Professional IBM i reference guides

Deep Dives

Standalone topic guides — no fixed order required.

Focused, professional-grade guides for important IBM i, RPGLE, SQL, CL, and operations topics — detailed coverage of a specific concept, production scenario, or interview-heavy topic.

Reference-grade

Written to the depth of a professional reference, not a beginner walkthrough.

Non-linear

No fixed order — jump straight to the topic a production issue or interview needs.

Production-tested

Real examples, debugging notes, and the considerations that matter once code ships.

Available now (6 Deep Dives)

SQL / Db2 for i

SQL on IBM i

A professional deep dive into SQL on IBM i, covering Db2 for i architecture, naming conventions, schemas, tables, joins, CTEs, SQLCODE, catalog queries, constraints, indexes, views, optimizer basics, authority, and production practices.

~20 min readsqldb2-for-isqlcode

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SQL / Db2 for i

Embedded SQL in RPGLE

A professional deep dive into embedded SQL in RPGLE -- SQLRPGLE source setup, host variables, indicator variables, singleton SELECT, cursor loops, commitment control, dynamic SQL, and SQLCODE troubleshooting.

~22 min readsqlrpglesqlrpgle

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SQL / Db2 for i

SQL Cursors on IBM i

A professional deep dive into SQL cursors on IBM i -- the cursor lifecycle, DECLARE options, scrollable cursors, WHERE CURRENT OF, multi-row FETCH, SQLERRD(3), WITH HOLD, cursor-specific SQLCODE handling, and production practices.

~20 min readsqlcursorssqlrpgle

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SQL / Db2 for i

Stored Procedures on IBM i

A professional deep dive into stored procedures on IBM i -- SQL procedures vs external RPGLE procedures, IN/OUT/INOUT parameters, SQL PL error handling, result sets, RPG callers, overloading, security, and production practices.

~22 min readsqlstored-proceduresdb2-for-i

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SQL / Db2 for i

Database Triggers on IBM i

A professional deep dive into database triggers on IBM i -- SQL triggers vs system triggers, BEFORE/AFTER/INSTEAD OF timing, row vs statement-level triggers, transition variables and tables, cascading and recursion, security, and production practices.

~25 min readsqltriggersdb2-for-i

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SQL / Db2 for i

SQL Error Handling on IBM i

A professional deep dive into SQL error handling on IBM i -- SQLCODE, SQLSTATE, GET DIAGNOSTICS, SQLCA, ROW_COUNT, SQL PL condition handlers, retry strategy, transaction recovery, logging, and production troubleshooting.

~28 min readsqlsqlcodesqlstate

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Planned topics (14) -- coming soon, not yet published

These topics are on the roadmap but have no readable content yet -- shown here for direction, not as links.

RPGLENative I/O vs SQL Decision Guide
Journaling & Commitment ControlCommitment Control with SQL and RPGLE
SQL / Db2 for iSQL Performance Basics on IBM i
ILE & Service ProgramsService Programs and Binding Directories
ILE & Service ProgramsActivation Groups
RPGLERecord Locking in RPGLE
Journaling & Commitment ControlJournaling in Real Applications
Operations & TroubleshootingJob Log and MSGW Troubleshooting
RPGLESubfile Design Patterns
APIs & IntegrationData Queues
Operations & TroubleshootingJob Queues and Subsystems
SecurityAuthority and Adopted Authority
APIs & IntegrationIFS for Developers
APIs & IntegrationAPIs and External Integration on IBM i