To use SQL to develop robust applications in an IDMS environment, you must have the CA IDMS SQL Option installed. Most sites also install the CA IDMS Server Option, though it is possible to do without this by issuing TCP/IP commands directly from programs instead.
There's also another option for doing a Proof Of Concept (PoC) project, that you may not be aware of. With the IDMS base product you automatically get a subset of the SQL option & the Server option, which permit two simultaneous users to use the products. This is called the SQL Web Connect. In the IDMS documentation set (which you can download from the Support site), there's a manual called "How to Use SQL Web Connect". If you want to get started on a trial project without waiting for the licensing discussion to resolve, you can explore that.
In terms of other documentation, there are several options that may be helpful:
1- The CA IDMS SQL Reference has syntax for specific commands. It also has a great chapter called "Accessing Non-SQL-Defined Databases" which walks you through the basics. For "newbies" that is probably the best place to start.
2- The CA IDMS SQL Self-Training Guide is good programmers and developers who are new to SQL.
3- There's a class on the CA Education site called "SQL and Web Connectivity for IDMS & Datacom". It's a web-based training which is available for a fee, and can be found here:
https://rod.sumtotalsystems.com/ca/core/activitydetails/ViewActivityDetails/364772?actId=364772&UserMode=0&Task=&InvoiceId=&UserAction=&CallerURL=/ca/learner/home%3FsearchText%3D
4- There are a number of knowledge documents available on our CA Support Online site, that relate to various aspects of using SQL with IDMS. You'll find a bunch of them if you:
a- go to the CA IDMS Product page,
b- search on SQL,
c- then in the "Content Type" pull-down menu, choose "Knowledge Base Articles." There are 143 of them, so some are too specific or unrelated to what you're interested in, but you can browse them or use additional keywords to narrow the search to some that may be helpful.
d- Some specific ones you may find helpful are:
TEC597925 - How to install the SQL Web Connect feature (which I mentioned above)
TEC588877 - When to run the CONVERT CATALOG utility - you may or may not need this...
FAQ360175 - What is an Access Module?
TEC1351483 - Connecting to a mainframe from a PC using IDMS Server
TEC477873 - How to interpret the results of an EXPLAIN statement
5- If you follow the steps above for a knowledge search, but then choose "Recommended Reading" in the "Content Type" pull-down menu, you'll see a link to "CA IDMS Webcast Replays". On that page if you scroll down you'll see this: "CA IDMS Modernization Series: An Overview of CA IDMS SQL Routines" which is a series of three videos, each about an hour long. The first of these three may be helpful as a starting point even if you don’t plan to use procedures at all, or if you're not certain you'll need them.
6- You may also find some helpful discussions on the CA IDMS IUA Community site:
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