On 7/19/05, Keith Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have a project that I need to connect to a DB2 database on an AS400 > from a perl application on a Linux box. I've been reading as much as I > can but have a few questions for those with experience in a similar > task. > > My options appear to be to use ODBC or DBD::DB2. What are the > advantages/disadvantages of using either one? > > If I use DBD::DB2, according to the README file I will need the DB2 > Application Development Client. Is this something I need to purchase a > specific license for Linux or if I have an AS400 license can I get a > Linux version and use it? Can I get the client only or do I need to get > the whole DB2 Universal Developer's Edition? Sorry if I'm not asking > the correct questions.
The DB2 Application Development Client is a free download from http://ibm.com/db2/udb/support/downloadv8.html. It's much smaller than DB2 Universal Developer's Edition. You need the client so you can install the application development headers to compile DBD::DB2 against. See http://ibm.com/db2/perl/ for more information. If you're running Windows, you just need the DB2 Runtime Client + the binary DBI and DBD::DB2 modules installed from esoftmatic.com (you can install the 5.8.4 versions even though you might be running ActiveState Perl 5.8.7). Note that you _will_ need a license for DB2 Connect (http://ibm.com/db2/db2connect/) to connect from DB2 on Linux, UNIX, or Windows to DB2 on AS400. > If I use ODBC, which ODBC driver is recommended (i'm running Red Hat 9)? > Is there a good free one that I can use for development? In theory, you should be able to use the iSeries Access offering (http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/access/) to connect via ODBC from Linux to AS400 -- not sure, never tried that route personally. You might also want to double-check the supported Linux distributions: Red Hat 9 is unlikely to be an officially supported platform these days, as I believe Red Hat has already dropped support for that version. > Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance > > Keith Jackson >
