Re: how many item master files is too many? -- MIDRANGE-L

Thank you for your reply.  Yes I agree that the steps I outlined are not
100% accurate, BUT they do provide a very quick & simple method of finding
out an approximate count.

To do an actual analysis using format names and other criteria to chase
ITEMMAST1 & 2 satellite files would be quite involved.  The steps I outlined
take maybe 2 or 3 minutes, and I STILL received NO specific replies with
data.

Why did I receive no responses with data?

Was it asking for company info that is not to be shared?




----- Original Message -----
From: "Walden H. Leverich" <WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 9:09 AM
Subject: RE: how many item master files is too many?


> >You'd be better off using the select count(*) as num_part from itemmast
>
> Don't know about that. That would tell you how large your item master is
> -- or more accurately, how many items you have in the master. I think
> Joel is looking for how many instances of the item master you have on
> the system. For example, 1 in production, 1 in training, 1 in QA, and 3
> in developer libraries.
>
> However, I'm not sure I like the query he's running to find that out
> (sorry Joel). While he's not looking directly at the record format level
> id, he is looking at two of the key components of it, the number of
> fields and the record length, and he's only looking for files w/the same
> name, number of fields and length, and only physicals.
>
> I'd be less concerned about a system that had 10 copies of ITEMMAST that
> were all the same than a system that had 4 copies all with different
> record lengths and one of which was a logical.
>
> The more mature a development process is the more likely you'll have
> multiple copies of a file, to support development & unit testing,
> integration testing, QA testing, training, and production, for example.
> However, if you have multiple files with the same name but different
> record lengths I'd be really worried.
>
> Oh, and if you're looking for complexity, don't forget to ask how many
> files make up the "item master" file. I've seen situations that had:
> ITEMMAST - the original file
> ITEMMAST1 - new fields that are needed to describe an
> item, but they didn't want to change ITEMMAST
> ITEMMAST2 - more new fields, came about 2 years after ITEMMAST1,
> again, didn't want to change ITEMMAST or ITEMMAST1.
>
> An "item" is made up of fields from all three files. Now we're getting
> complex.
>
> -Walden
>
> ------------
> Walden H Leverich III
> President & CEO
> Tech Software
> (516) 627-3800 x11
> WaldenL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.TechSoftInc.com
>
> Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.
> (Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Dodkins
> Sent: Thursday, 10 February, 2005 03:47
> To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
> Subject: RE: how many item master files is too many?
>
> You'd be better off using the select count(*) as num_part from itemmast
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stone, Joel [mailto:StoneJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 09 February 2005 18:25
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> Subject: how many item master files is too many?
>
>
> I would like to find out if my company's database is a bit too complex
> (as
> I'm sure many are).
>
> One simple test I thought of comparing is: How many physical files of
> one
> type are a company's server.
>
> For a simple sampling of other companies, I would like to know how many
> item
> master (product) files your company has on its AS/400.
>
> If you would be able to provide this info (I will keep this anonomous of
> course), I would be grateful.
>
> Please do the following steps if you could:
>
> 1) Identify the name of your item master file (to yourself), lets
> call
> it ITEMMAST
>
> 2)    Find out the number of fields in the file ITEMMAST, call it
> #fields
>
> 3)    Find out the record length of ITEMMAST, call it reclen
>
> 4) Run the following SQL statement
>
> runsql 'select * from qsys/qadbxref where dbxnfl=<#fields> and
> dbxrdl=<reclen> and dbxatr=''PF'''
>
>
> 5) jump to the bottom of the list
>
> 6)  make sure that the files appear to be actual item-master type
> files
>
> 6) Email the number of records to me.
>
>
> Thank you so much for your assistance!
> --
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