Administration Guide

DB2 Books

The table in this section lists the DB2 books. They are divided into two groups:

Cross-platform books

These books contain the common DB2 information for UNIX-based and Intel-based platforms.

Platform-specific books

These books are for DB2 on a specific platform. For example, for DB2 on OS/2, on Windows NT, and on the UNIX-based platforms, there are separate Quick Beginnings books.

Most books are available in HTML and PostScript format, and in hardcopy that you can order from IBM. The exceptions are noted in the table.

If you want to read the English version of the books, they are always provided in the directory that contains the English documentation.

You can obtain DB2 books and access information in a variety of different ways:

View

See "Viewing Online Books".

Search

See "Searching Online Books".

Print

See "Printing the PostScript Books".

Order

See "Ordering the Printed DB2 Books".

Notes:

1. The character in the sixth position of the file name indicates the language of a book. For example, the file name db2d0e50 indicates that the Administration Guide is in English. The following letters are used in the file names to indicate the language of a book:
   

   Language	Identifier	Language	Identifier
   Brazilian Portuguese	B	Japanese	J
   Bulgarian	U	Korean	K
   Czech	X	Norwegian	N
   Danish	D	Polish	P
   English	E	Russian	R
   Finnish	Y	Simp. Chinese	C
   French	F	Slovenia	L
   German	G	Spanish	Z
   Greek	A	Swedish	S
   Hungarian	H	Trad. Chinese	T
   Italian	I	Turkish	M

2. For late breaking information that could not be included in the DB2 books:

   • On UNIX-based platforms, see the Release.Notes file. This file is located in the DB2DIR/Readme/%L directory, where %L is the locale name and DB2DIR is:
     • /usr/lpp/db2_05_00 on AIX
     • /opt/IBMdb2/V5.0 on HP-UX, Solaris, SCO UnixWare 7, and SGI.

   • On other platforms, see the RELEASE.TXT file. This file is located in the directory where the product is installed.

Viewing Online Books

The manuals included with this product are in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) softcopy format. Softcopy format enables you to search or browse the information, and provides hypertext links to related information. It also makes it easier to share the library across your site.

You can use any HTML Version 3.2-compliant browser to view the online books.

To view online books:

• If you are running DB2 administration tools, use the Information Center. See "Information Center" for details.

• Use the open file function of your Web browser. The page you open contains descriptions of and links to DB2 books:

  • On UNIX-based platforms, open the following page:

       file:/INSTHOME/sqllib/doc/%L/html/index.htm
    

    where %L is the locale name.

  • On other platforms, open the following page:

       sqllib\doc\html\index.htm
    

    The path is located on the drive where DB2 is installed.

    You can also open the page by double-clicking on the DB2 Online Books icon. Depending on the system you are using, the icon is in the main product folder or the Windows Start menu.

    Note:

    The DB2 Online Books icon is only available if you do not install the Information Center.

Setting up a Document Server

By default the DB2 information is installed on your local system. This means that each person who needs access to the DB2 information must install the same files. To have the DB2 information stored in a single location, use the following instructions:

1. Copy all files and sub-directories from \sqllib\doc\html on your local system to a web server. Each book has its own sub-directory containing all the necessary HTML and GIF files that make up the book. Ensure that the directory structure remains the same.

2. Configure the web server to look for the files in the new location. For information, see Setting up DB2 Online Documentation on a Web Server at:

      http://www.software.ibm.com/data/pubs/papers/db2html.html
   

3. If you are using the Java version of the Information Center, you can specify a base URL for all HTML files. You should use the URL for the list of books.

4. Once you are able to view the book files, you should bookmark commonly viewed topics such as:
   • List of books
   • Tables of contents of frequently used books
   • Frequently referenced articles like the ALTER TABLE topic
   • Search form.

For information about setting up a search, see the What's New book.

Searching Online Books

To search for information in the HTML books, you can do the following:

• Click on Search the DB2 Books at the bottom of any page in the HTML books. Use the search form to find a specific topic.

• Click on Index at the bottom of any page in an HTML book. Use the Index to find a specific topic in the book.

• Display the Table of Contents or Index of the HTML book, and then use the find function of the Web browser to find a specific topic in the book.

• Use the bookmark function of the Web browser to quickly return to a specific topic.

• Use the search function of the Information Center to find specific topics. See "Information Center" for details.

Printing the PostScript Books

If you prefer to have printed copies of the manuals, you can decompress and print PostScript versions. For the file name of each book in the library, see the table in "DB2 Books".

Note:

Specify the full path name for the file you intend to print.

On OS/2 and Windows platforms:

1. Copy the compressed PostScript files to a hard drive on your system. The files have a file extension of .exe and are located in the x:\doc\language\books\ps directory, where x: is the letter representing the CD-ROM drive and language is the two-character country code that represents your language (for example, EN for English).

2. Decompress the file that corresponds to the book that you want. The result from this step is a printable PostScript file with a file extension of .psz.

3. Ensure that your default printer is a PostScript printer capable of printing Level 1 (or equivalent) files.

4. Enter the following command from a command line:

      print filename.psz
   

On UNIX-based platforms:

1. Mount the CD-ROM. Refer to your Quick Beginnings manual for the procedures to mount the CD-ROM.

2. Change to /cdrom/doc/%L/ps directory on the CD-ROM, where /cdrom is the mount point of the CD-ROM and %L is the name of the desired locale. The manuals will be installed in the previously-mentioned directory with file names ending with .ps.Z.

3. Decompress and print the manual you require using the following command:
   • For AIX:

        zcat filename | qprt -P PSPrinter_queue
     

   • For HP-UX, Solaris, or SCO UnixWare 7:

        zcat filename | lp -d PSPrinter_queue
     

   • For Silicon Graphics IRIX and SINIX:

       zcat < filename | lp -d PSPrinter_queue
     

   where filename is the name of the full path name and extension of the compressed PostScript file and PSprinter_queue is the name of the PostScript printer queue.

   For example, to print the English version of Quick Beginnings for UNIX on AIX, you can use the following command:

      zcat /cdrom/doc/en/ps/db2ixe50.ps.Z | qprt -P ps1
   

Ordering the Printed DB2 Books

You can order the printed DB2 manuals either as a set, or individually. There are three sets of books available. The form number for the entire set of DB2 books is SBOF-8915-00. The form number for the set of books updated for Version 5.2 is SBOF-8921-00. The form number for the books listed under the heading "Cross-Platform Books" is SBOF-8914-00.

Note:

These form numbers only apply if you are ordering books that are printed in the English language.

You can also order books individually by the form number listed in "DB2 Books". To order printed versions, contact your IBM authorized dealer or marketing representative, or phone 1-800-879-2755 in the United States or 1-800-IBM-4YOU in Canada.

[ DB2 List of Books | Search the DB2 Books ]