WAVV Requirement Form

 

Date: 3/12/2004                                             Requirement #:  WAVV200407

Product Name:           DB2/VSE     Product Release# (or state “current”): current

Vendor Name:           IBM

 

Title: (Paraphrase problem in a single statement)Add support of "alias" or "virtual" column names in queries

Detailed Problem Description: (Description of what you want changed - 400 character entry limit)

 

Query output from DB2/VSE that includes "virtual columns" or "expressions" is problematic because DB2 generates the name of that column as "expression n" and there is no way to override this with a more descriptive and intelligible name. This always generates a multitude of questions and mis-understandings.

                                                                                            

Priority: (Select one: Urgent - High - Medium - Low) High

Requested Completion Date: (When? Examples: 3 months, 1 year, Next Release) ASAP

Requirement Type: (Select one: Acceptability - Compatibility/Migration - Ease of Use - Feature/Function - Performance - Reliability/Availability/Serviceability - Packaging - Interoperability)

Feature/Function/Ease of Use

Business Justification: (Why? Non-technical business case description. Do not reword Detailed Problem Description from above. What are the benefits to be gained by your company, and the vendor and others?  Quantify: run time, dollars, manpower, etc.   Why should the vendor do this for the customer?)

 

I generate a multitude of queries for both internal and external customers. More times than not, they will include one or more "expressions". Before distributing the query output I have to either rename the column headers or attach an explanation to the recipient so they will understand what those columns are. Most other RDBMS's support this feature, including DB2 on other platforms.

Solution: (Optional)(Desired/undesired elements Note: Making a suggestion may limit a vendors ability to deliver a solution)

 

Provide the ability to dynamically name or rename any column in the output from a query. Two examples: 1) SELECT rate * numberofhours AS totalpay FROM…. 2) SELECT rate * 3 AS myrate, rate * 2 AS yourrate FROM…

Impact: (Optional) (How will your company’s business be affected if a solution is not delivered?)

 

 It will save DBAs (and some end-users) lots of time when generating and distributing query output

 

Company Name:            Computer Credit, Inc.                                                                 

Author Name:            Michael Rosinger                                Author Title: Systems Programmer / DBA

Author Address:             640 West Fourth Street, Winston-Salem, NC  27101

Author E-mail:            mrosinger@cciws.com

Telephone:                 (336) 761-1524