Connect to AS400 using .NET

Question

I am trying to build a .NET web application using SQL to query AS400 database. This is my first time encountering the AS400.

What do I have to install on my machine

Answer 1

As mentioned in other answers, if you have the IBM i Access client already installed, you can use the IBM.Data.DB2.iSeries package.

If you don't have the IBM i Access software, you can leverage JTOpen and use the Java drivers. You'll need the nuget package JT400.78 which will pull in the IKVM Runtime.

In my case I needed to query a DB2 database on an AS400 and output a DataTable. I found several hints and small snippets of code but nothing comprehensive so I wanted to share what I was able to build up in case it helps someone else:

using com.ibm.as400.access;
using java.sql;

var sql = "SELECT * FROM FOO WITH UR";

DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.ibm.as400.access.AS400JDBCDriver());
Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(
    "jdbc:as400:" + ServerName + ";prompt=false", UserName, Password);

Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql);
ResultSetMetaData md = rs.getMetaData();
int ct = md.getColumnCount();

DataTable dt = new DataTable();
for(int i=1; i<=ct; i++)
    dt.Columns.Add(md.getColumnName(i));

while (rs.next())
{
    var dr = dt.NewRow();
    for (int i = 1; i <= ct; i++)
        dr[i - 1] = rs.getObject(i);
    dt.Rows.Add(dr);
}
rs.close();

The conversion from RecordSet to DataTable is a little clunky and gave me bad flashbacks to my VBScript days. Performance likely isn't blinding fast, but it works.