DB2 Express-C Team Blog

Data Studio is a free database administration and SQL/XQuery development tool for IBM DB2. Data Studio Standalone is the core release, while Data Studio IDE adds the ability to develop Java stored procedures and web services.

Getting Started with Data Studio for DB2 is a free e-book that helps you learn the tool at your own pace. It is now available in Deutsch as Einstieg in IBM Data Studio für DB2.

• DB2 Express-C - Free database server
• Data Studio Standalone - Free admin tool
• Free book: Get Started with DB2 Express-C
• Free book: Get Started with Data Studio for DB2

Cheers,

Leons Petrazickis
DB2 Express-C Community Team

There's an upcoming DB2 Chat with the Lab on Thursday May 27:

Leveraging Spatial Capabilities in your Database

Date: Thursday May 27, 2010
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern (GMT-04:00)
10:30 AM Central / 8:30 AM Pacific / 16:30 hrs London / 17:30 hrs Frankfurt, Paris / India 9PM
Presented By: Sal Vella (IBM), David Adler (IBM)

This chat introduces the spatial capabilities of IBM relational databases, focusing on the DB2 LUW Spatial Extender. Much of the business data that we work with has a spatial characteristic, such as customer or office locations, sales regions, hazard polygons or facilities such as utility lines and highways. By representing this spatial information in a relational table as spatial datatypes, SQL queries can incorporate spatial functions to perform spatial analysis in the database. Business value is derived by being able to answer questions like:

• Where are customers who may be interested in buying flood insurance?
• What are the patterns of high crime activity?
• Should a new service center be constructed to support new customers?
• Where are preferred service providers along a route I plan to take?

DB2 with the Spatial Extender is used to answer these questions.

• Register for the chat
• Get the charts

Cheers,

Leons Petrazickis
DB2 Express-C Community Team

The International DB2 User Group (IDUG) is running the Do You DB2? contest through June 15, 2010. Prizes include WiFi-enabled Vizio HDTV and Apple iPad.

To enter, go to the contest site and submit a short piece about any of the following topics:

• Your stories about how just how easy to use you find DB2.
• Your experience with one or more SQL compatibility features in DB2 9.7
• Comparison of specific features of DB2 and other database vendors (such as data compression, XML data storage, security, autonomics etc.)
• Your experience with the performance, scalability or high availability of DB2.
• Your assessment of cost or risk of migrating from another database vendor to DB2.
• Your past or current experience with the DB2 maintenance and support given by IBM.
• Your accounts of how you’ve been a hero in evangelizing DB2 at your workplace. The proof points you’ve used and how you’ve gone about convincing senior management that DB2 is the right choice.
• Your stories about how you were able to gain from DB2’s worldwide community, forums, events or education.

Submissions are rated based on originality, persuasiveness, and inclusion of quantitative metrics.

Cheers,

Leons Petrazickis
DB2 Express-C Community Team

You've downloaded DB2 Express-C and Data Studio but are having trouble getting started. There's a couple free books to help with that:

• Getting Started with DB2 Express-C
• Getting Started with Data Studio for DB2

The books have a companion video series:

• DB2 on Campus videos

For finer points, there's a comprehensive online reference:

• DB2 9.7 Info Center

Suppose you wanted to ask a few questions. There's a few places you could do that. The most important one is the online discussion board:

• DB2 Express-C community forum

Interestingly, the ChannelDB2 social network hosts user groups in addition to many DB2-related videos, so it may also be a place to find friendly DB2 experts.

Cheers,

Leons Petrazickis
DB2 Express-C Community Team