deebeetwo@yahoo.com (DB_2) wrote in message news:<9b5110a1.0406101737.7e9b5666@posting.google. com>...
> Hello,
>
> I am fairly familiar with Oracle and need to move to DB2 for an
> application within the next few weeks. I have taken a quick look at
> IBM's site and documentation and it looks fairly similar to Oracle in
> its features. I have a few questions that might seem trivial but
> would help a newbie navigate this transition:
>
> 1) Firts off, is there a recommended book(s)? I have gone through
> Amazon, and from what I can gather, the books are either outdated
> (versions 6, 7, etc.) and/or not recommended by the reviewers? Would
> the best place be IBM's own product documentation?

I am fairly new too, just moved in from being an Oracle DBA. I found
a redbook on Oracle to DB2 conversion. It has a lot of good info
you'll want to read. There are DB2 DBA certification books for
Unix/Linux...but they are fairly liight in details. Also, check out
the DB2 cookbook at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...l/HTM_COOK.HTM


>
> 2) What version is recommended? The latest version 8.1, an earlier
> version, or perhaps the new Stinger version?
>

8.1 fp 5... Note, you may run into a bug that causes db server
crashing if you have v7 clients attaching.

> 3) Given that DB2 is "universal" and it runs, well, pretty much
> anywhere, from PC's to Unix/Linux and to mainframes, how does one
> establish connectivity to a DB2 server in a platform-independent
> fashion as in ODBC? Or would this be customized for each platform?
>

not sure what you are asking for here...

> 4) I have seen a few book titles that specifically say something like
> "DB2 for Windows/Unix". I am confused by this. As far as Oracle
> goes, for instance, I can write the same SQL or PL/SQL code, and I
> would be confident that it would run on all platforms that Oracle
> supports. Is this not the case with DB2, meaning that DB2
> functionality changes from platform to platform? Or does this have to
> do mainly with admin tasks?
>

From what I've seen...it depends. If you write SQL procedures and
functions...they will work. But I am not so sure about C, Java, etc.

Hope this helps...

Chet West
http://www.OracleTricks.com