At AS/400 Network Expert, our job is twofold; not only do we attempt to provide you with solutions to your AS/400 networking challenges, but we also try to direct you to specific print- and Web-based resources where you can get the answers for yourself. To the latter’s end, here's a list of 11 valuable IBM AS/400-based URLs where you can find information to help you solve your networking problems. I'm also posting this information on the ANE Web site (www.midrangecomputing.com/ane) so that you can use it as a central resource for linking to these IBM Web pages. So, in no particular order, here's my list of valuable IBM AS/400 networking URLs:
• AS/400 home page: www.as400.ibm.com. It all starts here and, if you don't have a specific location to turn to, at least you can come here and do a search.
• Client Access home page: www.as400.ibm.com/clientaccess. If you're looking for information on Client Access for Windows 95/NT or AS/400 Client Access Express for Windows, your search should always start at this site. IBM provides links to download service packs, view online articles, review FAQs, read APARs affecting Client Access, trouble shooting, and more. In addition, you can reach several of the other locations on this list from this site.
• AS/400 Technical Studio: www.as400.ibm.com/tstudio. IBM bills this site as "...your first stop when you're looking for workshops, tools, and technical information." It's a good source of step-by-step information for performing a number of functions on your AS/400, not just networking. When I accessed this site while I was writing this article, I found info on configuring your AS/400 as an Internet server, getting started with Java, AS/400 Security Adviser, and a lot more.
• AS/400 NetServer home page: www.as400.ibm.com/netserver. This page is a fairly complete guide for getting started with AS/400 NetServer, which allows you to create a network drive for your AS/400 Integrated File System (AS/400 IFS) files and to redirect network printouts to AS/400-defined printers on your Windows desktops without installing any additional software. IBM did a pretty good job with this page and you can get most of your AS/400 NetServer-specific answers here.
• Client Access OLE DB Support home page: www.as400.ibm.com/clientaccess/oledb. This is IBM's site for helping you build Windows applications that use Microsoft's OLE protocol to interface with your AS/400.
• Client Access Express Toolkit home page: www.as400. ibm.com/clientaccess/toolkit. This page explores how to use the new Express Client Toolkit (which incorporates the IBM AS/400 SDK for ActiveX and OLE DB that comes with the Windows 95/NT client) to use APIs; incorporate security functions into client/server applications; build PC plug-ins; and program Windows programs that access the AS/400 through C/C++, Delphi, LotusScript, PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, and Visual Basic Script (VBScript).
• AS/400 Operations Navigator home page: www.as400. ibm.com/oper_nav. This page is IBM's resource for disseminating OpsNav information including overviews, FAQs, determining what features are in what OpsNav version, workshops, plug-in support, APARs, and articles.
• AS/400 Online Library site: publib.boulder.ibm.com/pubs/ html/as400/online/homeeng1.htm. This Web site is a one-stop shopping source for finding AS/400 documentation online. From this site, you can find most AS/400 manuals by OS/400 version number (from V3R2 to V4R4), Domino for AS/400 online documentation, and a link to the IBM Redbooks home page at www.redbooks.ibm.com. If you need AS/400 documentation, this is the place to go.
• Client Access Product Packaging and Year 2000 Readiness site: www.as400.ibm.com/clientaccess/cay2k.htm. This site has all the latest information on the Y2K readiness of the Client Access family of products. This site also contains links to the IBM AS/400 Year 2000 Web site (www.as400.ibm. com/developer/year2000), the Year 2000 Product Readiness Web page (http://wwwyr2k.raleigh.ibm.com/) and APAR II11730 (the APAR version of Client Access Y2K site).
• IBM Printing Systems home page: www.printers.ibm.com. On this site, you'll find all the information you ever wanted to know about IBM printers including drivers, FAQs, parts, information about older printers, and service and installation information.
• Partners in Development AS/400 PC Client/Server Programming Web page: www.as400.ibm.com/developer/ client/index.html. This page has a lot of good language- specific information on how to program client/server applications including ODBC vs. API info, ODBC client/server programming, links to vendor sites that offer ODBC solutions, performance tuning of your client/server applications, database migration to DB2/400 and replication, and how to use stored procedures and triggers.
Although I've only listed 11 valuable AS/400 networking sites, remember that there are many more out there, including other vendor- and user-specific sites. If you know of any other sites that offer good, solid AS/400 networking solution-based information (not marketing propaganda), drop me an email at
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