Micro Focus Enterprise Developer 3.0 for Visual Studio 2013 > Programming > Mainframe Programming > SQL Option for DB2 > SQL Option User Guide > Introducing SQL Option for DB2

Introducing SQL Option for DB2

With SQL Option, you can compile and run programs that contain Embedded SQL statements from the IDE without requiring access to a mainframe or LAN-based database system.

SQL Option uses the same technology as the popular XDB database system. An XDB database behaves exactly like a mainframe DB2 database but it runs on the PC. A personal XDB Server is installed on your PC, providing you with a completely self-contained development and test environment for DB2 applications.

SQL Option allows the EBCDIC environment on the PC to be fully compatible with your mainframe's EBCDIC environment. See the section SQL Option NLS Environment for details.

If you are developing in a workgrouping environment, your system administrator can configure SQL Option so that you can access one or more shared, LAN-based XDB Servers in addition to your personal XDB Server. This two-tier configuration provides you with several further options for testing your application. For example, you can:

Maintain a complete copy or a subset of your mainframe test data on a shared XDB Server. Members of your workgroup can test against this directly or import the necessary tables into their personal XDB Server in situations where data needs to be isolated from other users.
Duplicate test data on the shared XDB Server and workgroup members' personal XDB Servers. The shared XDB Server can then be used for integration testing, with workgroup members performing development and unit tests against their personal XDB Servers.
Distribute data across a shared XDB Server and personal XDB Servers. For example, larger, more static tables can be left on the shared XDB Server, with smaller, more volatile tables being exported to the PC.

In addition, with appropriate configuration, you can access mainframe DB2 databases seamlessly with SQL Option's connectivity features. With this third tier configured, you have access to the full range of development and test options, giving you complete freedom to devise an effective workflow customized to your environment. For example, you can:

Use the mainframe DB2 test environment for all testing
Use the mainframe for integration testing, with workgroup members performing development and unit tests against either their personal XDB Servers or a shared XDB Server
Distribute test data across all three tiers, keeping very large tables on the mainframe and providing others on a shared XDB Server. Workgroup members can then download specific data to their personal XDB Server where necessary for isolation purposes.