AS400 Glossary

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AS400 is the common way most people write AS/400 on the Internet. In keeping with this practice we have decided to use
AS400 as the standard spelling in this glossary.

A AIX AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive) is the proprietary operating system that runs an AS400.
AIX was developed by IBM and is based on UNIX System V. See: System i operating system
(OS).
Apache Apache is a free/open web server developed by the Apache Software Foundation that enables
easy access to Net.Data , JSP , PHP, or CGI programs written in just about any programming
language (C, Java, Perl, Python, SVG, Tcl and other programming languages). The iSeries,
previously known as AS400, supports a fully functional Apache 2 web server. More...
API The Windows API, known as WinAPI, is the name given by Microsoft to the core set of
application programming interfaces available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. API
may be used on AS400 as a source code interface. More... See: Open database connectivity
(ODBC).
Application See: AS400.
System/400
AS400 (AS/400) The AS400, also known as System i, iSeries, AS/400 and Application System/400 but still
commonly known as AS400 is an IBM mid-range server designed for small enterprises or large
business departments . Today, AS400 machines serve Web applications over distributed
networks. Produced in 1988, the first AS400 server known as iSeries, AS/400, and Application
System/400,but in 2000, it was renamed the eServer iSeries as part of IBM's e-Server branding
initiative. Now with the global move of the server and storage brands to the System brand with
the Systems Agenda, the family has been renamed, once more to System i The AS/400 uses the
PowerPC microprocessor with its reduced instruction set computer technology. The operating
systems supported are multiple instances of AIX, Linux, Lotus Domino, Microsoft Windows 2000
and Windows Server 2003 . The operating systems supported (and commonly used) under the
LPAR scheme are OS/400, AIX, Linux and Lotus Domino. AS/400 servers compete with Wintel
and Unix servers. In 2006 , with the POWER5-based members of the series were called the
System i5. More...
AS400 CL The AS400 CL (control language) is a scripting language resembling JCL that consists of an ever
(control expanding set of command objects (*CMD) used to invoke traditional AS/400 programs (and their
language) help files). AS400 CL can also be used to create ( shell scripts to execute program-like
functionality such as GOTO, IF/ELSE, variable declaration, file input, etc. The vast majority of
AS400 commands were written by IBM developers to perform system level tasks like compiling
programs, backing up data, changing system configurations, displaying system object details, or
deleting them. Commands are not limited to systems level concerns and may be drafted for user
applications as well. More
AS400 database The AS400 database is the structured collection of records or data on AS400 include an
integrated DB2 database management system .
AS400e Server AS400e Server is an IBM branding initiative for the AS400 server.
AS400 emulation Software feature that enables a non-AS400 client device to function as an AS400 client device.
See: Emulation.
AS400 emulator Software feature that enables a non- AS400 client to function as an AS400 device. See:
Emulator.
AS400 keyboard AS400 input device that features 122 keys and includes 36 keystroke functions unique to AS400.
The special functions for IBM 5250 emulation, used on AS400, require additional keys on a
standard keyboard. Some AS400 keyboard brands do not require drivers.
AS400 keyboard Keyboard Driver that supports AS400 input. See Keyboard Driver.
driver
AS400 libraries A library (*LIB) on the AS400, representing an object that is used as a system directory to keep

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 track of other objects. (It is also keeps track of PTFs in AS400 system libraries.) objects are not
actually stored in libraries. They are simply namespaces that make reference to an object as
being "in" or "stored in" a library. More
AS400 object The AS400 is an object-oriented system, whereby storage is allocated on the basis of object
type, along with a defined set of programs that will act upon that object. AS400 supports Java
and C++ , but these objects cannot be inherited like the classes in those languages. More
AS400 AS400 programming requires coding with, among others, the following programming languages:
Programming C, C++, Pascal, Java, Smalltalk, RPG, COBOL, Basic, PHP, PL/1, CL, DDS, REXX and SQL .
Several CASE tools available for AS400 are: AllFusion Plex, Synon , AS/SET, LANSA, ProGen
Plus and Magic EDeveloper. More
AS400 Report RPG (Report Program Generator) is a programming language that originated as a report-building
Program program used in DEC and IBM minicomputer operating systems and evolved into a fully
Generator (RPG) procedural programming language. Its latest version, RPG IV, is supported by IBM's leading
minicomputer system, the AS400. More
AS400 software AS400 Software is software either purchased or free down-loaded, for utilities, applications,
shareware, links and games, that are executable on AS400.
AS400 SQL An SQL server with access to AS400.
server
AS400 thin client A thin client which supports access to AS400.
AS/400 AS/400 is IBMs official spelling of AS400. See AS400.
AS/400 CL See: AS400 CL (control language).
(control
language)
AS/400 database See: AS400 database.
AS/400 emulation See: AS400 emulation.
AS/400 emulator See: AS400 emulator.
AS/400 keyboard See: AS400 keyboard.
AS/400 keyboard See: AS400 keyboard driver.
driver
AS/400 libraries See: AS400.
AS/400 object See: AS400 object.
AS/400 See: AS400 Programming.
Programming
AS/400 Report See: AS400 Report Program Generator (RPG).
Program
Generator (RPG)
AS/400 software See: AS400 software.
AS/400 SQL See: AS400 SQL server.
server
AS/400 thin client See: AS400 Thin client.
B BladeCenter The IBM BladeCenter is IBM's blade server architecture, which may be integrated with in AS400.
More See: System i operating system (OS).
Blade servers Blade servers are self-contained computer servers , designed for high density. Whereas a
standard rack-mount server can exist with (at least) a power cord and network cable, blade
servers have many components removed for space, power and other considerations while still
having all the functional components to be considered a computer . A blade enclosure provides
services such as power, cooling, networking, various interconnects and management. Blade
servers may be used with AS400. More See: System i operating system (OS).
C CASE tools Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) is the employment of software tools (known as
CASE tools) to assist in the development and maintenance of software. More See: AS400
Programming.
CICS CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a transaction server that runs primarily on IBM
mainframe systems used on earlier AS400 models. They have been replaced by RISC.

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 CMS A content management system (CMS) is a computer software system used to assist its users in
the process of content management . CMS facilitates the organization, control, and publication of
a large body of documents and other content, such as images and multimedia resources. More...
COBOL COBOL is one of the oldest programming languages still in active use. Its name is an acronym
for COmmon Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business , finance, and
administrative systems for companies and governments. AS400 supports COBOL. See: AS400
Programming.
D Data mining Data mining is sorting through data to identify patterns and establish relationships. The AS400
can be a repository for large amounts of company data to which data mining could be applied.
More
DB2 DB2 is IBM 's line of relational database management systems (RDBMS) (or, as IBM now calls it,
data server) software products within IBM's broader Information Management software line. DB2
is used in AS400. More
Domino Domino is the name of the applications and messaging server program for the Lotus
Corporation's Lotus Notes. Domino name to refer to a set of Notes server applications. Notes
itself refers to the overall product. One widely-installed option for AS400 is Domino (Lotus Notes
with a Web browser). More...
Driver A driver is a specialized hardware-dependent computer program , which is also operating system
specific, that enables another program, typically an operating system or applications software
package , to interact transparently with the given device. See: Keyboard Driver and AS400
Keyboard driver.
E e commerce e-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the
Internet, especially the World Wide Web. Equipped with a Web server and applications designed
to support e-commerce (taking orders, tracking orders, providing service to customers, working
with partners and suppliers) the AS400 can handle Internet serving for a moderate-size company.
More...
Emulation Emulation means imitation of another program or device. Emulation enables connection of host
software to a non-standard or alternative device. MoreSee: AS400 Emulation.
Emulator A software emulator allows computer programs to run on a platform ( computer architecture
and/or operating system) other than the one for which they were originally written. More See:
AS400 Emulator.
e server e server is an IBM iSeries Performance Management Tool for AS400.
F Firewall A firewall is a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server , which protects the
resources of a private network from users from other networks. Equipped with a Web server and
applications designed with firewall capabilities, the AS400 can handle Internet serving for a
moderate-size company. More...
5250 IBM 5250, originally, was a particular model of a terminal device sold with the IBM System/34
minicomputer system. The term "5250" however, now refers to the content of the data stream
itself.Today, it is more common to use PC or web-based terminal emulation packages that can
interpret and display 5250 data streams. One commonly-used emulator is IBM's own iSeries
Access. The special functions of 5250 require additional keys on the keyboard. More See:
AS400 keyboard.
I IP telephony IP telephony is the technology that enables transmission of voice communication over data
networks using Internet Protocol (IP). AS400 input/output can be transmitted over an IP protocol.
iSeries See: AS400.
i5 IBM System i5 is an option package for AS400 intended to reduce complexity and maximize
business value. Each System i5 Edition incorporates a set of software licensing and hardware
features designed to help meet the particular demands of a small, medium or large enterprise.
For instance, in this multi-System i5 environment, generally an i5 High Availability system would
be linked to an i5 system Enterprise Edition based on processor performance (CPW).
i5OS i5/OS is the name IBM has given to its newest release of OS/400 V5R3. i5/OS runs on IBM's i5
servers, which are powered by IBM's POWER5 microprocessors. More
J Java Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in the early
1990s .Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode . Java is a programming language
expressly designed for use in the distributed environment of the Internet. The iSeries fully

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 supports the Java language, including a 64-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is implemented
below the Operating System layer, closer to the hardware for superior performance. With i5/OS
V5R4 there is now a 32-bit JVM that is also supported. More... See: AS400 Programming.
JDBC JDBC is an API for the Java programming language that defines how a client may access a
database . It provides methods for querying and updating data in a database. JDBC is oriented
towards relational databases . The later generations of the AS400 - the iSeries and System i
servers - also support common client-server-based technologies such as ODBC and JDBC for
accessing its database from client-based software, created with languages such as Java,
Microsoft.NET languages and others. More See: Open database connectivity (ODBC).
K Kerberos Kerberos is a secure method for authenticating a request for a service in a computer network.
AS400 supports a single sign-on across any Kerberos-compatible system. More...
Keyboard driver A keyboard driver is a program which enables the operating system to interact with the keyboard.
AS400 requires additional emulation keyboard functions that are unique to AS400.
L Launcher/400 Launcher/400 Office is an iSeries (AS400) resident API that automates data capture from existing
Office applications for transformation into a variety of formats including WORD, EXCEL, HTML, and
PDF. Launcher/400 Office is a programming interface dedicated to RPG, COBOL and CL
developers. Launcher/400 Office provides the ability to format, display, distribute via fax or email,
or archive AS400 reports.
Launcher/400 Launcher/400 SQL is a programming interface (API) for the AS400 languages, in ILE and non
SQL ILE mode.
With Launcher/400 SQL data from native AS400 programs can be read from or written to external
databases.
Linux operating Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system family. Linux is one of the most prominent
system examples of free software and of open source development; its underlying source code is
available for anyone to use, modify, and redistribute freely. More
Lotus Domino See: Domino
Logical In IBM mainframe computing and enterprise storage, a logical partition, commonly called logical
partitioning partitioning (Logical PARtitioning) or LPAR, is a virtualized computing environment abstracted
(LPAR) from all physical devices. LPARs safely combine multiple test, development, quality assurance,
and production work on the same system, offering several advantages such as lower costs and
faster deployment. IBM mainframe LPARs are Common Criteria EAL5 certifiable, equivalent to
physically separate servers with no connections. Nearly all IBM mainframes run with multiple
LPARs. LPARs, with varying technical specifications, are included in certain products, including
iSeries (AS400) servers. More
Lotus Notes Lotus Notes is a sophisticated groupware application from the Lotus Corporation, a subsidiary of
IBM. Lotus Notes lets an enterprise develop communication and database-oriented applications
to enable users share files remotely, add comments and keep track of documents such as
development schedules, work projects, guidelines & procedures, plans, white papers, and many
others including multimedia files. More... AS400 supports Lotus Notes. See: Domino.
M Mid-range server Mid-range servers consist of the platform hardware and operating system that together support
the operating environment for applications and databases that serve a smaller group of users.
O Object In the programming paradigm, object-oriented programming, an object is an individual unit of run-
time data storage that is used as the basic building block of programs. These objects act on each
other, as opposed to a traditional view in which a program may be seen as a collection of
functions, or simply as a list of instructions to the computer. Each object is capable of receiving
messages, processing data, and sending messages to other objects. Each object can be viewed
as an independent little machine or actor with a distinct role or responsibility. More See: AS400
object.
ODBC AS400 AS400 with Open database connectivity (ODBC). See:Open database connectivity (ODBC).
ODBC iSeries See: ODBC AS400.
OfficeVision OfficeVision is an IBM proprietary office support application that runs on IBM's VM operating
system and its user interface CMS. Other platform versions were available, OV/MVS and OV/400
among them, but were not popular and was converted and replaced by Domino.)
Open database Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) provides a standard software API method for using
connectivity database management systems (DBMS). The later generations of the AS400 - the iSeries and

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 (ODBC) System i servers - support common client-server-based technologies such as ODBC and JDBC
for accessing its database from client-based software, created with languages such as Java,
Microsoft .NET languages and others. More
Oracle Oracle Corporation is a company developing database management systems (DBMS), tools for
database development, middle-tier software (Fusion Middleware), enterprise resource planning
software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain
management (SCM) software. Oracle software may be used with AS400. More...
OS/400 OS/400, later renamed i5OS, is IBM's operating system for its AS400 line of business computers.
See: i5OS.
P Partition In AS400 hardware, management across all partitions is from a single device. (Logical
PARtitioning), a feature introduced from IBM's mainframe computers, facilitates running multiple
operating systems simultaneously on one AS400 unit. A system setup with LPAR can even run
different operating systems on different partitions while ensuring that one OS cannot run over the
memory or resources of another. Each LPAR is given a portion of system resources (memory,
hard disk space, and CPU time) via a system of weights that determines where unused
resources are allocated at any given time. More
Performance IBM Performance Management for System i5 (PM for System i5) provides critical information on
Management system's current utilization characteristics. PM for System i5 is used in AS400.
System for
System i5
PHP PHP stands for Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is an open source scripting language that is
designed for Web application development and enables very simple scripting. PHP may be used
as a method of serving web pages on AS400. More
POWER4 The POWER4 chip is a CPU that implements the 64-bit PowerPC instruction set architecture.
POWER4 is used as a CPU in several models of AS400. More
POWER5 POWER5 is a microprocessor developed by IBM . It is a variant of the POWER4. AS400's with
the POWER5> are called System i5. More See: System i5.
PowerPC PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 AppleIBMMotorola
alliance, known as AIM. PowerPC microprocessors and architecture are implemented on AS400
computers.
PTF An IBM program temporary fix (PTF) is a temporary solution to a bug in an IBM software product
that is made available for customers to install. PTF is used to implement an IBM sanctioned
patch in AS400. More See: AS400 libraries.
R RISC RISC OS, which stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computing Operating System, is a graphical
user interface-based operating system for ARM-processor based computers or similar devices.
RISC is incorporated in the POWER microprocessors used in AS400. See: PowerPC
RPG RPG is a programming language for business applications. Originally an initialism for Report
Program Generator, it officially no longer stands for anything. Its latest incarnation is RPG IV (aka
ILE RPG) on IBM 's System i Servers (AS400). More See: AS400 Programming.
S 64-bit processor A 64-bit processor is a microprocessor with a word size of 64 bits, a requirement for memory and
data intensive applications such as computer-aided design (CAD) applications, database
management systems, technical and scientific applications, and high-performance servers. 64-bit
computer architecture provides higher performance than 32-bit architecture by handling twice as
many bits of information in the same clock cycle. The S/38 used 48-bit addressing. This was
expanded to 64 bits with the original release of the AS400. A number of processors do operate
on 128-bit data. Most modern CPUs such as the Pentium and PowerPC have 128-bit vector
registers used to store several smaller numbers, such as 4 32-bit floating-point numbers. A single
instruction can operate on all these values in parallel (SIMD). They are 128-bit processors in the
sense that they have 128-bit registers and in some cases a 128-bit ALU, but they do not operate
on individual numbers that are 128 binary digits in length. More
Software Software, consisting of programs , enables a computer to perform specific tasks, as opposed to
the physical components of the system (hardware). See: AS400 Software.
SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) produced by
Microsoft . Its primary query language is Transact-SQL, an implementation of the ANSI/ISO
standard Structured Query Language ( SQL ) used by both Microsoft and Sybase. SQL Server is

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 commonly used by businesses for small-to-medium sized databases, but the past five years have
seen greater adoption of the product for larger enterprise databases. AS400 clients are
compatible with SQL servers and SQL data. More
Structured query SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a (semi) platform independent way of accessing
language (SQL) databases which may be used to create, retrieve, update and delete data from relational
database management systems in AS400. See: AS400 Programming.
System i See: AS400.
System i5 System i5 is System i, previously known as AS400, with POWER5.
System i With the IBM Virtualization Engine, the System i, previously known as AS400, family runs
operating system multiple operating systems environments simultaneously - including Linux on POWER and Linux
(OS) on System i integration with BladeCenter and System x - as well as IBM i5/OS, IBM AIX 5L, and
Microsoft Windows via System i integration with BladeCenter and System x.
System x IBM System x is a server for Windows and Linux which can be integrated for use with AS400
clients.
T Thin client
T A thin client which provides access to iSeries.
iSeries
V Virtual machine In computer science, a virtual machine (VM) is software that creates a virtualized environment
(VM) between the computer platform and its operating system, so that the end user can operate
software on an abstract machine. More...
W Windows API See API.
Windows 95 An Emulator of Windows 95 available with AS400. See: Emulator.
emulator
Windows 98 An Emulator of Windows 98 available with AS400. See: Emulator.
emulator
Windows 2000 An Emulator of Windows 2000 available with AS400. See: Emulator.
emulator
Windows Me An Emulator of Windows Me available with AS400. See: Emulator.
emulator
Windows NT An Emulator of Windows NT available with AS400. See: Emulator.
emulator
Windows XP An Emulator of Windows XP available with AS400.
emulator
Windows Vista An Emulator of Windows Vista available with AS400. See: Emulator.
emulator
X X window system The X Window System (commonly X11 or X) is a networking and display protocol which provides
windowing on bitmap displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user
interfaces (GUIs) on Unix, Unix-like operating systems, and OpenVMS, and is supported by
almost all other modern operating systems. X window system is used on AS400. More

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