This Db2 for z/OS News from the Lab blog entry was originally published on 2018-07-19.

For many Db2 for z/OS customers, Query Management Facility (QMF) is a crucial and indispensable piece of their enterprise. They rely on QMF as a means to easily and efficiently reveal insights into their business data and to render those insights visually on dashboards and as reports, charts, and graphs. And QMF provides a whole lot more, including analytical functions, data editing capabilities, and application development interfaces that enable QMF functions to be integrated within existing applications. QMF is what connects many Db2 for z/OS customers to their data.

So we're excited to tell you about the availability of a new QMF 12.2 feature of Db2 for z/OS 12.1 that includes some substantial enhancements:

• A new QMF Server component that functions as a common centralized server and that enables you to run your QMF work on the platform of your choice: z/OS, Linux, UNIX, or Windows. QMF Server allows you to access any QMF object from any QMF client regardless of which client created the object. QMF Server also provides JDBC database support, allowing you direct access to a variety of JDBC data sources. And QMF Server has the potential to reduce costs or free up CPU resource because the processing of the queries, including TSO and batch queries, are zIIP eligible.

• A new QMF Z Client that improves the user experience for QMF for TSO users by providing an intuitive interface that makes it much easier to find and work with your QMF objects. You can open multiple queries and toggle seamlessly between them. QMF Z Client also provides a customizable Home Panel that gives you instant access to your favorite and recently used QMF objects and commands. And, in keeping with the spirit of reducing costs, batch workloads, procedures, and ad-hoc queries that you submit from QMF Z Client are also zIIP eligible.

• QMF Vision, which was introduced with QMF 11.2.1, has been enhanced with automatic dashboarding capabilities that you can use as a starting point in your discovery, analysis, and decision-making processes. This new version of QMF Vision also expands platform support to Linux and includes support for JSON format data sources, as well as several other key usability features.

If you're a current QMF user or might be interested in exploring adding QMF to your Db2 for z/OS 12.1 environment, take some time to get more details about Db2 QMF 12.2.

Eric Radzinski is a technical writer for Db2 for z/OS at the IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory in San Jose, California.