System Administration for ALLBASE/SQL

The DBA must cooperate with the system administrator on several crucial matters. These include:

Shared Memory Usage
Native Language Support
Network Administration

Shared Memory Usage

Since ALLBASE/SQL may have to coexist on a system with other applications, the amount of available shared memory for log buffers, data buffers, and runtime control blocks must be negotiated with the system administrator. Refer to the section on "Estimating Shared Memory Requirements" in the "Physical Design" chapter.

Native Language Support

ALLBASE/SQL lets you manipulate databases in a wide variety of native languages in addition to the default language, known as NATIVE-3000. You can use either 8-bit or 16-bit character data, as appropriate for the language you select. In addition, you can always include ASCII data in any database, since ASCII is a subset of each supported character set. The collating sequence for sorting and comparisons is that of the native language selected.

You can use native language characters in a wide variety of places, including:

character literals
host variables for CHAR or VARCHAR data (but not variable names)
ALLBASE/SQL object names
WHERE and VALUES clauses

If your system has the proper message files installed, ALLBASE/SQL displays prompts, messages and banners in the language you select, and it displays dates and time according to local customs. In addition, ISQL accepts responses to its prompts in the native language selected. However, regardless of the native language used, the syntax of ISQL and SQL commands--including punctuation--remains in ASCII.

Note that MPE/iX does not support native language file names or DBEnvironment Names.

In order to use a native language other than the default, you must do the following:

Make sure your I/O devices support the character set you wish to use.
Set the MPE job control word NLUSERLANG to the number (LangNum) of the native language you wish to use. Use the following MPE/iX command:
SETJCW NLUSERLANG = LangNum
This language then becomes the current language. (If NLUSERLANG is not set, the current language is NATIVE-3000.)

Use the LANG = LanguageName option of the START DBE NEW command to specify the language of a DBEnvironment when you create it. Run the MPE/iX utility program NLUTIL.PUB.SYS to determine which native languages are supported on your system. Here is a list of supported languages, preceded by the LangNum for each:

          0 NATIVE-3000         9 ITALIAN            52 ARABICW

          1 AMERICAN           10 NORWEGIAN          61 GREEK

          2 C-FRENCH           11 PORTUGUESE         71 HEBREW

          3 DANISH             12 SPANISH            81 TURKISH

          4 DUTCH              13 SWEDISH           201 CHINESE-S

          5 ENGLISH            14 ICELANDIC         211 CHINESE-T

          6 FINNISH            41 KATAKANA          221 JAPANESE

          7 FRENCH             51 ARABIC            231 KOREAN

          8 GERMAN

Resetting NLUSERLANG while you are connected to a DBEnvironment has no effect on the current DBE session.

Network Administration

Administering the network that permits operation of a distributed database is a task that may involve both the DBA and the system administrator. You manage the network using a utility program called NETUtil, as explained in the next paragraphs.

For an end user to connect to a remote DBEnvironment, two files must exist: the AliasDB file and the NETUsers file. The AliasDB file, residing on the client node, contains an entry for each remote DBEnvironment that is available on the network. The entry contains an alias name for the DBEnvironment along with the server node and DBEnvironment Name on the server. The NETUsers file, residing on the server node, contains an entry for each user on a client node that has access to a DBEnvironment on the server node.

Using NETUtil

The system administrator uses a utility called NETUtil on the client and server nodes to add entries to and to maintain the AliasDB and NETUsers files. Each file is automatically created when you add the first entry to it. On the client node, the system administrator invokes NETUtil and uses the ADD ALIAS command to create an entry in the AliasDB file. All NETUtil commands prompt the user for information, so in this case, the administrator is prompted for details about the specific DBEnvironment to be accessed. (The entry added to the AliasDB file will contain the answers to the prompts.)

On the server node, the system administrator invokes NETUtil and uses the ADD USER command to create an entry in the NETUsers file. Again, the administrator will by prompted by NETUtil for the appropriate information. The entry added to the NETUsers file will include specifics about the user who will be accessing the remote DBEnvironment.

Additionally, users of DBEnvironments can invoke NETUtil to display the entries in the AliasDB file so that alias names of DBEnvironments can be checked or confirmed.

Complete information about NETUtil is found in the ALLBASE/NET User's Guide.

System Administration for ALLBASE/SQL

Technical documentation

» Table of Contents

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Shared Memory Usage

Native Language Support

Network Administration

Using NETUtil