Improved Gateway Available for Client/Server Access to DB2
Based on positive results from an evaluation made jointly by the Computing Facilities Branch (CFB) and users of the NIH Computer Center, CFB has decided to procure and support Neon Inc.'s Shadow Direct as a production facility for client/ server access to DB2.
Shadow Direct is a robust product that offers a number of advantages over the currently supported Sybase Net-Gateway to DB2, which CFB ultimately plans to stop supporting. In its place, CFB plans to support Neon's Shadow Direct and to continue support for Oracle's Transparent Gateway for client/server access to DB2.
Shadow Direct supports Windows (16- and 32-bit), Macintosh, and Unix clients. Client connectivity to Shadow Direct is based on the TCP/IP network protocol and the open database connectivity (ODBC) standard; CFB supplies the Shadow Direct ODBC client software at no cost to the user. ODBC-capable client products include Borland's Delphi; Microsoft's Access, Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic; PowerSoft's PowerBuilder; and many others. Shadow Direct provides a capability for writing stored procedures on the MVS host. These stored procedures can be invoked via remote procedure calls (RPCs) issued from client applications. Stored procedures can provide easy client access not only to DB2 data, but also to other types of MVS data, including data stored in IMS, VSAM files, and flat files.
If you are currently using, supporting, or developing client/server applications that use the Sybase Net-Gateway to DB2, you should begin to reconfigure your clients and modify client applications in order to use Shadow Direct.
CFB would like to hear from users running Shadow Direct. To provide feedback on Shadow Direct—or for information on obtaining the Shadow Direct ODBC client software and configuring your client to use Shadow Direct—call CFB's Database Technologies Unit at 301-496-9158 or send mail to M5U@CU.NIH.GOV.
Interface 196 (June 15, 1996)