Section 4.7. Setup Tools

4.7. Setup Tools

The Setup Tools get you started with DB2 by creating the sample database. They also help you configure connections to remote databases. The Setup Tools consist of the First Steps, Configuration Assistant, and Register Visual Studio Add-Ins.

4.7.1. First Steps

The IBM DB2 First Steps tool is a good starting point for new DB2 users who want to get familiar with the product. Figure 4.40 shows the operations you can perform using this tool.

Figure 4.40. The First Steps Launchpad

The Create Sample Database option creates a database called sample on your local system. The sample database is provided with the DB2 product for testing and learning purposes. It comes with a set of predefined tables. You can work with this database just like any other database. The equivalent DB2 command to create this sample database is db2sampl.

The Create Your Own Database option walks you through several steps to create your own new database, configured for optimal performance. You can specify the name of the database and the location where it is going to be created. The equivalent DB2 command to create a new database is create database and is discussed in Chapter 8, The DB2 Storage Model. After the database is created, you can create tables using the Control Center or SQL statements. The SQL statements to create database objects are described in Chapter 7, Working with Database Objects.

The Work with Databases option simply launches the Control Center, so you can see your databases and perform operations on them.

The other options in the IBM DB2 First Steps Launchpad are self-explanatory.

4.7.2. The Configuration Assistant

The Configuration Assistant helps you:

• Set up connections to databases residing on remote servers using the Add Database Wizard.

• Configure connection properties for local databases.

Figure 4.41 shows the Configuration Assistant and the Add Database Wizard. Chapter 6, Configuring Client and Server Connectivity, explains how to use the Configuration Assistant in detail.

Figure 4.41. The Configuration Assistant

4.7.3. Register Visual Studio Add-Ins

When you select the Register Visual Studio Add-Ins menu item (the last item in the IBM DB2 menu shown in Figure 4.1.), it adds a plug-in into Microsoft Visual Studio so that DB2 tools can be invoked from Visual Basic, Visual C++, and Visual InterDev (see Figure 4.42). The add-in inserts the DB2 menu entries into each of these Microsoft development tool's View, Tools, and Help menus.

Figure 4.42. Visual Studio Add-Ins