WMCPA Spring Conference 2022

While native I/O can only be used with programming languages such as RPG and COBOL, (embedded) SQL can, or even must, be used by other programming languages. The main goal of embedded SQL is accessing and modifying data in SQL tables. However instead of using embedded SQL in the same way as native I/O, it makes more sense to join multiple tables or views, merge different sub-selects and even aggregate data in a single SQL-statement (Set based thinking). The result can be either processed sequentially or with a single block fetch read into an array data structure. SQL scalar functions can be used directly in embedded SQL without accessing any table or view. Beginning with Release 7.1 result sets returned by stored procedures can be directly consumed with (embedded) SQL. All kinds of documents (for example XML documents and text files) as well as audio and video files can be stored in the IFS or inserted as large objects into SQL tables. With embedded SQL those files cannot only be copied, but also be written into the IFS and directly read from the IFS. In this session you’ll discover these secrets!

Learning Objectives: In this session you’ll learn some tricks are not widely known to make embedded SQL more convenient. This session will also show in examples how to consume result sets with embedded SQL and how to read and write IFS files with embedded SQL.

Audience: Developers who already use embedded SQL and would like to exploit advanced SQL technologies, such as consuming result sets or accessing IFS files within their embedded SQL programs.