Dax offers direct connectivity middleware for DB2

Enterprise solutions provider and local distributor of HiT Software`s range of standards-based SQL middleware for IBM DB2 servers, Dax Data, has unveiled HiT ODBC/DB2 v3.1, a high performance, direct connectivity solution for DB2 server access.

Jeremy Matthews, MD of Dax Data, says the latest HiT Software release offers ODBC level 3 compliance, SSL v3.0 encryption support and improved performance. "It enables systems integrators and application developers to build faster web and client-server applications while aligning their SQL developments with open standards," he adds.

According to Matthews, ODBC level 3 conformance in the new product provides several key advantages:

• SQL alignment with X/Open and ISO Call-Level Interface (CLI) standards for development consistency;

• Standardised dynamic metadata access for more accurate data typing, and cleaner data processing;

• Standard diagnostic facilities for better control of database conversation flow;

• New data types and structures for more accurate data handling and simpler processing;

• Faster database connections for more responsive applications; and

• Many other features that provide for superior processing performance, cleaner application architecture and flow, and increased cursor flexibility.

"Authentication and data encryption of data across networks, such as the Internet, is catered for by the support for SSL v3.0 for," says Matthews.

HiT uses the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) with the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) for data encryption to the HiT SSL Server. Two different levels of encryption are supported: DES40 (weak encryption) for international use, and 3DES (strong encryption) for use within the United States.

DB2 ODBC application developers also benefit from unqualified table support. This allows web and client-server applications to request table data without specifying host paths and enables simplified data access from multiple host application and libraries while mitigating the need to mirror host data organisation within external applications.

An associated HiT ODBC/DB2 v3.1 Developer Edition cuts development time by providing working Visual Basic samples to query, retrieve and update DB2/400 table data. Included source code demonstrates connections using ADO/RDO/DAO recordsets, executing stored procedures, and displaying results. The associated HiT ODBC Server/DB2 Developer Edition also includes an ASP toolkit with sample applications and source code.