Auto-Generating DBC Files

In the ongoing effort to use cool and interesting tools for application and database updating it has been very nice to see the geninsertdbc.bat tool put into practical use. Harnessing these tools to create DBC files can be very advantageous if you are still getting all the available commands and syntax down to master them. So, let’s look at a scenario where I needed to update a Maximo automation script.

The required solution is to update a pre-existing automation script with new code for the source field in the autoscript table as well as update the scriptlanguage field. The caveat is that the script language (python) requires proper formatting to execute correctly. In the first attempt I tried to update the automation script via a freeform insert in the DBC’s statements section using SQL line breaks and indentation syntax.

While this did achieve the outward appearance that I wanted Maximo was not “sold” on the line spacing and indentation of the ( CHAR(13) or CHAR(9) ) SQL syntax and the automation script would not run after the server(s) were restarted.

Now, to get to the fun part. An alternate method was suggested on how to get this information into Maximo via the geninsertdbc.bat tool. IBM has tools available that can auto generate DBC files based on parameters that you give the output tool at the command prompt. I reset the automation script’s source code with the python source code that was previously working, and I opened an administrative command prompt then navigated to the ..\maximo\tools\maximo\internal directory under the Maximo installation folders.

I ran the following command: C:\IBM\SMP\maximo\tools\maximo\internal>geninsertdbc.bat -tautoscript -w"autoscript = 'ITEMDELETION'" -ftest2 -ca3jgroup

To break this down lets look at the parameters given for the command.

-t: will pull from the table

-w: will specify a where clause

-f: will name the output file

-c: will point the file to a directory of your choosing

After the geninsertdbc.bat tool is run there will be an output file created which will look similar to this.

In this file we have the column information extracted from the database and formatted in the XML layout of a DBC file ready to be either edited or re-added to Maximo via the runscriptfile.bat command. What I was able to use from this file was the character string that the geninsertdbc.bat placed around the source string (
) which is the character string that allows for spacing and line breaks while inserting into databases via the DBC file method.

I then took this info and created a DBC file that would update as opposed to insert into the database. The source COLUMNVALUE took some effort to get the correct spacing and breaks in place, but when you run the script and restart the server(s) your automation script will run without any further efforts.

This really is just a scratch of the surface of what you can do with auto generating DBC files. Further uses can only truly be explored/acknowledged by trying this method on other tables to see the results that may come from it and applying the built-in functionality detailed in files like the script.dtd file for manipulating the data to be added/changed.

An outstanding source for learning about DBC files is located on this IBM Developer Works page. I encourage anyone interested in this to go through this content and then try to apply it to your day to day tasks.