Paul,
You really need to study database. And I am just talking the basics - not
serious bit twiddling. Ok, you have some rudimentary concepts down. You
understand what a "table" is. An "index" is a separate object built
against a table. A table may have zero to many indexes. Let's give a
sample. An OrderHeader table may have the following indexes built against
it:
- order number
- customer number
- ship to
- preferred trucking company
etc
You may wish to google "CREATE INDEX".
Stored procedures may be written in SPL (SQL Procedure Language) or in a
number of HLL (High Level Languages).
You may wish to google "CREATE PROCEDURE"
There are a number of ways to access data on IBM i. I am not sure if they
all apply to old AS/400's though. There is ODBC, JDBC, DRDA and more.
These methods can access the data directly (like though "select mycolumn
from mytable...") or through calling stored procedures which return data.
Normally this requires configuring a 'data source' or some such thing to
the tool you are using; be it Crystal Reports, Excel, etc.
I suppose there's some sort of "SQL for Dummies" type of book out there.
A good reference, but not a good way to learn SQL, is:
http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v7r1m0/topic/db2/rbafzintro.htm
Rob Berendt
midrange.com
