Database considerations

The following considerations apply to using the iSeries™ Access for Web database functions in a portal environment.

Cross-site scripting

Statements containing greater than (>) or less than (<) characters fail with the default configuration of WebSphere® Portal. See Cross-site scripting for information about how to handle this.

iSeries SQL requests

The SQL requests created and managed by the iSeries SQL Requests portlet are stored in a back-end database table. A WebSphere data source must be configured to provide access to a database server for storing this information. This data source must meet these requirements: If any of these requirements are not met, the portlet displays a message stating the required configuration has not been performed.
Note: iSeries Access for Web is tested using the IBM® Toolbox for Java™ JDBC driver. Using a different driver will likely work, but this is an untested and unsupported environment.
The database table is created in a schema named QUSRIWA2. If this schema does not exist, it is created. If this schema exists, the user identified by the data source authentication alias must have read and write access to the schema.
The default table name is QIWADTA. It might be necessary to override this value if, for example, multiple WebSphere Portal instances target the same back-end database server. The iSeries Access for Web web Module (iwawps.war) defines the dataTable parameter to configure the table name. The WebSphere Portal administration interface provides a way to modify this parameter value. See the WebSphere Portal documentation for more information.
Important: Ensure there are no active users of the iSeries Access for Web Data Store or the iSeries SQL Requests portlets while the dataTable parameter is being modified.

If the configured table does not exist, it is created. If it does exist, the user identified by the data source authentication alias must have read and write access to the table.

It is possible to share database requests among multiple WebSphere Portal instances. This is done by configuring the jdbc/iwads data source for each instance to the same back-end database server and by using the same database table name for each instance. The authentication settings for the database requests must also be configured to facilitate sharing among multiple WebSphere portal instances as follows:
  • Use credential specific to this request: A request configured with this authentication option can only be used from the instance where it was created.
  • Use credential set with iSeries Credentials portlet and Use system shared credential set by administrator: Requests created with either of these authentication options can be used from multiple instances, provided a credential with the selected name exists for each instance.
  • Use authenticated WebSphere credential and Use WebSphere Portal identity: Requests created with either of these authentication options can be used from multiple instances, provided each instance is correctly configured for the selected environment.