Learn to efficiently use Universal Database (UDB) functions provided by the AS/400 database using the suggestions, guidelines, and examples in this IBM Redbooks publication.This book is intended for programmers, analysts, and database administrators. It specifically focuses on the need to take the database applications beyond traditional numeric and character data to images, video, voice, and complex documents. By reading this book, you gain a broad understanding of DB2 UDB for AS/400 implementation that you can use for building a new generation of multimedia and Web-enabled database applications.

This book contains information that you may not find anywhere else and includes detailed coverage of the following topics:

- Large objects support

- LOB locators and LOB file reference variable processing

- User Defined Types (UDTs)

- User Defined Functions (UDFs)

- DataLinks

It also documents how the Universal Database enhancements support the object-oriented paradigms of data encapsulation and function overloading.

This book reports a wide range of code examples developed in several programming languages (SQL, C, Java) using different interfaces (JDBC, CLI). Prior to reading this book, you should be familiar with SQL and object-oriented programming concepts.

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Large object support in DB2 UDB for AS/400

Chapter 3. User-defined Distinct Types (UDTs)

Chapter 4. User Defined Functions (UDFs)

Chapter 5. Programming alternatives for complex objects

Chapter 6. DataLinks

Appendix A. Source code listings