San Francisco-based Candle Corp’s Database Tools Division has a new version of !DB/Explain for DB2 which offers single-screen SQL optimization: Candle’s !DB/Explain is a tool for optimising SQL before, during and after it goes into production use, and it facilitates building SQL code during development by providing recommendations according to performance guidelines; !DB/Explain is said to function as a plan administration tool, and it provides the ability to analyse SQL performance and walk through SQL code; the new version has several new features including enhanced output displays, a bridge to QMF, support for DBRM level, and an Explain history that stores the last 10 outputs and associated statistics for a given statement and enables users to compare results; the product costs between $12,000 to $42,000, and runs on any mainframe under MVS/ESA or MVS/XA.
