First, I must say that I love the SQL interface to the ADSM
database. I'm very glad to have this addition to the software.

Now, (there's always a 'but . . .') there are at least two
additions that I would like to see to the interface that would
make things even more useful:

 1) A function similar to the SQL*Plus 'describe' command to
    conveniently display a table definition. How nice would it
    be to just type 'describe VOLUMES' to get the table
    definition, rather than 'SELECT colname, typename, length
    FROM columns WHERE tabname = 'VOLUMES'?

 2) The ability to turn off column headings and feedback.
    Presently, if you run an SQL query from within a macro and
    redirect the output to a file, the file also includes an
    echoed copy of the SELECT statement, as well as the column
    headings. This makes it impossible to write SQL-generating
    SQL. For example, if it was possible to turn off feedback and
    column headings, it would be possible to write a generic
    macro that creates a second macro file with all of the
    commands necessary to backup all storage pools. If this
    were possible, an ADSM administrator could write a single
    macro file that would take care of backing up all storage
    pools for any ADSM server, without having to worry about
    updating the macro if new storage pools are added, or old
    ones are deleted.