I have a as400 @ work. I have some old access files that link to the as400. When I open the links I see the tables on the as400. I do not know what is in these tables. How can I find what is in each table? Is there a way to make a data Tree of some kind?
Yes, assuming you have authorization to view elements that you're interested in and assuming that tables, views, columns, etc., were created with rational text and comment attributes.
You tagged this with [v5]; but there's quite a range of possibilities between V5R1 and V5R4, particularly on the client side. (Note that V6 has recently come out.) If your V5 system is current at least as far as V5R3 and you have the iSeries Navigator client installed and both sides have been decently patched with relevant DB2 and client fixes, you should be able to view much of what you want without needing to acquire additional 3rd-party or IBM products that cost extra.
The system maintains a database catalog. This can be queried through various green-screen (terminal command line) and client methods. The catalog is reasonably SQL standard, particularly in DB2 terms.
E.g., you can list tables via [select * from systables] or even [select * from tables]. The "schema" that holds the database catalog is "QSYS2". You might run [select * from schemata] to list info about various schemas. You might run [select * from tables where table-schema = 'QSYS2'] or [select * from views where table-schema = 'QSYS2'] to see what tables or what views exist in QSYS2.
You can run such queries via the interactive SQL facility if it's installed on your AS/400 or through a couple other methods if it's not. Or you can use iSeries Navigator to drill down the left-hand navigation pane into the Databases node and review right-click context-menu options on various nodes or on items that list in the right-hand pane.
If you're up to date on both server and client, iNav (iSeries Navigator) has options that will generate diagrams of tables, views, relations...
Since it's all stored in the database catalog and the database catalog can be reached via ODBC, you can code a VB function to extract whatever you want and to present it however you want. I.e., you can code stuff or you can use green-screen or you can use the free iNav capability or you can buy or download some other client tool.
Regardless of how it might be done, if text and comments were never created and if meaningful names were never used, you're on your own.
Post back if more detail is needed for a particular direction. Maybe you now have enough to let you do some searching.
