ve missed for RPGLE, the database extension and more. You might see exporting data, working with examples, browsing your schemas, or even managing multiple database configurations. Plus, a sneak peak at the AI integration for the Db2 for IBM i database extension
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