MBF-UDALink
User Reference Manual
for Unix
September 2004
Version 7.04.02
Head Office:
82 Main Street South
Chesterville, Ontario
K0C 1H0 Canada
Telephone:1-800-ANSWERS
or (613) 448-2333
Fax:
(613) 448-2588
www.mbfoster.com
www.1800answers.com
NOTICE
The information in this manual is subject to change without notice.
LIMITATIONS ON WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY
M.B. Foster Associates Limited makes no warranties, either express or implied, regarding this
manual or the computer software package described in this manual, its merchantability or its
fitness for any particular purpose. The exclusion of implied warranties is not permitted by some
states.
COPYRIGHT
This manual is copyrighted by M.B. Foster Associates Limited, with all rights reserved. Under the
copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or part, without the written consent of
M.B. Foster Associates Limited. Under the law, copying includes translating to another language.
PRODUCT REVISIONS
M.B. Foster Associates Limited cannot guarantee that you will receive notice of a revision to the
software described in this manual. You should periodically check with your sales representative.
Version C.07.04.02 - September 2004
MBF-UDALink and MBF-Console are trademarks of M.B. Foster Associates Limited.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are marks of their respective holders.
Simultaneously published in the Canada and the United States of America. All rights reserved.
MBF-UDALink
Table of Contents
Introduction to MB Foster Products
MBF-UDALink Overview- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Applications- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
Benefits- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3
MBF-UDALink Features - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
Input Specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5
Computational Expressions- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
Online help - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
Customizable system profile - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
JDBC Level 2 Driver- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
ODBC 3.5 Compliant Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
Views - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
Profiles - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
Remote procedure calls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10
COM Component Builder - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10
Two-phase Commit Protocol - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10
ReportDesigner for Reporter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11
SQL interface for Reporter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11
PowerHouse interface for MPE-IX Reporter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11
Complementary products - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12
MBF-Console - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12
MBF-UDACentral - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12
MBF-Enterprise - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12
Reveal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12
Using Reporter
What is the Reporter? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -13
Menus - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -14
The parts of a menu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -14
The types of menus - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -15
Menu Type 1 - Navigational - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -15
Menu Type 2 - Selection - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -15
Menu Type 3 - Specify - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -16
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
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Prompts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -17
Function keys - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -18
Configuration Menu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -19
Menu characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -20
Procedure execution parameters- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -22
Display format parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -24
Output file characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -25
PC interchange parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
Navigational commands - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -27
Reviewing reports - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -28
Online help - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -29
Main Menu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -30
DISPLAY Procedure Catalog - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -32
Procedure Catalog - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -33
RUN an existing procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -35
Use SQL database definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -36
Runtime decision on output file format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -37
Specifying passwords- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -38
Downloading the output file- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -39
Saving the output file - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -41
Creating a procedure
Creating a Procedure Overview- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -43
Basic steps for procedures - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -44
Creating a procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -46
Creating procedures from Eloquence- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -59
Linking from <file> to <file> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -69
Procedure Preparation Phase - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -71
Specify the output file format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -73
Creating a special output format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -73
The SQL interface
SQL Interface Overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -75
Creating a procedure with an SQL interface - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -75
The Allbase SQL interface - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -76
An SQL example - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -77
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FDGEN
Creating FILE definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -81
ENTER your own file definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -81
Saving the file definition - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -84
Use File Definition (FD) file - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -84
Tables in data base <name> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -85
Columns in <type of file> <name> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -85
Define output specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -86
Adding files for selection - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -87
Editing field definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -87
Maintaining and modifying procedures
MAINTAIN an existing procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -88
REVIEW procedure definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -89
MODIFY procedure definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -92
Selecting what to modify- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -93
EDIT names and attributes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -94
Data Base Environment, userid and password - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -95
Table/Set names - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -95
FIELD names and definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -96
CHANGE procedure specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -98
ADD additional computational fields- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -99
CHANGE output file specifications- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -102
CHANGE output file format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -103
Saving a modified procedure- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -103
SAVE the procedure- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -104
DELETE an existing procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -105
Computational expressions
Types of computationals- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -107
Substring and subfield manipulation- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -110
Conditional expressions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -111
Creating computational fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -112
Special features for computationals - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -115
Entry of value at runtime - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -115
Entry of a value from a file - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -115
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
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Convert dollar values to words - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -116
The ReportDesigner option
Report Designer Overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -117
Designing a report - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -118
Entering Designer mode - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -119
Entering global format specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -122
Layout- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -123
Insert Text - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -124
Suppress or Show - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -125
Heading Justify - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -126
Field Spacing- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -126
Line Spacing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -126
Prompt Mode- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -126
Formatting individual fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -130
Move Field - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -132
Align Field - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -132
Adjust Field - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -133
Insert Text - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -133
Field Justify - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -134
Heading Justify - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -134
Sort Edit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -134
Group Edit- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -134
Prompt Mode- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -135
Editing concepts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -138
Justification - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -138
Edit masks - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -140
Display formats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -143
Page parts and multiple line formats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -145
Sample page part format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -146
Default multiple-line format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -147
Creating group headers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -149
Common keys - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -151
Field edit keys - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -151
Report design without function keys- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -153
The JDBC1 driver
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What is the JDBC1 driver? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
What is JDBC? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
Basic JDBC driver architecture - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
JDBC1 Installation and Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -157
Java Requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -157
Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -157
Using the JDBC1 driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -158
Preparing to compile and run Java- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -158
Checking the environment variables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -158
Importing packages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -158
Loading the JDBC1 driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -159
Opening a JDBC1 Connection- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -159
Creating a Statement object - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -159
Executing a query and returning a Result Set object - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -160
Processing the Result Set- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -160
Closing the Result Set - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -160
Closing the Connection- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -161
Connection Parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -161
Optional Parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -161
URL Syntax - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -162
JDBC1 Samples - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -163
JDBCLink-UX
What is JDBCLink-UX? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -167
What is JDBC? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -167
Basic Driver Architecture - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -167
J2EE Background - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -168
JDBCLink-UX Installation and Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -172
Java Requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -172
Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -172
Connection Parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -173
Optional Parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -173
URL Syntax - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -174
Using JDBCLink-UX- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -175
Loading JDBCLink-UX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -176
JDBCLink-UX Functionality- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -179
Connecting Through Data Sources - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -179
Importing Packages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -179
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Calling a Data Source in an Application - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -180
Using Connection Pooling- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -181
Data source properties - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -182
Using SSL mode connections - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -183
Setting a com.mbf.jdbc.ssl Property - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -185
JDBCLink-UX Examples- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -187
Transaction Support in JDBCLink-UX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -191
Handling Transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -191
How XA Transaction Control Works - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -191
Tech Tips - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -192
Interface Support - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -194
Example of an XA transaction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -197
The ODBC driver
ODBC Driver Overview- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -201
ODBC compliancy level - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -201
Client environment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -202
Server environment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -202
The connecting link - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -202
ODBC driver requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Supported ODBC functions- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -205
Performance considerations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -209
Using stored procedures- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -210
Turning AutoCommit on/off - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -210
Supported data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -211
Notes on data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -212
Notes on ODBC data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -212
Determining the data type - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -212
Notes on using BLOBs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -213
Isolation levels- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -214
ODBC Translator - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -215
Select Translator Window - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -215
Extended features of the ODBC driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Character set conversion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Primary key name returned by SQLStatistics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Updating search and sort items in Eloquence Details - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Date support and Year 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Eloquence character fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
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Eloquence subfielded fields- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Eloquence locking strategy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Automatic masters in Eloquence not reported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Viewing the access path of an Eloquence query - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Detection of keys on ALLBASE/SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Unsupported data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Sending a file to the host - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -218
Reading or writing ALLBASE/SQL LongVarBinary items - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -218
Maximum number of statements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -218
Multiple serial connections - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -219
New SQLGetInfo types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -219
SQLGetDataCol- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLPutData - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLSetCursorName - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
Substitution parameter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLForeignKey - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLTablePrivileges - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLColumnPrivileges - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -221
SQLProcedure- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -221
SQLProcedureColumns - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -221
ALLBASE/SQL restrictions on ODBC grammar- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -221
ANSI character set - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -222
Unsupported ALLBASE/SQL statements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -223
ALLBASE/SQL statements that work with embedded SQL- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -224
ALLBASE/SQL statements replaced by client functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -224
Creating a DBEnvironment on the HP 9000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -225
Supported SQL syntax - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
Eloquence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
Fully supported SQL- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
Partially supported SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
Unsupported SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -227
Special supported features - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -227
Requirements for joins - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -228
Numeric and character expressions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -228
User-defined conversion functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -228
ODBC driver client configuration - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -231
Data sources - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -231
Using the native communication driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Using ODBC driver with ODBC applications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -241
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Data access - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -241
Updating data - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -241
Sample ODBC application - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -242
Visual Basic sample - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -246
VB TestServices.DLL project sample for MTS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -250
Working with Third-Party Products
Using Cognos Impromptu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -253
Special notes for users of Impromptu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Changing the display format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Creating joins using calculated columns - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -255
Using Lotus Approach - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -256
Using Microsoft Access - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -258
Using MS Query - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -261
Using Visual Basic (4.0 or higher) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
VB database controls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
Dynaset variables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
Calling ODBC functions directly- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -264
Calling ODBC functions programmatically - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -264
Connection examples- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -265
Connect using SQL API - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -265
Connect using SQL API in VB 4.0-6.0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -265
Connecting with DAOs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -269
Connecting with RDOs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -270
Connecting with ADOs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -271
Using FDGEN dictionaries with the Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -272
Two-Phase Commit
ODBC driver and distributed transactions- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -273
Two-Phase Commit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -276
The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -276
Application model using the MS-DTC- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -277
Appropriateness of distributed transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -283
Transaction commit and abort - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -283
Limitations of the MS-DTC-compliant ODBC Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -284
Remote procedure calls
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RPC Overview- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -287
RPC Windows environment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -288
UDALink3.dll - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -288
RPC server pool - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -289
Configuration - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -289
Pool expansion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -290
Pool contraction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -290
The COM Component Builder
Com Component Overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -292
Running the COM Component Builder - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -294
Main Window- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -294
Naming requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -295
Parameter definition - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -295
Structure Maker - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -296
Add New Method - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -297
Installing COM Component Builder - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -298
Supported Data Types
Data types supported by Reporter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -301
Field storage length - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -303
Edit masks - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -304
Date formatting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -305
Built-in functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -305
Data types supported by ODBC driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -307
Notes on data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -308
Notes on ODBC data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -308
Determining data types- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -308
Notes on using BLOBs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -308
Error messages
Common errors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -311
User errors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -311
System errors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -330
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Trap errors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -355
Warning messages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -360
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MBF-UDALink Overview
Introduction to MB Foster Products
MBF-UDALink Overview
MB Foster provides data access and delivery solutions for the HP e3000, HP 9000, Linux, Sun
Solaris, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP platforms.
MBF-UDALink provides users with access to their data by extracting it from multiple files and/or
data bases, updating values as required or instructed and reformatting for reports, for import into
desktop applications, or direct update of spreadsheets or other desktop decision support tools via
ODBC or JDBC.
Applications
Used extensively throughout the Manufacturing, HMO, Fortune 100 and government
communities, MBF-UDALink is used to:
•
Provide Real-time Access To Data, allowing IT departments to write the framework of
reports and let end users run them as required without submitting a project request to IT.
•
Populate web pages - Using the ODBC and JDBC driver web projects have been built and
successfully deployed.
This solution has provided employees with access to information such as claim status and
account balances, or allowed suppliers to verify information and payment status.
•
Create Production Reports - one MB Foster customer estimates that there are 350 reports
generated containing information about their operations, all written in MBF-UDALink.
The reports cover things like sales commissions, sales order number by domestic and
foreign markets, cash disbursements, open items to be returned to vendors and shortage
reports for purchasing.
•
Create Cost Effective Solutions - by delivering a graphical interface to an HP e3000 data
base, providing all of the information related to building permits, inspections, inspection
schedules and business licenses in a web based client-server environment.
•
Provide sales reps and regional managers with a business solution to provide timely
access to customer/product and commission rates while still maintaining security.
This has been a high priority task for MIS departments since the advent of the personal
computer.
MBF-UDALink met this challenge and now the sales department is able to instantly see
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MBF-UDALink Overview
MBF-UDALink
current information for order details, customers, products, commission rates and to
manipulate the data based on their needs.
•
Deliver information to decision support systems. MBF-UDALink’s ability to deliver
information ready for MS Excel and MS Access has lead to greater use of this solution on
all of one customer’s 30+ installed platforms.
•
Access data in a ManMan database. As most IT staff know this is not an easy task. MBFUDAlink lives up to this task in many installations.
In addition to its client-server capabilities, many ManMan sites discover the stellar ad hoc
capabilities of MBF-UDALink in their environment.
•
2
Provide return on Investment and Reduce cost. Using MBF-UDALink to implement a
data mart solutions has enable quick report turn around, elimination of report requests
that could not be filled, highlighting of trends not realized before and freeing up IT
hardware and personnel resources.
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MBF-UDALink Overview
Benefits
By providing a solution that fits your existing business environment, MBF-UDALink enables you
to:
•
Reduce operating costs by giving end users a web enabled data access solution
•
Output formats include: reports, self-describing files including PowerHouse subfiles and
extracts in a number of desktop based formats such as XML, PDF, HTML, XLS, and
RTF, and e-mail format for easy distribution.
•
Maintain control of security by restricting access by database, field, field value, extract
file size or users.
•
Create "views" to reduce navigation and provide specific users access to the data
required, including linkages and additional security.
•
Use MS-Windows based application front ends to gain access to your existing data
sources through ODBC and JDBC.
•
Provide web access to internal enterprise data sources
•
Maintain data integrity and security
•
Provide privacy and data integrity between two communicating applications using the
provided Secure Socket Layer support
•
Support remote procedures with the Remote Procedure Call and COM Builder features
•
Guarantee transactional integrity with Two-Phase Commit
•
Provide access to data from any platform (including servers) using JDBC
The flexibility provided with the modular structure of MBF-UDALink helps customers to expand
functionality when needs and business demands increase.
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MBF-UDALink Features
MBF-UDALink
MBF-UDALink Features
The Reporter provides end-users with access to their data by:
•
extracting data from multiple files and/or data bases
•
manipulating it and creating temporary values as required
•
reformatting it for use in other application programs on PC’s, as an e-mail attachment or
in other server based programs
•
reformatting it for reports, mailing labels and other printed outputs
Options may be added to the Reporter to take advantage of other software on the server and
perform other tasks
•
PowerHouse and SQL Interfaces allow you to use existing definitions of you data
•
ReportDesigner allows you to enhance the format of your printed reports
•
Views and Profiles allow the System Administrator to customize an end-user
environment by building in convenience and security features and by controlling access
to system resources.
•
Omnidex Interface on the HP e3000 only allows you exceptionally fast access to data
bases that have been indexed with Omnidex and IMSAM.
Access to data on the server is completely under the control of normal operating system security
and therefore can be controlled by standard system management practices.
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MBF-UDALink Features
Input Specifications
Table 1: Input Specifications
HP e3000
HP 9000
TurboIMAGE root file
Eloquence
IMAGE/SQL
Oracle
KSAM and KSAM SD files
bytestream
MPE sequential files
comma-delimited
MPE self-describing (SD) files
flat
Allbase/SQL
user-defined sequential files
Suprtool
MBF-Subfile
PowerHouse PDL and Subfile
MBF-Subfile
When procedures using multiple sets and files are created, the order in which they are to be
retrieved may be specified along with the specific fields to use in linking the files.
Definitions of TurboIMAGE data bases can be retrieved directly from the "root" file or defined in
a file definition file using the FDGEN utility.
Definitions for Eloquence tables are retrieved directly or defined in a file definition file using the
FDGEN utility.
Definitions for bytestream, comma-delimited, flat, KSAM and MPE files may be entered
dynamically or created using the FDGEN utility.
Self describing (SD) files have their file definition contained in the file label and can be read
directly.
Definitions for Allbase and Oracle are retrieved dynamically.
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Computational Expressions
Computational expressions may be declared to perform arithmetic operations on numeric fields
and "string" operations (such as concatenation and extraction) on alphanumeric fields. The result is
saved in a computed field, which is added to the list of fields available to the user.
Supported operations
Table 2: Operations
Arithmetic
String
addition
concatenation
subtraction
concatenation
blanks
multiplication
division giving quotient
with
removal
of
extraction
division giving remainder
exponentiation
percent
ratio
Sorting
Fields selected for input may be sorted in ascending or descending sequence by many combination
of input or computational fields.
If the data is already in the correct order, a pre-sort flag can be set to suppress the sort, while
allowing summaries to be taken at changes in the sort value.
Summaries
When sort fields are specified summaries may be produced on the non-sort fields. A summary
record is written each time the value in a sort field changes.
If there are alphanumeric fields included in the file, the first or the last value encountered within a
control break may be written to the summary record.
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Detail records may be suppressed in the output file, creating a "summary only" file at the lowest
sort level.
Built-In and Summary Functions
Summary functions such as Average, Minimum, Maximum, Count and Total can be specified at
control breaks or at the end of the output file. The summary functions of Percent and Ratio are
specified using Computational Expressions.
Several date and time functions are also available. Functions can prompt for values at runtime or
read them from files set up by other applications. Numeric values can be converted to English text.
On the HP e3000 access to system variables such as ACCOUNT, USER, GROUP and SESSION
names and the system data are access through built-in functions ($ACCOUNT, $USER, etc.).
Selection Criteria
Input data may be limited to only what is needed by specifying fields for selection.
The selection criteria for a field may be embedded in the procedure and can be "fixed" by the
creator of the procedure, or prompted for each time the procedure is run.
Complex ranges and "wild card" characters may be entered in response to this prompt.
The prompt a user receives at run time may be defined when the procedure is created so the user is
presented with a more meaningful and complete message than the internal name used in
programming to identify a data item.
Online help
Online help can be requested by entering either a single question mark (for a short help message)
or a double question mark (for a longer help message). Help is context-sensitive.
Novice users can turn on an automatic display of the short help message for every prompt, to run
in tutorial mode.
Customizable system profile
Customizable features include:
•
the terminal emulation mode to be used
•
when using Reflection terminal emulator, defining the default PC drive and subdirectory
•
printer display width and depth
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the maximum number of input records to be read
•
the maximum number of output records to be written
•
customized on a user by user basis when the Profiles option is installed
JDBC Level 2 Driver
Features include:
•
JNDI - Java Naming Directory Interface support
•
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) through JSSE - Java Secure Socket Extensions
•
Java Beans and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) support
•
Connection Pooling
•
Distributed Transactions - two phase commit - through XA
•
Batch updates
•
Enhanced Result Set
ODBC 3.5 Compliant Driver
Our ODBC driver is a thin client. It allows the processing of data to take place on the server before
moving the results to the client. It goes beyond the definition of the ODBC standard by providing
access to user-defined sequential files, flat files, KSAM, MPE, PowerHouse PDL and sub-files,
TurboIMAGE, TPI keys and MBF Views.
Connection via winsock, internet and even dial-up (serial) are supported.
Views
Information systems staff can establish "views" of complex data structures so that end-users need
not know about physical files and complex computed fields.
Security rules that restrict users to certain field values can be built into "views" and data extraction
specifications.
A View is a list of data fields that can be accessed by end users and information systems personnel
as the sources of field definitions in Reporter procedures or by the ODBC driver.
The procedure is typically created by the information systems personnel and includes all the data
base, data set/table and field information as well as computational fields and multi-file linkages.
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MBF-UDALink Features
The users of a View see only the menu of data fields that can be selected, sorted, downloaded to a
desktop, saved on the server or listed on a printer. Views are an optional purchase.
Profiles
User Profiles can be created to
•
optimize the use of available resources
•
establish additional security levels for end users.
•
specify user capabilities that meet their needs, preferences, and data access privileges
•
configure the Reporter to stream reports
•
assigned default user parameters based on the current system-wide parameter settings, or
parameters from another user profile
•
attach user files to a user class
Profiles can be based on user name or custom names defined by the System Administrator. Profiles
is an optional package.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
The SSL implementation in MBF-UDALink provides privacy and data integrity between two
communicating applications.
The SSL Protocol can negotiate an encryption algorithm and session key and authenticate a server
before the application protocol transmits or receives its first byte of data. All of the application
protocol data is transmitted encrypted, ensuring privacy. The advantage of SSL is that it is
application protocol-independent.
A certificate (using X.509) is originated by an issuer, usually a Certification Authority (CA).
When a certificate is issued, it confirms something, the subject of which depends on the CA’s
purpose.
CAs for secure web servers, such as those used for shopping malls, usually only attest that the
given public key belongs to the given domain name.
Company-wide CAs might attest that you are an employee of the company, and that you have
permissions to use a server or other corporate resources.
The certificate is a block of data signed by the certificate issuer. The relevant fields are:
•
Unique identifier (name) of the certificate issuer
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Time range during which the certificate is valid
•
Unique identifier (name) of the certified subject
•
Public key of the certified subject
•
The issuer’s signature certifying all of the above
For a certificate to be verified, the verifier must have a table of the names and public keys of
trusted CAs. For simplicity, these tables are lists of certificates issued by the respective CAs for
internal use (self-signed certificates).
Remote procedure calls
The RPC mechanism allows procedures on MPE, Unix and Linux platforms to be accessed by
Windows platforms using COM components. The RPC mechanism supports transactional remote
procedures, if they operate on an Allbase DBE. The driver can connect to a default Allbase DBE as
specified by the environment variable. If this parameter is set, the RPC server connects to the DBE
when it is started. RPC is an optional purchase.
COM Component Builder
A Component is the software implementation of business logic. It allows for the rapid deployment
of solutions by re-using existing code.
The COM Component Builder is a utility used to generate COM Components for calling remote
procedures through the ODBC driver. This type of COM Component supports MFC, MTS, Visual
Basic Script and Java Script and many others.
The COM Component Builder increases the RPC functionality by making it more automated and
easier to use. It creates a Typelib file that will describe the remote procedure. It also creates an
OLE object that allows applications developers to easily access the Procedure. The object(s) will
in turn call the RPC Functions in the ODBC driver. The COM Component Builder is purchased as
part of the Remote Procedure Call option.
Two-phase Commit Protocol
Available with both ODBC and JDBC the two phase commit feature permits updating of multiple
XA compliant data base, such as Allbase, simultaneously while guaranteeing the transaction ACID
properties.
Facilities such as logging and locking are examples of features provided by resource managers to
guarantee the ACID properties. The process is relatively straightforward when only one resource
manager is involved. When more than one resource manager is involved, guaranteeing the ACID
properties is more complex and requires an additional protocol - the Two-phase Commit Protocol.
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MBF-UDALink Features
In the absence of a transaction manager, the application program must implement the Two-phase
Commit Protocol within itself.
ReportDesigner for Reporter
The end user can customize report listing formats with an interactive design facility that shows
design changes immediately. Separate formats can be defined for viewing on the screen and
reporting on a printer. The report format can be a formatted subset of an extract file.
SQL interface for Reporter
The SQL interface is provided by default on the HP 9000 and by additional purchase on the HP
e3000. This option allows end users to use Oracle SQL database environments as the data source.
PowerHouse interface for MPE-IX Reporter
Available as an additional purchase, the PowerHouse Interface provides access via a Qschema (HP
e3000 only), and PDL, in addition to providing the ability to read and write PowerHouse sub-files.
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Complementary products
MBF-UDALink
Complementary products
MBF-Console
MBF-Console is a facility for monitoring and controlling the activities the ODBC driver or
ODBCLink/SE. MBF-Console allows you to identify problems and terminate the process without
bringing down the listener job or interfering with other users. Monitoring of transactions generated
through RPC or Two-Phase-Commit is also a feature of MBF-Console.
MBF-UDACentral
MBF-UDACentral is a Java-based set of tools for exploring and administering multiple databases
from a central application adding to the reporting and exploring capabilities available through
MBF-UDALink. It is a useful solution in both planning and executing a migration from the HP
3000 Image and AllBase databases to Oracle, MS SQL and other database formats.
MBF-Enterprise
MBF-Enterprise is an invaluable tool for enterprise sites that need to integrate data of multiple
types into business applications. Using a uniform standards-based interface, MBF-Enterprise runs
identically across diverse platforms. End users will find it easier to access corporate data on a
variety of platforms without having to understand the underlying complexities.
Reveal
Reveal is a highly-effective report and document warehouse -- a central repository of reports and
documents accessible from standard Internet Web browsers such as Internet Explorer and
Netscape. It captures, catalogues, indexes and maintains output from multiple sources -mainframes, midrange and network-based applications. It offers a uniform, universal means of
information access and dissemination that can be configured for individuals or groups of users.
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What is the Reporter?
Using Reporter
What is the Reporter?
Reporter runs on Unix, providing end users with access to their data. Various options can be added
to take advantage of other software on the Unix server and to perform other tasks:
•
The SQL interface allows you to use definitions of your data already in place.
•
The ReportDesigner option allows you to enhance the format of your output data.
•
The Views and Profiles options allow the System Administrator to customize an end user
environment by building in convenience and security features, and by controlling access
to system resources.
•
The ODBC driver implements Microsoft’s Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
Protocol. It enables Microsoft Windows-based applications and tools to access relational
(SQL) databases through a Winsock connection.
Access to data on the Unix host is completely under the control of normal Unix security and can
therefore be controlled by standard system management practices.
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Menus
MBF-UDALink
Menus
This section introduces you to the menu-driven user interface used by Reporter. It explains the
menus and the prompts. The section also discusses special shortcut commands for navigating
between menus and invoking special customizations, as well as how to get online help.
The parts of a menu
Reporter menus have the following general form:
Some parts of a menu are always present, and
some are optional. For example:
MENU TITLE always appears to let you
know where you are. It always tells you what
option you selected on the previous menu.
ITEM LIST may not appear if you are
responding to prompts that require typing an
answer rather than selecting from a list.
EMULATOR/PROFILE
indicates
any
terminal emulator being used and the profile
controlling your session, if Profiles is
installed.
HELP message is displayed if a novice help level is configured. (It is also displayed beneath a
prompt whenever help is specifically requested.)
PROMPT always appears. In some cases, a series of prompts follow one another, keeping the
same MENU TITLE and ITEM LIST on the screen. If you are using an HP terminal or an HP
terminal emulator (PC), these prompt messages scroll underneath the last dashed line that appears
on the screen.
FUNCTION KEYS appear at the bottom of the screen.
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The types of menus
The types of menus
The menu-driven interface prompts you for item numbers and occasionally prompts you for longer
entries, such as names of databases and selection criteria. Menus take the following general form:
Menu Type 1 - Navigational
This type of menu is normally navigational.
The items in the list are arranged vertically,
separated by a blank line. By entering the
selection number of an item on the list, you
proceed to another menu, with the same title
as the option you selected.
Each function has a function key. Pressing
the function key corresponding to the menu
item is the same as entering the number of
the item and pressing Return.
Menu Type 2 - Selection
This type of menu allows you to select items
from the item list. Items in the item list are
arranged vertically and horizontally. On some
menus, you can select only one item. If the
word “selection” appears in the prompt, you
can select multiple items. This menu type may
be followed by additional prompts for
qualifying information.
You can select more than one item by
entering the numbers of the items, separated
by commas. To select a series of items, enter
the starting and ending numbers, separated
by a “/”; for example, entering “2/5” is the
same as entering “2,3,4,5”.
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The types of menus
MBF-UDALink
Menu Type 3 - Specify
This type of menu allows you to specify
information that can only be supplied by
typing an entry. It does not have an item list.
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Prompts
Prompts
There are only a few types of prompts.
You may be prompted for the following kinds of answers:
To enter a single number corresponding to an item in a list:
ENTER AN OPTION NUMBER[1 ]
To enter one or more numbers corresponding to items in a list. Enter numbers separated by
commas, as in “1,3,15”, or enter ranges of numbers by using a slash between them, as in
“1,3,15/21”.
ENTER DATA FIELD SELECTION[1,3,15/21
]
Note: To include all items in the list, enter “ALL”.
To enter a short, single character or word reply to a specific question. In most cases, valid values
are shown for these prompts, enclosed in parentheses.
In some cases, only the current value for the item is shown in parentheses. In all cases, pressing
Return causes the first entry shown to become the default answer.
The default is normally shown in upper case, as in the first example below, where N is the default.
ANY MORE FILES FOR SELECTION (N,y)? [n ]
HELP LEVEL (EXPERT)[novice
]
DECIMAL PLACES (0)[2 ]
To enter a one-line reply to a specific request, such as the description for a procedure, a formula for
a computational field, or criteria for selecting information for a specific data field.
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION[3 * 0.95
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Function keys
MBF-UDALink
Function keys
Reporter supports function keys on terminals
and desktops. Pressing a function key has the
same effect as entering the corresponding
value through the keyboard.
There are some general rules for function keys:
•
The number of a menu item corresponds to its function key number. For example, CREATE a
procedure is item three on the Main Menu and can be selected by pressing function key 3 or by
entering the value 3 followed by Return.
•
Function key 8 normally returns you to the Main Menu.
•
Function key 7 normally returns you to the previous menu.
•
Function key 1 is the default when multiple choices are available (YES or NO, SAVE or
DOWNLOAD, FORWARD/EXIT/BACK).
If the terminal emulator on your PC has only 25 lines or supports only one line of user labels, the
labels are designed so that the first line can be used by itself.
To turn off the function key option, see the MENU FUNCTION LEVEL option of the
MODIFIABLE Default User Parameters menu of the Maintenance program in the MBF-UDALink
Administration Manual.
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Configuration Menu
Configuration Menu
To access the Set Configuration Options
menu, enter an exclamation point (“!”) at any
prompt or press the “CONFIG OPTIONS”
function key, F7, while in the Main Menu.
Note: Changes you make while in this set of
menus are only in effect for the current
session.
1: Menu characteristics
Customize the way information is formatted
for the terminal.
2: Procedure execution parameters
Customize the way the output file is prepared.
3: Display format parameters
Customize the screen display and printer page.
4: Output file characteristics
Customize the format of the output file.
5: PC interchange parameters
Configure your PC for file downloading.
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Menu characteristics
MBF-UDALink
Menu characteristics
1: HELP LEVEL (EXPERT)
To automatically display short help messages
for menus and prompts, enter NOVICE.
Enter EXPERT to get help only when you ask
for it with ? or ?? responses.
2: MENU COSMETIC LEVEL (2)
To control the amount of data sent to the
terminal and how it is formatted, enter a value
from 0 through 3.
The 0 setting is most useful for lower-speed
communication lines.
0 - Text left justified and no dashed lines.
1 - Text centered and no dashed lines.
2 - Text centered with dashed lines.
3 - Text centered with continuous lines (requires line drawing set).
3: MENU FUNCTION LEVEL (3)
This will inhibit the “home and clear” before menu titles are displayed, allowing all displayed
lines to scroll up the screen. Non-HP terminals work this way regardless of the setting.
0 - Scroll mode
1 - Screen refresh
2 - Screen refresh and memory lock
3 - Screen refresh, memory lock, and function keys
4: LIST FIELD OCCURRENCES ON MENUS (YES)
The YES setting allows fields in a table with multiple occurrences to display all occurrences as
though they were separate fields. They appear as the same name as the original field, followed
by the occurrence number. For example, a field BALANCE that occurs 12 times displays as
BALANCE-1, BALANCE-2, ... BALANCE-12.
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Menu characteristics
5: LOGICAL MENU ITEM NAMES (NO)
This determines whether names shown on the menus for files and elements are actual (physical)
names or menu (logical) names.
6: MESSAGE CATALOG NUMBER (0)
This allows you to specify which catalog to access in this session. The message catalog contains
all of the text for menus, prompts, and messages. This prompt only appears if multiple catalogs
are installed (i.e., the NO. OF ADDTNL. CATALOGS INSTALLED prompt of the installation
parameters menu of Maintenance is greater than zero). Two additional message catalogs are
available - 1 Spanish, 2 French.
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Procedure execution parameters
MBF-UDALink
Procedure execution parameters
1 : RECORD COUNT INTERVAL (100) [ ]
When a procedure runs, it informs you of
progress by displaying RECORDS READ,
PREPARED, and WRITTEN.
It updates this progress message every 100
records unless you change this setting.
If you enter a 0 (zero), no messages are
reported.
2: LIST COMPUTATIONAL ERRORS
(NO) [ ]
The YES setting causes computational errors
to be reported as they occur.
The NO setting summarizes all errors at the
end of the procedure.
3: REMOVE DUPLICATE RECORDS (NO) [
]
Normally, duplicate records are allowed in an output file. To eliminate duplicate records, enter
YES. Only identical records that are adjacent in a file are removed.
4: SUMMARIZE BY UNIQUE SORT FIELD VALUE (NO) [ ]
This allows you to specify how the values of built-in functions are calculated. If this is set to
NO, each value encountered in a control break is used in the calculation. If it is set to YES, only
unique values are used.
For example, if reporting all sales to a range of accounts, you may want to count the number of
accounts. Set this value to YES so that the count reflects the number of unique account
numbers. Otherwise, the count reflects the total number of detail lines.
5: TERMINAL PRINTER DEVICE NUMBER (4) [
]
Enter the device number of the printer for the user terminal or PC.
0 - none
4 - external printer
Other device numbers may be valid. To retain the attached printer setting after a print operation,
enter a minus sign before the device number.
6: TERMINAL PRINTER RESET CODE
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Procedure execution parameters
Enter the control sequence to reset your printer. Consult your printer manual for the correct
sequence. Non-printing codes must be entered as “[n]”, where n is the decimal value of the
code.
The reset code for HP printers is “EscE” (Esc has a code of 27), so you would enter “[27]E”. If
you do not want a reset code to be sent to the terminal printer, enter “ ”.
7: RETURN
Return to the Configuration Options menu.
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Display format parameters
MBF-UDALink
Display format parameters
1: TERMINAL DISPLAY WIDTH (80)
For terminals with a line width other than 80
columns, enter the maximum number of
columns.
2: TERMINAL DISPLAY DEPTH (24)
For terminals that display less or more than 24
rows, enter the maximum number of rows.
3: PRINT PAGE WIDTH (132)
Enter the maximum width of displays sent to a
printer; i.e., the Display Catalog and Review
Procedure printer listings.
4: PRINT PAGE DEPTH (59)
Enter the number of lines per page that a printed listing contains.
Note: Specify a print page depth of 0 lines to eliminate page skips on output such as
mailing labels. If page heading and/or footing is specified, then only one per report is
printed.
5: PRINTED REPORT SUMMARY PAGE (YES)
To generate a procedure execution summary page at the start of any printed output report, enter
YES. This summary page contains the name of the procedure, the time it was run, record
counts, and any selection values.
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Output file characteristics
Output file characteristics
1: EUROPEAN DECIMAL FORMAT (NO)
To format numeric fields with decimal points
in European format, enter YES.
The European decimal point is a comma; the
North American and British decimal point is a
period.
2: DIF FILE QUOTATION MARK (“)
Most applications expect strings enclosed in
double quotation marks, for example, “a
string”.
3: COLUMN HEADINGS ON SPREADSHEET FILES (YES)
To generate column headings on spreadsheet output files (Lotus and Excel), enter YES;
otherwise, enter NO.
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PC interchange parameters
MBF-UDALink
PC interchange parameters
1: DEFAULT TERMINAL EMULATOR (R
Enter an identifier for the default PC terminal
emulator. The identifier for Reflection is “R”.
Enter:
“R” - If Reflection is used and UNXLINK2 is
to be used for transfers.
“
” - If Reflection is not used, leave this
setting blank. Reporter loads more quickly
without the Reflection status checks.
2: DEFAULT PC DRIVE ( )
Enter the letter for the PC disk drive to use as
the default for downloaded files.
This drive may be different from the PC’s
default drive. For example, you can specify that downloaded files will go to drive B: by default
even though your PC default drive may be C: . Enter a “ ” to use the PC default drive.
3: DEFAULT PC FILE DIRECTORY ( )
Enter the name of the PC file directory to be used as the default for downloaded files. This
directory is added to any PC file names that do not include a directory. Enter “ ” to download
files to the current directory.
4: PC FILE TERMINATION CODE (26)
Enter the termination character required by your PC operating system to mark end of file.
Windows uses code 26, which is equivalent to CONTROL/Z. Enter 0 (zero) if no termination
character is needed.
5: PC FILE DOWNLOAD DELAY (2)
Enter the number of seconds to wait before downloading data. This is normally used only on
PCs that require manual intervention to download. Reflection does not require this delay.
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Navigational commands
Navigational commands
Special navigational commands help you quickly access menus. At any prompt you can enter:
/
to return to the previous prompt or menu
//
to return to the MAIN MENU
CONTROL/Y
the “Control” and “Y” keys pressed simultaneously to return to the Main Menu
Function key 7 will often be labelled “ESCape”; pressing this key is the same as entering “/”
Function key 8 will often be labelled MAIN MENU; pressing this key is the same as entering “//”
Large lists of files or fields are divided into menu “pages”. The total number of pages is shown in the
upper right corner of your screen. To jump from page to page, enter:
/0 (zero)
to skip the remaining pages in the menu. For example, 1,2,/0
/n
to go to the specific menu page “n”. You can move forward or backward.
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Reviewing reports
MBF-UDALink
Reviewing reports
Function keys help you navigate Reporter. A specific use of function keys is the on-screen processing of
reports. The function keys work the same way for a data report or a catalog report:
You can easily navigate through a report with
function keys:
F1 - FORWARD A PAGE - Move to the next
page.
Note: Does not appear if the current page is
the last one.
F2 - BACK A PAGE - Redisplay the previous
page.
Note: Appears if there is more than one page
in the report and the current page number is
greater than one.
F3 - NUMBER OF PAGE - Press this key to be
prompted for the page number you want to
display.
This can be used to look at the bottom line of a report before printing it.
The last page number of the report appears in the top right corner of the screen. If page numbers
are not shown, enter a very large number to display the last page.
Note: You can enter the page number directly at the PAGE-FORWARD/EXIT/PAGE-BACK prompt.
F4 - NEXT CHOICE- This allows forward navigation through the menu.
Note: This key must be pressed before you select an entry. It causes F6 Select Entry to be
displayed. Pressing F6 makes your selection.
F5 - PREVIOUS CHOICE - This allows backward navigation through the document.
F7 - PRINT - This key appears for reports like the Procedure Catalog Report and Procedure
listings. Press this function key to print the report shown on the screen.
Note: You are asked to select a printer.
F8 - EXIT - Return to the previous menu.
Note: If the PRINT function key is not available, after reviewing the report at your screen, EXIT from
the review and enter “Y” when asked if you want to REUSE THE EXTRACT FILE. You are asked
again if you want to print it and, if so, whether you want it on the terminal or printer.
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Online help
Online help
Introductory help messages are available at the Main Menu by pressing the INFO function key
followed by the HELP function key. From any prompt, you can enter:
?
Display a brief help message.
??
Display a more detailed help message.
For help about items in a menu, prefix or follow the request with the item number, as in the
following screen.
The help message appears, followed by the
original Option Selection prompt.
There are two help modes:
NOVICE: In NOVICE mode, the brief help
message automatically appears for each
prompt, and a single question mark displays
full help.
In this mode, the program acts like a tutorial.
EXPERT: In EXPERT mode, shown in our
example, the help messages appear only
when you request them.
The help mode may be configured for the entire system, for individual users if user profiles have
been installed, or by the user, using the Set Configuration Options menu. You can also get
information on file and field types. In response to any prompt that asks you to select from a list of
files or fields, enter:
n? or ?n
where “n” is a file or field number.
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Main Menu
MBF-UDALink
Main Menu
This is the top-level menu you see when you
RUN the program. All menu sequences return
here.
1: DISPLAY procedure catalog
This option allows you to display the current
procedures in a procedure catalog. This report
can be printed on a printer or displayed to
your terminal.
You only see a list of procedures from
catalogs you may access.
2: RUN an existing procedure
This option allows you to run any procedure
that you may access.
3: CREATE a new procedure
This option allows you to specify the data extraction and formatting rules for a new procedure,
and either run it or save it for future use.
4: MAINTAIN an existing procedure
This option allows you to work with an existing procedure. You can REVIEW the
specifications used to create the procedure, MODIFY the procedure, DELETE the procedure, or
SAVE the procedure into any catalog you may access.
8: EXIT
This option allows you to end the session.
There are also three additional function keys available:
F5 UTILITY OPTIONS - This key changes the function keys to the utility function key
options.
F6 INFO - This key changes the function keys to the INFO function key menu.
F7 CONFIG OPTIONS - This key enters the Set Configuration Options menu, to customize
Reporter for this session. You can also enter the Set Configuration Option menus by entering
“!” at any prompt.
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Main Menu
Pressing the F5 UTILITY OPTIONS function key changes the function keys to:
F4 MBF-UDALink - Provides access to the ODBC driver function key menu, to allows users
to run programs on their desktops.
F5 FILE TRANSFER - Provides access to Reflection for file transfer from within Reporter.
Labelled files can be uploaded or downloaded by adding “;L” to the HOST file name.
Pressing the F6 INFO function key changes the function keys to:
F4 INDEXED HELP - Enters the Indexed Help menu, which provides indexed access to
information about Reporter.
F5 SYSTEM OPTIONS - Displays the options and interfaces installed in your version of
Reporter. It also indicates which user profile is controlling this session.
F6 HELP - Displays introductory help messages and explain the navigational commands.
F7 NEWS - Displays the latest changes and enhancements to Reporter.
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DISPLAY Procedure Catalog
MBF-UDALink
DISPLAY Procedure Catalog
This menu allows you to display the contents
of a procedure catalog. A listing can be
printed on the system printer or displayed to
your terminal.
The listing may show all the procedures in the
catalog that you may access, or may show
only selected portions based on how you have
responded to the prompts.
You will only see procedures that you may
access. You have access to any procedures
that your user ID created, any that are open
to everyone, and any for which you are the
designated user.
DISPLAY THE LOCAL CATALOG (Y/n)? [n ]
Enter “Y” or Return to display the contents of the catalog in your logon directory. Enter “N” to
receive the prompts for the location of the catalog you want to display.
PROCEDURE NAME SELECTION [n*
]
It is possible to limit the list of procedure names shown by matching on procedure name. Enter
Return to see all procedures or a pattern match.
DISPLAY SELECTED ENTRIES (Y/n)? [Y ]
Enter “Y” or Return to display the Procedure Catalog Report at your terminal. Enter “N” to specify
a new procedure name selection.
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Procedure Catalog
Procedure Catalog
You can RUN or REVIEW a procedure from
this menu. If the procedure name you want is
not on the screen, press BACK or FORWARD
until you see it. Press the NEXT or
PREVIOUS function key until the entry you
want is highlighted. If you press the PRINT
function key here, you will have the choice of
printing the Procedure Catalog Report on your
terminal printer or a system printer.
The SELECT ENTRY key becomes available
as soon as you start highlighting entries. When
the entry you want is highlighted, press the
SELECT ENTRY key. You are now given the
choice of REVIEWING or RUNNING the
highlighted procedure or ESCAPING back to
the display to find another procedure.
If you press the REVIEW function key, you will see the first page of the Procedure Review Report
for the procedure you highlighted. You can print the procedure report by pressing the PRINT
function key or scroll through it. If you press the RUN key, the highlighted procedure will be
loaded and executed.
You can choose to REVIEW or RUN the highlighted procedure or ESCape to the display to select
another procedure.
Press the REVIEW function key to see the first page of the Procedure Review Report for the
highlighted procedure.
To print the procedure report, press the PRINT function key or scroll through it. Press the RUN
key, to load and execute the highlighted procedure, as described in the next section.
You can scroll through this catalog report using the function keys, or press the PRINT function key
to print it.
The Procedure Catalog Report contains the following items:
The names of the procedures. These are listed in alphabetical sequence.
The column heading type of procedure. The letter following the name indicates what the procedure
will do:
D - Produces a data interchange file for use in another program.
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Procedure Catalog
MBF-UDALink
R - Produces a report listing.
U - Has a runtime decision on format
The user access for the procedure:
A - This procedure is open to any user.
U - Your user ID or class is the designated user for the procedure.
blank -Only the creator can use the procedure.
A “*” beside the A or U code indicates you are the creator.
The date that each procedure was saved.
The description entered when the procedure was saved.
The group and account of the catalog being displayed.
Your current user ID.
The procedure name selection that you entered. If you did not enter a name match, this is “ALL”.
If your terminal or desktop supports function keys, press the PRINT function key to print the
catalog display. Reporter determines if function keys are not available and provides additional
prompts to allow printing.
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RUN an existing procedure
RUN an existing procedure
This menu allows you to specify a procedure
to be run.
Press ENTER to RUN
procedure TEST
If there is a procedure currently active, the
name of that procedure and the directory
where it has been saved will be displayed. You
can run this procedure by pressing Return
instead of entering a name at the RUN prompt.
To run a different procedure, enter its name
and the catalog in which it has been saved.
RUN procedure name [TEST
]
Enter the name of the procedure you want to run or Return to run the current procedure.
RUN procedure from local catalog (Y/n)? [n ]
Enter “Y” if the procedure you want to run exists in the local catalog. Enter “N” if the
procedure is in a different catalog. Enter the path/directory information for the catalog.
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RUN an existing procedure
MBF-UDALink
Use SQL database definitions
Enter 1 to access an ALLBASE/SQL
database.
Enter 2 to access an ORACLE/SQL
database.
Use HP Allbase SQL definitions
SQL database environment name
Enter the name of a database environment
(DBE) to be accessed by the procedure that
you are creating. This is required.
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RUN an existing procedure
Use ORACLE SQL definitions
Oracle SID
Enter the name of an Oracle database or
press Return for the default.
Oracle user name
Enter a user name that allows access to the
database specified above. This is required. If
a password is included with the user name,
you will be prompted for it as well.
Runtime decision on output file format
This menu appears if you are allowed to
specify the output format or the procedure has
been created to request an output format at
runtime. Enter the menu number for your
choice or ‘0’ to enter the menu to build your
own format.
If the procedure’s output file format
is left to be determined at runtime,
you can:
• create a report
• display it to your screen to ensure the
information is correct
•select an output type to a format for a desktop
application
•
save the output on the HP 9000 server
The system default format is “Report Listing”. This default can be changed if the Profiles option
has been installed.
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RUN an existing procedure
MBF-UDALink
Specifying passwords
PROCEDURE EXECUTION PHASE
——————————————————————————————————————
PASSWORD for MEMBER [
]
If the executing procedure accesses one or more databases, you are asked to supply a password
for each database, unless the passwords were embedded in the procedure when it was created.
Enter a password that grants you read access to the database in the prompt line. Pressing Return
generates a password of “;” which will open the database if you are its creator.
The password does not appear on the terminal.
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Downloading the output file
Downloading the output file
PROCEDURE EXECUTION PHASE
——————————————————————————————
194 READ (150 ON PRIMARY FILE), 44 PREPARED, 49 WRITTEN
DIF FILE TITLE
[
INCLUDE SUMMARY LINE RECORDS (N/y)?
[ ]
DOWNLOAD/SAVE/APPEND/EMAIL file (D/s/a/e)?
[ ]
]
DOWNLOAD STARTED
PC FILENAME:
[
]
DOWNLOAD COMPLETED
REUSE EXTRACT FILE (N/y)?
[ ]
REPEAT PROCEDURE RUN (N/y)?
[ ]
These are the prompts you would encounter when you are using Reporter to create an interchange file to
download to your desktop.
194 READ (150 ON PRIMARY FILE), 44 PREPARED, 49 WRITTEN
This message displays throughout the creation of the output file, and is updated
periodically to keep you informed of the progress of the execution.
The frequency with which this message is updated is based on the number of records
read, and can be changed by your System Administrator.
DIF FILE TITLE [May 22 run
]
If the output file format for the procedure is a DIF file, you are asked to enter a file title.
Although most programs will ignore the DIF title, this can be used to document the file.
INCLUDE SUMMARY LINE RECORDS (N/y)? [
]
If you do not want the summary lines to be included in the download file, enter “N”.
DOWNLOAD/ SAVE/APPEND/EMAIL file (D/s/a/e)? [d ]
Note: To use the E-mail capability, the following setting variables have to be set
before running Reporter. These variables can be set at any HP colon prompt or
can be included in an install script:
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Downloading the output file
MBF-UDALink
EXPORT DX_MAIL_SERVER “123.456.789”
EXPORT DX_MAIL_SENDER “address@provider.com”
DOWNLOAD STARTED
PC FILENAME: [
]
DOWNLOAD COMPLETED
If you are using Reflection as your terminal emulator, you are prompted for a name for
the file on the PC. Reporter will automatically download the file to the disk drive and
subdirectory indicated by the installation default or your user profile. The initial defaults
are the current drive and the current directory.
These defaults can be changed permanently with MBF-UDALink Manager or for the
session with the “Set Configuration Options” menu. You can override these values by
entering the drive and/or subdirectory at this prompt.
An extension can automatically be added to the file name depending on the output type
selected. Excel, for example, will add .xls or .slk, depending on which Excel format is
selected.
Example:
c:\myfile would go to the C: drive in the root directory
d:\admin\newfile would go to the D: drive in the \admin\ directory
mywork.xyz would go to the default drive and subdirectory but
would have an extension of XYZ
If for any reason you want to abort the transmission,
enter <CNTL/Y> or
press the STOP function key.
REUSE EXTRACT FILE (N/y)? [n ]
Enter “Y” to return to the prompt “DOWNLOAD/SAVE/APPEND file”. You might
choose to do this if a transmission problem caused incorrect data to be downloaded, or if
you want to save the file on the HP 9000 server in addition to downloading it.
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Downloading the output file
If the procedure you are running prompts for an output file format at runtime, the output
menu prompt will be re-issued so that you can reformat this data without having to read
the files again. Enter “N” or Return to continue to the next prompt.
REPEAT PROCEDURE RUN (N/y)? [n ]
Enter “N” or press Return if you are finished with this extract file. Enter “Y” to repeat the
entire PROCEDURE EXECUTION PHASE.
You may be reprompted for new selection values and asked if you want to change the
output file format if this procedure asks for them at runtime.
Saving the output file
PROCEDURE EXECUTION PHASE
——————————————————————————————
194 READ (150 ON PRIMARY FILE), 44 PREPARED, 49 WRITTEN
DIF FILE TITLE
[
INCLUDE SUMMARY LINE RECORDS (N/y)?
[
DOWNLOAD/SAVE/APPEND file(D/s/a)?
[ ]
NAME FOR GENERATED FILE
[
]
]
]
CLOSING MYFILE
PURGE EXISTING FILE (N/y)?
[ ]
REUSE EXTRACT FILE (N/y)?
[ ]
REPEAT PROCEDURE RUN (N/y)?
[ ]
This list shows the prompts you would encounter if you decide to save or append the
output from a Reporter procedure to a file on the HP 9000 server. Select this option if:
•
you intend to use a file transfer program to copy the file to your desktop, to
another HP 9000 server, or to a mainframe computer
•
the output file will be used by another HP 9000 server application
194 READ (150 ON PRIMARY FILE), 44 PREPARED, 49 WRITTEN
This message displays throughout the creation of the output file, and is updated
periodically to keep you informed of the progress of the execution.
The frequency with which this message is updated is based on the number of records
read, and can be changed by your System Administrator.
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Downloading the output file
MBF-UDALink
DIF FILE TITLE [May 22 run
]
If the output file format for the procedure is a DIF file, you will be asked to enter a file
title. Although most programs will ignore the DIF title, this can be used to document the
file.
INCLUDE SUMMARY LINE RECORDS (Y/n) [
]
Enter “Y” or press Return to display summary line records. If you do not want the
summary lines to be included in the saved file, enter “N”.
DOWNLOAD/SAVE/APPEND file (D/s/a)? [ ]
Enter “S” to save the file on the HP 9000 server. Enter “A” to append the data to an
existing file previously saved on the HP 9000 server.
NAME FOR GENERATED FILE [
]
Enter the name of the file in which the output will be saved or appended. The name must
be in a valid HP 9000 format.
CLOSING <file name>
PURGE EXISTING FILE (N/y)? [ ]
If you attempt to save to a file name that currently exists, this message will display. Enter
“Y” to overwrite the old file with the new file. Enter “N” or press Return to be prompted
for a different file name.
REUSE EXTRACT FILE (N/y)? [
]
Enter “Y” to be returned to the prompt “DOWNLOAD/SAVE/APPEND file”. You might
choose to do this if you want to download the file to a desktop in addition to saving it on
the HP 9000 server.
If you choose to reuse the extract file, you will be prompted for the output file format (if
the format is specified as runtime selection). This allows you to produce multiple formats
for the same data without having to reread the files. Enter “N” or press Return to continue
to the next prompt.
REPEAT PROCEDURE RUN (N/y)? [n ]
Enter “N” or press Return when finished. Enter “Y” to repeat the entire PROCEDURE
EXECUTION PHASE. You may be re-prompted for new selection values and asked if you want to
change the output file format if this procedure asks for them at runtime.
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Creating a Procedure Overview
Creating a procedure
Creating a Procedure Overview
All information needed to perform data extraction and formatting is specified as a procedure.
Procedures contain information about:
•
files to access
•
data fields to use
•
computations to perform
•
fields to include in the output file
•
fields to use to sort the output file
•
the built-in functions to use at specific break points
•
whether summary totals should be taken
•
fields to use for selecting specific data
•
selection values or ranges to use for each selection field
•
how to link multiple data sets and files together
•
where the databases and files are located on the server
•
whether passwords for databases should be stored as part of the procedure
•
format to use when generating the output file
This information is converted into a series of tables that are stored in the procedure. A procedure is
not directly executable by the server hardware; it is used as input to the Reporter transaction
processor. Procedures may be executed immediately or saved for later execution.
When procedures are saved:
•
You give the procedure a name, a one-line description, a password and a user access level
(who else can use this procedure).
•
The procedure is saved in a PROCEDURE catalog on the server. The entry also stores
information about who saved the procedure, the date, and other control information.
A procedure catalog can exist in any group in an account, but each group can have only one
procedure catalog.
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Basic steps for procedures
MBF-UDALink
Basic steps for procedures
Step 1 – Select the procedure creation option
From the MBF-UDALink Main Menu select 3. – Create a New Procedure
Step 2 – Select the data source
Select the data source to be accessed or where the files are defined. For example, the sources of
definition can include Views or PowerHouse PDL.
Note: Data sources can be multiple and mixed types of dictionaries. The identity of each dictionary
is kept in the procedure, to permit future modification of the file accesses. Procedure and View
report listings show a sorted list of defined files and, if available, the definition of source for each
file.
Step 3 – Select the tables from the data source
Select the data fields from the data source. These fields become the “working set” for the
procedure.
Step 4 – Define fields for calculations
Define any fields for calculating intermediate or final results by entering computational
expressions. These fields are also added to the working set of data fields.
Step 5 – Define the output file
Define the output file:
ƒ
Select the fields to write to the output file, in the order of appearance.
ƒ
Define the sort fields,
ƒ
Select the sort fields that will be used as control breaks, defining which of the functions
should be calculated at each break.
ƒ
Define any selection fields, and optionally, the selection values or ranges which will limit
the data in the output file.
Step 6 – Define the linkages between multiple files
If more than one file or data set is to be accessed, specify the order in which files are to be read
and the fields used to link files.
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Basic steps for procedures
Step 7 – The procedure preparation phase
If runtime selection criteria were specified, specify any custom prompts that should be used at
runtime instead of the field name.
Step 8 – Specify the output file format
Specify the output format this procedure creates or whether the user can specify the format when
the procedure is run.
If the Views option is used as the source of field definitions, steps 1 to 3 are reduced to selecting
which View is to be used as the working set, and steps 5 to 7 are not required because this
information is built into a View.
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Creating a procedure
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Creating a procedure
Creating a procedure is a simple process. The challenge is knowing where the data source(s) are
located, and understanding the structure of the data source(s) for linking purposes.
The following is a step-by-step process for creating a procedure.
Step 1 – Select the Procedures Creation option
From the MBF-UDALink Main Menu – select option 3 – Create a New Procedure.
Step 2 - Select the data source
Depending on the options purchased, the following selections are displayed:
Use Eloquence root file definitions
The selection is available if you have purchased the MBF-UDALink Eloquence Interface option.
Select this option to create a procedure using an Eloquence Root file.
Use SQL definitions
The selection is available if you have purchased the MBF-UDALink SQL Interface option.
Select this option to create a procedure using an Allbase DBE file.
Use FILE definitions
This selection is available by default with MBF-UDALink.
Select this option to create a procedure using files defined in an a file definition (FD) file.
Enter the menu number corresponding to the selection at the Enter an Option Number prompt.
NOTE: You will be given the opportunity, later during procedure creation, to specify additional data
sources if you want to include data from more than one.
The next screen will display the type of file you are accessing and prompt you for the name of the
data source.
For example:
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DATA BASE NAME [member
]
Enter the name of the data source to be accessed.
The next series of prompts are related to where the data source is physically located. Respond YES
or NO to the “Base in local file group” prompt.
If the data source is located in your current logon account or directory, respond Yes. No additional
information will be requested regarding the data source location.
If the data source is located in another directory, respond “N”. You will be prompted for the name
for the directory where the data source is located.
When MBF-UDALink has all of the information required to locate the data source, it will display
the following prompt.
PASSWORD [
]
MBF-UDALink must read the database to provide access to the data requested. You must enter a
password which grants you at least read access to the database. Entering a blank generates a
password of “;” which will open the database if you are its creator. The password is not displayed
on the screen.
To save the password as part of the procedure, respond “Y” to the INCLUDE THIS PASSWORD
WITH THE PROCEDURE (Y/n)? prompt.
To force the user to enter a password each time the procedure is run, respond “N” to this prompt.
Step 3 – Select the tables from the data source
A list of all tables defined in the database are displayed. You must select the specific tables from
which you want to select data fields.
Respond to the prompt “Enter Table selection” by entering the field numbers of the appropriate
tables, separated by commas.
You will be prompted to enter the fields from the selected tables are you are interested in retrieving
data from. A series of screens will display the fields in each table individually. Select the fields in
the same manner as you did for the tables by entering the menu numbers separated by commas at
the “Enter Data Field Section” prompt.
Once all data tables have been displayed and the desired fields have been selected you will be
asked, ANY MORE FILES FOR SELECTION (N/ y)?
Responding “Y” to this prompt will allow you to enter the name of an additional data source or
file, and add more fields to the already defined selection.
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Responding “N” to this prompt will display the EDIT FIELD DEFINITIONS (N/y)? prompt.
Enter “Y” to change the data type and/or number of decimal places of one or more fields shown in
the above menu.
This feature allows for the specification of field attributes that may not be possible in the source
dictionary. For example, special date types that cannot be defined outside of MBF-UDALink.
Enter “n” or Return to go to the next prompt.
Step 4 – Define fields for calculations
MBF-UDALink does not require you to enter information at every prompt. If there is an uppercase letter in the choices given, this is the default. Press Return to accept the default.
The three prompts ANY MORE FILES..., EDIT FIELD.... and ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL...
will be repeated until you answer “N” to each of them.
ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL FIELDS (N/y)?[ ]
Responding “Y” to the above prompt will display a prompt (like the one below) requesting a new
field name. Respond “N” to stop entering computational expressions.
NEW FIELD NAME [FULL NAME
]
If we were trying to create a new name field, we would call the new field FULL NAME. The next
prompt is where you add the computational expression.
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION [2 + 3
]
The computational expression is created by using the menu numbers of the field involved in the
expression. For example, if we were adding the 1: FIRST NAME and 2: LAST NAME together to
create FULL NAME, our computational expression would be 2 + 3. If we wanted to maintain a
blank space between the first and last name, the computational expression would be 2 + “ “ + 3.
DATA TYPE (X) [
]
Next you are prompted to for the data type. MBF-UDALink will display in () the suggested data
type. Default values are determined based on the computational expression entered and the
characteristics of the field. You can enter any data type. A full list of supported data types can be
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found later in the manual. You can also get a list of data types by entering ?? in response to this
prompt.
Press Return to accept the suggested data type.
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH (26) [18
]
You are prompted for the Field Storage Length. MBF-UDALink will suggest a length based on the
combined length of the fields involved in the computational expression. You can enter any field
length.
Press Return to accept the suggested field length.
You are prompted again for a NEW FIELD NAME. Enter a new field name to continue creating
computational expressions. Enter “N” or press Return to stop entering computational expressions.
Each computational field created will be displayed on the menu. Each new field will be assigned a
field number of its own.
Step 5 – Define the output file
Selecting fields for the output file is done by listing the numbers of the desired fields in the prompt
field, separated by commas, or by specifying a range by separating the beginning and ending field
with a “/”. Enter ALL to include all fields in the output file. See example below.
The fields appear in the output file in the order they are entered at this prompt.
INCLUDE IN OUTPUT [1, 8, 4/7, 9
]
Once the fields have been selected, MBF-UDALink needs to know how to sort and summarize the
output.
At the SORT BY [1
] prompt, enter the menu number of any fields you want the
output file sorted by, in the order in which they should be sorted (from major to minor).
These fields do not have to be included in the output file.
To sort the file by a field in descending order, enter the field number followed by a “D” (for
example “2D”).
To use the summary functions at control breaks, specify the control breaks as sort fields.
If the file is already in the right order, enter “S” following the fields at which summaries are
required.
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If only report summaries are required, enter a zero.
To suppress the printing of a non-sort field, enter the field number followed by an “S”.
For more information on sorting, enter ?? at the SORT BY prompt.
SUMMARIZE BY [0, 1
]
Enter the numbers of the sort fields to use as control breaks. A control break is the point at which
the value in a sort field changes. At each control break, you can specify that any of the summary
functions should be calculated on specified fields.
For example, if you sorted by REGION and specified that it should be a control break, the next
prompt allows you to indicate that at each change in the REGION value you want the function of
“total” to be calculated and printed beneath the BALANCE field.
To specify that you want to use the built-in functions over the whole report (i.e., to have a grand
total line), include a zero in the response to the SUMMARIZE BY prompt.
When control breaks are specified at the SUMMARIZE BY prompt, you will be asked the
following:
ENTER SUMMARY FIELD SELECTION FOR:
report
[7
NUMBER
[1C, 7
]
]
Enter field numbers followed by the built-in function code to be performed at the control breaks.
Enter summaries required at the end of the report where prompted by “report”.
The summary function codes are:
50
A
Average
* (or nothing specified)
Sub-Total
C
Count
L
Low (minimum) value
H
High (maximum) value
E
End (last) value
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Creating a procedure
The function of COUNT can be set to accumulate in one of two ways: it can count all unique
values encountered, or it can count all values. The default will count all values. This can be
changed for the session with the Set Configuration Options menu or permanently with
Maintenance.
A computational field that computes percent or ratio can only be included at one control break. To
compute ratios or percentages based on multiple breaks, create multiple computational fields.
If the computational field that computes a percent or ratio is included in the output file (i.e., has
been placed in the response to the INCLUDE IN OUTPUT prompt above) and has not been
specified at a control break, it is assumed that the grand total value constitutes 100 percent.
To obtain the last value for a field in a sorted group, use an input of “nE”. This provides a
summarized breakpoint value for field “n” of the ending (last) value in the sorted group. This is
useful when detail records are suppressed and the lowest summary level is explicitly defined.
By default, a field without any summary function (count, average, etc.) will contain the first value
of the sorted group.
Now that you have told MBF-UDALink which files to put in the output file and how to sort and
summaries those records, you need to express how you want the data displayed. Do you want just
the summaries or all of the details.
Enter “N” at the SUPPRESS DETAIL RECORDS (N/y)? prompt to produce detail records in
the output file.
Enter “Y” to add records to the output file only when the value in the lowest sort field changes.
If the lowest level sort field is not included in the response to the SUMMARIZE BY prompt,
numeric fields are automatically totalled and the first occurrence of an alphanumeric field for this
sort value is written to the output file. This may result in calculations such as the summing of
phone number, unit prices, or ZIPs.
To turn off the automatic summarization of numeric fields, include the lowest level of sort at the
SUMMARIZE BY prompt and specify which fields are to be summarized. The numeric fields that
are not specifically summarized contain the first value encountered for the sort field.
It is now necessary to specify which fields you want to select on. You can limit an output file by
selecting only the records where certain fields have specific values, enter the numbers of those
fields.
SELECT BY [4P, 6
]
If you enter a “P” after a field number, you are prompted for the selection values for that field at
runtime to determine which records are selected.
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To compare two fields, enter one with pre-defined selection at the SELECT BY prompt. When
prompted for selection values for this field, enter the second preceded by a “$“. Operators such as
“>” or “LE” can also be used.
Entering the same field number twice (once with “P” and once without) allows a certain range of
values to be pre-specified and still allows the user to further limit the selection at runtime. At
runtime, the values that the user enters must be a subset of the values pre-specified, or no records
will be selected.
When you enter values for selection, you can use upper- or lowercase because MBF-UDALink is
not case-sensitive.
The Fixed Selection capability provides an additional level of selection definition and is available
through the optionally purchased Profiles option.
The prompt shown below appears for all selection fields that are to have pre-defined selection
values stored with the procedure. The rules for entering selection values are the same as those
entered at runtime.
In the SELECT BY prompt, the comma (,) represents an AND connector and the colon (: )
represents an OR connector.
“4, 6” indicates that a record is selected only if the BALANCE and TRAN-DATE both
contain one of the appropriate selection values.
The colon (: ) represents an OR connector.
“6:3” indicates that a record is selected if either the BALANCE or TRAN-DATE contain
one of the appropriate selection values.
Enter “Y” at the ARE THE SPECIFICATIONS CORRECT (Y/n)? prompt if all output
specifications entered are correct. Entering “N” will repeat all prompts in the Define Output
Specifications section, allowing you to re-enter the output specifications.
If the database or files are not in the same “local” group that the user will log on to, specify where
they are located by responding “Y” to the EDIT NAMES/LOCATIONS OF DATA BASES
AND FILES (N/y)? Responding “N” will continue to the Defining Linkages stage of procedure
creation.
Step 6 – Define the linkages between multiple files
Once you have responded that everything in the “Define output specifications” section is correct,
you move to the “Multi-file access order” menu.
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FILE ACCESS AND LINKAGE ORDER [1,2,1:3
]
Enter the file numbers, separated by commas, in the order the files are to be accessed.
The link field is assumed to be in the file immediately to the left of a file number.
You can specify otherwise by entering the number of the file to use as the link, separated by a
colon, immediately before you enter a file number.
To use a computed field as a link to a file, enter just a colon before its file number. If more than one
computational field exists, a menu of all computational fields is displayed. Indicate which
computational field you want to use as the key.
In a multi-file extract process, field values are set to null if no records exist for the key value. The
entire record complex is suppressed if selection criteria are applied to any field in these records,
because null values are not a valid match.
To include the record complex when there is selection on the second or subsequent files and there
are no records in these files, specify a plus sign (+) in front of the file number. This is referred to as
the FORCE SELECTION IF MISSING feature.
In a multi-file extract process, you may want to specify records from a file only where there are no
records in a linked file for corresponding key values.
To include the record complex, specify a minus sign (-) before the “link to” file. This is referred to
as the SELECT IF MISSING feature.
For example:
•
1,2,3 defines the linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; file 2 links to file 3.
•
1,2,1:3 defines the linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; file 1 also links to file 3.
•
1,2,:3 defines the linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; a computational field links to file
3.
•
1,+2,3 defines linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; file 2 links to file 3. A record
complex is selected even if there are no records for file 2 for a specific key value and
there is selection criteria on fields in file 2.
•
1,-2 defines linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2. Where no records exist for
corresponding keys in file 2, only records in file 1 are selected.
After you have specified the file access order, you may be asked to select the fields that are used to
link one file to another.
•
The field in the “from” file does not need to be a key and does not need to have the same
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name as the key field in the following file. For example, you can use a product-code from
an invoice detail record to link to the product master, even if product-code is not the
search item in the invoice detail set.
•
If a computational field is used in the linkage order, and multiple computations have been
defined, you are shown a menu of all computations and asked to select one. If only one
computational field exists, it is automatically used and no prompt is issued.
IS THERE A DEFINED PATH BETWEEN TABLES (Y/n)?
If both the “from” file and the “to” file are tables in the same database, MBF-UDALink can often
automatically determine a path between the two tables. This path is often defined as part of the
database structure, as in a master-detail relationship. Enter “Y” to use the defined path, or enter
“N” to specify a custom linkage.
If a defined path between two files does not exist, or if you specified that you did not want to use
the defined path, you must choose a field from each file to use as the linkage between the files.
Enter the number of the field to use to link the “from” file to the “to” file.
SELECT THE KEY FIELD from “to” file [1 ]
Enter the number of the field to be used as a key into this file. The values in this field are compared
to the values from the link field in the previous file to determine matching entries (i.e. to form a
path between the files).
A runtime error will occur if the field you select is not a key.
Step 7 - Procedure preparation phase
The procedure preparation phase is the final phase of the procedure creations process. The
following are all of the messages and prompts for the PROCEDURE PREPARATION PHASE
menu. The screen is cleared for each prompt, which appears at the top of the display. Entering “Y”
to any of these prompts invokes a new menu, which returns here for the next prompt in the series.
ALTERNATE NAMES FOR SELECTION COLUMNS (n/Y)?
[y ]
EDIT NAMES/LOCATIONS OF DATA BASES AND FILES (N/y)?
[y ]
<Output file format options>
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RUN THE PROCEDURE (Y/n)?
[y ]
SAVE CURRENT PROCEDURE (Y/n)?
[y ]
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Creating a procedure
RETURN TO FIELD SELECTION MENU (N/y)?
ALTERNATE NAMES FOR SELECTION FIELDS (n/Y)?
[y ]
[y ]
If any selection fields were specified, you receive this prompt. Enter “Y” to customize the prompts
for selection criteria that appear when the procedure is executed; you will enter the “Alternate
names for selection criteria” menu, then return here for the next prompt.
EXPIRY-DATE[Expire Date (YYMMDD)
<selection field name>[
]
]
For each field specified as a selection field, you can enter a custom message to be displayed when
prompting for selection criteria.
Enter the message you want to use, or press Return to use the name of the field for the prompt
message.
To change this prompt later, use the “FIELD ENTRY PROMPT” of the “EDIT field names and
definitions” menu, under MODIFY a procedure.
For example, the default message for the EXPIRY-DATE field is:
ENTER SELECTION CRITERIA FOR THE FOLLOWING FIELDS:
EXPIRY-DATE[
]
If you entered the custom message shown above, the prompt you see at runtime is:
ENTER SELECTION CRITERIA FOR THE FOLLOWING FIELDS:
Expire Date (YYMMDD)[
]
EDIT NAMES/LOCATIONS OF DATA BASES AND FILES (N/y)? [y ]
Enter “N” if all of the files to be accessed by the procedure are correctly qualified.
Enter “Y” to enter the location for each file accessed. Each database or file used is shown, and you
can change the location or keep the current setting. You will enter the “Edit names/locations”
menu, then return here for the next prompt.
Procedure using data base DATABASENAME
Edit data base location (Y/n)?
[y ]
This prompt can also be used to change the location of a database to be used in running the
procedure, in the case where a procedure is built from a test database, but will be run against a
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production database that is not currently available. The location can also be changed in MODIFY a
procedure.
Edit <type of file> location (Y/n)? [y ]
The name and type of file appears (tables are not prompted for separately, only the database that
contains them) and this is followed by a prompt asking if this particular file is correctly qualified.
Enter “n” to receive prompts.
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Step 8 - Specify the output file format
The output file format menu is controlled by the installation menu prompt OUTPUT
FORMAT CATALOG in MBF-UDALink Manager. If set to YES, the application menu
shown below is displayed at your terminal.
Select a format and proceed as described in
the previous section.
ENTER AN OPTION
NUMBER[ ]
If you enter a value here, the procedure will
always create an output file with the
corresponding format. If you leave it blank,
Reporter will ask at runtime which format
you want for this execution of the procedure.
This option is the most flexible: you can
create a report listing to see if the correct data has been selected and then, without re-running the
procedure, reformat the output as many times as you want and download it to your desktop and/or save
it on the server.
Note: Options surrounded by “[........]” are either not installed or are future
enhancements.
Creating a special output format
If the list of formats does not contain the format you need, you can generate a custom format. Enter
“0” to display the Output File Format Options menu.
The following options are available from this menu.
1:
No data field delimiter character
2:
Data fields delimited by commas
3:
Data fields delimited by tab codes
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4:
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Specify a data field delimiter character
ENTER AN OPTION NUMBER [ ]
Depending on the delimiter chosen, several additional prompts are displayed to control the format
of the output data file.
NUMERICS LEFT JUSTIFIED (N/y)? [ ]
With option 1, enter “N” if numeric fields are to be right justified with leading zeros (for example,
for use in loading databases or graphic routines). Enter “Y” to left-justify them without leading
zeros.
ASCII OR EBCDIC CHARACTER SET (A/e)? [
]
With options 2, 3 and 4, enter “A” if the output file should be in the ASCII character set (HP-9000
compatible). Enter “E” for EBCDIC (IBM main-frame).
TEXT FIELDS IN QUOTATION MARKS (N/y)? [ ]
With all options, enter “Y” if quotation marks (“ “) should be placed around character strings in the
output file. Enter ”N” if no quotation marks should appear. Quotation marks are required by
certain desktop applications such as LOTUS, dBASE and WordPerfect.
Enter ‘1’ to get CR/LF as the delimiter
ENTER DELIMITER CHARACTER [ ]
With option 4, enter the character to be used to delimit data fields in output file records. The
character can be the character itself or its decimal equivalent ASCII code.
ASCII must be used for non-printing characters (for example, tab code) or for ambiguous
characters (for example, “?” which will invoke a help message; “/” which will step back a prompt;
or a digit that will be interpreted as the decimal code rather than an ASCII character). Enter “1” to
use a carriage return and line feed as the field delimiter.
Once your output format has been determined you will be prompted to RUN THE PROCEDURE
(Y/n)? Enter “Y” to run the procedure; you will enter the PROCEDURE EXECUTION PHASE
menu, then return here for the next prompt.
SAVE CURRENT PROCEDURE (Y/n)? [y ]
Enter “Y” to save the new procedure; you will enter the “SAVE THE PROCEDURE” menu, then
return here for the next prompt.
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Now that the procedure has been created and perhaps run once, you will be prompted to re-use the
extract file, where you can specify a different file format from the output format menu without
having to re-run the procedure.
You will also be prompted to re-run the procedure. You can specify different selection criteria for
the same procedure for a different result set.
Creating procedures from Eloquence
Select the source of file definition
This example uses definitions from an Eloquence root file.
Indicate what data base to use and where it is located. You must read the data base in order to
access the root file; therefore, supply a password that grants read access. (The password is not
displayed to the screen.) If you embed the password in the procedure, the user does not have to
enter it when the procedure is run.
Note: Not every screen title and banner will be shown, but this example covers all of the important
aspects of creating a procedure.
Use HP Eloquence DBMS definitions
Select this option to access an Eloquence data base and use the definitions of the data sets and data
items contained in the data base itself.
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Eloquence data base name [member
MBF-UDALink
]
Enter the name of the data base to access.
Press <Enter> key to use default public user
Change this if the database doesn’t allow the public user default.
USER Password [
]
The password is not displayed on the screen.
INCLUDE USER NAME AND PASSWORD (B/u/n)? [ ]
“B” includes both, “u” includes just the user name, and “n” includes neither.
In this example two data sets, MEMBERSHIP
and ACCT-HISTORY from the MEMBER
database will be accessed.
A list of all data sets defined in the data base
is displayed. You must select the specific data
sets from which you want to select data fields.
Select input fields from these data sets.
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Select what data fields to use: File 1
Enter the field numbers of the items you want
to select from File 1. In this example, number,
first and last name, and balance were selected.
Select what data fields to use: File 2
Field 1: NUMBER is not chosen from file 2,
because it has already been selected from the
MEMBERSHIP data set. Fields can be
selected using the range notation. All selected
fields are displayed and you are asked if you
want to access another file.
You are prompted as follows:
ANY MORE FILES FOR SELECTION (N/
y)? [ ]
You may specify another data base. If all
required fields have been selected, continue
creating the procedure.
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EDIT FIELD DEFINITIONS (N/y)? [ ]
Enter “y” to change the data type and/or number of decimal places of one or more fields shown in
the above menu. This feature allows for the specification of field attributes that may not be
possible in the source dictionary, for example: decimal places or unsigned Z/P data types are not
available in IMAGE definitions or special date types that cannot be defined outside of Reporter.
ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL FIELDS (N/y)?[ ]
Reporter does not require you to enter information at every prompt. If there is an upper case letter
in the choices given, this is the default. By hitting ENTER you accept the default. The three
prompts ANY MORE FILES..., EDIT FIELD.... and ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL... will be
repeated until you answer “N” to each of them.
Editing field definitions
In this example, answer “y” to EDIT FIELD DEFINITIONS so that you can add decimal place
information to fields defined in IMAGE root files. You may also add date typing information.
Note: For this example, the field definition of
fields 4 and 7 were edited, giving them two
decimal places. Field 6 was also edited. Its
Data Type, Z, was changed to DY.
When you have finished editing, you see the
prompt ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL
FIELDS.
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Defining computational fields
You receive the following prompt:
ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL FIELDS (N/y) [ Y ]
Enter “Y”. The following screen is displayed.
You are prompted for a new field name for any subsequent computational fields.
Fill it in as below:
NEW FIELD NAME
[NAME
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION
[2 + 3
DATA TYPE (X)
[
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH (26)
[18
]
]
]
]
The NEW FIELD NAME prompt is displayed.
NEW FIELD NAME
[
]
Note: To stop entering computational fields, press <RETURN> at the NEW FIELD NAME prompt.
The new field “Name” is a 26-character string, formed by joining the FIRST-NAME and the
LAST-NAME fields.
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The second computation field is Penalty.
The new field “Penalty” is calculated by multiplying the contents of field 4 (BALANCE) by 0.1
(10%).
Default values are calculated for all other prompts that follow. These suggested values are
determined by the kind of computational expression you enter and by the characteristics of the
fields involved.
The screen is refreshed to show all input fields and all computational fields (each one has been
assigned a field number of its own).
Defining the data in the output file
Select what you want to be written to the output file. Fields used in creating computational fields
do not have to be written to the output file.
The fields appear in the output file in the order
they are entered at this prompt.
INCLUDE IN OUTPUT [1, 8, 4/7, 9
]
Enter the numbers of the data fields you
want written to the output file, separated by
commas, or as a range separated by a slash.
Enter “ALL” to include all data fields.
SORT BY [1
]
Enter the menu number of any fields you want
the output file sorted by, in the order in which
they should be sorted (from major to minor).
These fields do not have to be included in the
output file.
To sort the file by a field in descending order, enter the field number followed by a “D” (for
example “2D”).
To use the summary functions at control breaks, specify the control breaks as sort fields.
If the file is already in the desired order, enter “S” following the fields at which summaries are
required.
If only report summaries are required, enter a zero.
To suppress the printing of a non-sort field, enter the field number followed by an “S”.
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SUMMARIZE BY [0, 1
]
Enter the numbers of the sort fields to use as control breaks. A control break is the point at which
the value in a sort field changes. At each control break, you can specify that any of the summary
functions should be calculated on specified fields.
For instance, if you sorted by REGION and specified that it should be a control break, the next
prompt allows you to indicate that at each change in the REGION value you want the function of
“total” to be calculated and printed beneath the BALANCE field.
To specify that you want to use the built-in functions over the whole report (i.e., to have a “grand”
total line), include a zero in the response to the “SUMMARIZE BY” prompt.
ENTER SUMMARY FIELD SELECTION FOR:
report
[7
NUMBER
[1C, 7
]
]
Enter field numbers followed by the built-in function code to be performed at the control breaks.
Enter summaries required at the end of the report where prompted by “report”.
The summary function codes are:
A
* (or nothing specified)
C
L
H
E
Average
Sub-Total
Count
Low (minimum) value
High (maximum) value
End (last) value
The function of COUNT can be set to accumulate in one of two ways: It can count all unique
values encountered, or it can count all values. The default will count all values. This can be
changed for the session with the “Set Configuration Options” menu or permanently with
Maintenance.
A computational field that computes percent or ratio can only be included at one control break. To
compute ratios or percentages based on multiple breaks, create multiple computational fields.
If the computational field that computes a percent or ratio is included in the output file (i.e., has
been placed in the response to the “INCLUDE IN OUTPUT” prompt above) and has not been
specified at a control break, it is assumed that the grand total value constitutes 100%.
To obtain the last value for a field in a sorted group, use an input of “nE”. This provides a
summarized breakpoint value for field “n” of the ending (last) value in the sorted group. This is
useful when detail records are suppressed and the lowest summary level is explicitly defined.
By default, a field without any summary function (count, average, etc.) will contain the first value
of the sorted group.
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SUPPRESS DETAIL RECORDS (N/y)? [n ]
Enter “N” to produce detail records in the output file.
Enter “y” to add records to the output file only when the value in the lowest sort field changes.
If the lowest level sort field is not included in the response to the SUMMARIZE BY prompt,
numeric fields are automatically totalled and the first occurrence of an alphanumeric field for this
sort value is written to the output file. This may result in calculations such as the summing of
phone number, unit prices, or ZIPs.
To turn off the automatic summarization of numeric fields, include the lowest level of sort at the
SUMMARIZE BY prompt and specify which fields are to be summarized. The numeric fields that
are not specifically summarized contain the first value encountered for the sort field.
SELECT BY [4P, 6
]
To limit an output file by selecting only the records where certain fields have specific values, enter
the numbers of those fields.
If you enter a “P” after a field number, you are prompted for the selection values for that field to be
used at run time to determine which records are selected.
To compare two fields, enter one with pre-defined selection at the SELECT BY prompt. When
prompted for selection values for this field, enter the second preceded by a “$“. Operators such as
“>”, “LE”, etc. may also be used.
Entering the same field number twice (once with “P” and once without) allows a certain range of
values to be pre-specified and still allows the user to further limit the selection at run time. At run
time, the values that the user enters must be a subset of the values pre-specified, or no records will
be selected. When you enter values for selection, you may use upper or lower case, as Reporter is
not case-sensitive.
The Fixed Selection capability provides additional level of selection definition and is available
through the Profiles option.
The prompt shown below appears for all selection fields that are to have pre-defined selection
values stored with the procedure. The rules for entering selection values are the same as those
entered at run time.
In the SELECT BY prompt, the comma (,) represents an AND connector; the colon (: ) represents
an OR connector.
For example, “4, 6” indicates that a record is selected only if the BALANCE and TRAN-DATE
both contain one of the appropriate selection values.
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SELECT BY [4P, 6]
ENTER SELECTION VALUES FOR THE FOLLOWING DATA FIELDS:
BALANCE [> 0.00
]
The colon (: ) represents an OR connector. For example, “6:3” indicates that a record is selected if
either the BALANCE or TRAN-DATE contain one of the appropriate selection values.
SELECT BY [4P: 6]
ENTER SELECTION VALUES FOR THE FOLLOWING DATA FIELDS:
BALANCE
[> 0.00
]
ARE THE SPECIFICATIONS CORRECT (Y/n)? [
]
Enter “Y” if everything is correct. Entering “n” will repeat all prompts in the Define Output
Specifications section, allowing you to re-enter the output specifications.
EDIT NAMES/LOCATIONS OF DATA BASES AND FILES (N/y)? [n]
If the data base or files are not in the same “local” group that the user will log on to, specify where
they are located.
Defining linkages between multiple files
Once you have responded that everything in the “Define output specifications” section is correct,
you move to the “Multi-file access order” menu.
FILE ACCESS AND LINKAGE ORDER
[1,2
]
Enter the file numbers, separated by
commas, in the order the files are to be
accessed.
The link field is assumed to be in the file
immediately to the left of a file number. You
may specify otherwise by entering the
number of the file to use as the link,
separated by a colon, immediately before
you enter a file number.
To use a computed field as a link to a file, enter just a colon before its file number. For example:3
indicates a computational field will be used as the key to file 3. If more than one computational
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field exists, a menu of all computational fields is displayed. Indicate which computational field
you want to use as the key.
In a multi-file extract process, field values are set to “null” if no records exist for the key value.
The entire record complex is suppressed if selection criteria are applied to any field in these
records, because “null” values are not a valid “match”.
To include the record complex when there is selection on the second or subsequent files and there
are no records in these files, specify a plus sign in front of the file number. This is referred to as the
FORCE SELECTION IF MISSING feature.
In a multi-file extract process, you may want to specify records from a file only where there are
NO records in a linked file for corresponding key values.
To include the record complex, specify a minus sign before the “link to” file. This is referred to as
the SELECT IF MISSING feature.
For example:
•
1,2,3 defines the linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; file 2 links to file 3.
•
1,2,1:3 defines the linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; file 1 also links to file 3.
•
1,2,:3 defines the linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; a computational field links to file
3.
•
1,+2,3 defines linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2; file 2 links to file 3. A record
complex is selected even if there are no records for file 2 for a specific key value and
there is selection criteria on fields in file 2. An example would be the generation of a
report including inventory parts from the parts master even though there are no records in
the order detail and there is selection on the date ordered.
•
1,-2 defines linkage order as: file 1 links to file 2. Where no records exist for
corresponding keys in file 2, only records in file 1 are selected. An example would be the
generation of a report of inventory parts from the parts master where there are no orders
in the order detail file.
If the second access file is an IMAGE detail, you can also specify that only the first or last record
should be read in a file, or that the file should be read in reverse order. Append one of the
following letters to the appropriate file number:
68
F
read only the first record in the chain that meets all criteria
L
read only the last record in the chain that meets all criteria
R
read this file in reverse order.
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Reading first or last records means that the program reads until it finds one record that meets the
criteria of having the appropriate key value and meets any selection criteria specifications.
After you have specified the file access order, you may be asked to select the fields that are used to
link from one file to another. Following is a brief description of various linkage scenarios:
•
If you are using an Eloquence data base (and linking between detail and master sets or
detail to detail), the file linkages may already be defined within the data base. If this is
true, you can use the default path.
•
The field in the “from” file to be used as the link to the “to” file does not need to be a key,
and does not need to have the same name as the key field in the following file. For
instance, you can use a product-code from an invoice detail record to link to the product
master, even if product-code is not the search item in the invoice detail set.
•
If a computational field is used in the linkage order, and multiple computations have been
defined, you are shown a menu of all computations and asked to select one. If only one
computational field exists, it is automatically used and no prompt is issued.
Linking from <file> to <file>
Linking from data set MEMBERSHIP to data set ACCT-HISTORY
————————————————————————————
IS THERE A DEFINED PATH BETWEEN DATA SETS (Y/n)? [n ]
If both the “from” file and the “to” files are data sets in the same data base, the program can often
automatically determine a path between the two data sets. This path is often defined as part of the
data base structure, as in a master-detail relationship. Enter “Y” if you want to use the defined
path, or enter “n” if you want to specify a custom linkage.
Linking from file COUNTRYS to file STATES
————————————————————————————
1: COUNTRY 3:CAPITAL
5:AREA
2: COUNTRY-NAME4:POPULATION
————————————————————————————
SELECT THE LINK FIELD from COUNTRYS [1 ]
If a defined path between two files does not exist, or you specified that you did not want to use the
defined path, you must choose a field from each file to use as the linkage between the files. Enter
the number of the field to use to link the “from” file to the “to” file.
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If only one key exists, it is automatically used and you are not prompted.
Linking from file COUNTRYS to file STATES
————————————————————————————
1:*COUNTRY 3:STATE-NAME
5:POPULATION
2:*STATE
4:CAPITAL
6:AREA
————————————————————————————
SELECT THE KEY FIELD from STATES [1 ]
SELECT THE KEY FIELD from “to” file [1 ]
Enter the number of the field to be used as a key into this file. The values in this field is compared
to the values from the link field in the previous file to determine matching entries (i.e. to form a
“path” between the files).
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Procedure Preparation Phase
PROCEDURE PREPARATION PHASE
————————————————————————————
ALTERNATE NAMES FOR SELECTION FIELDS (n/Y)?[y ]
EDIT NAMES/LOCATIONS OF DATA BASES AND FILES (N/y)?[y ]
<Output file format options>
RUN THE PROCEDURE (Y/n)?[y ]
SAVE CURRENT PROCEDURE (Y/n)?[y ]
RETURN TO FIELD SELECTION MENU (N/y)?[y ]
These are all of the messages and prompts for the PROCEDURE PREPARATION PHASE menu.
The screen is cleared for each prompt, which appears at the top of the display. Entering “Y” to any
of these prompts invokes a new menu, which returns here for the next prompt in the series.
ALTERNATE NAMES FOR SELECTION FIELDS (n/Y)? [y ]
If any selection fields were specified, you receive this prompt. Enter “Y” to customize the
selection criteria prompts that appear when the procedure is executed; this will enter the “Alternate
names for selection criteria” menu, then return here for the next prompt.
————————————————————————————
EXPIRY-DATE
[Expire Date (YYMMDD)
<selection field name>
[
]
]
For each field specified as a selection field, you can enter a custom message to be displayed when
prompting for selection criteria.
Enter the message you want to use, or press <RETURN> to use the name of the field for the
prompt message.
To change this prompt later, use the “FIELD ENTRY PROMPT” of the “EDIT field names and
definitions” menu, under MODIFY a procedure.
For example, the default message for the EXPIRY-DATE field is:
ENTER SELECTION CRITERIA FOR THE FOLLOWING FIELDS:
EXPIRY-DATE[
]
If you entered the custom message shown above, the prompt you see at run time is:
ENTER SELECTION CRITERIA FOR THE FOLLOWING FIELDS:
Expire Date (YYMMDD)[
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EDIT NAMES/LOCATIONS OF DATA BASES AND FILES (N/y)? [y ]
You always receive this prompt. Enter “N” if all of the files to be accessed by the procedure are
correctly qualified by group and account. Enter “y” to enter the group and account for each file
accessed. This will enter the “Edit names/locations” menu, then return here for the next prompt.
Enter “Y” if you want to change the location of any data bases or files in the procedure. Each data
base or file used is shown, and you may choose to change the location or keep the current setting.
Edit names/locations of data bases and files
————————————————————————————
Procedure using data base MEMBER
Edit data base location (Y/n)? [y ]
GROUP name [
ACCOUNT name[
]
]
If no location is specified, Reporter assumes it is in the local group. If you will be logging on to a
different group and account when running this procedure, you must specify the location of
the data bases or files.
This prompt may also be used to change the location of a data base to be used in running the
procedure, in the case where a procedure is built from a test data base, but will be run against a
production data base that is not currently available. The location can also be changed in MODIFY
a procedure.
Edit <type of file> location (Y/n)? [y ]
The name and type of file appears (data sets are not prompted for separately, only the data base
that contains them) and this is followed by a prompt asking if this particular file is correctly
qualified. Enter “n” to receive prompts for group and account.
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Specify the output file format
The output file format menu is controlled by the installation menu prompt “OUTPUT FORMAT
CATALOG” in Maintenance. If set to YES, the application menu shown below appears.
Select a format and proceed as described in
the previous section.
ENTER AN OPTION NUMBER[
]
If you enter a value here, the procedure
always creates an output file with the
corresponding format.
If you leave it blank, Reporter asks at run
time what format you would like for this
execution of the procedure. This option is
the most flexible: you can create a report
listing to see if the correct data has been
selected and then, without re-running the
procedure, reformat the output as many
times as you want and download it to your
PC and/or save it on the HP e3000.
Note: Options surrounded by “[...............]” are not installed in your version of the product.
Creating a special output format
If the list of formats does not contain the format you need, you can generate a custom format. Enter
“0” as the desired option and the menu shown below appears:
Output file format options
————————————————————————————
1:
No data field delimiter character
2:
Data fields delimited by commas
3:
Data fields delimited by tab codes
4:
Specify a data field delimiter character
————————————————————————————
ENTER AN OPTION NUMBER [ ]
Depending on the delimiter chosen, several additional prompts are displayed to control the format
of the output data file.
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NUMERICS LEFT JUSTIFIED (N/y)? [ ]
With option 1, enter “N” if numeric fields are to be right justified with leading zeros (e.g.: for use
in loading data bases, graphic routines, etc.); enter “y” to left-justify them without leading zeros.
ASCII OR EBCDIC CHARACTER SET (A/e)? [
]
With options 2, 3 and 4, enter “A” if the output file should be in the ASCII character set (HP e3000
compatible); enter “e” for EBCDIC (IBM main-frame).
TEXT FIELDS IN QUOTATION MARKS (N/y)? [ ]
With all options, enter “y” if quotation marks (“) should be placed around character strings in the
output file; enter ”N” if no quotation marks should appear. Quotation marks are required by certain
PC applications such as LOTUS, dBASE and WordPerfect.
Enter ‘1’ to get CR/LF as the delimiter
ENTER DELIMITER CHARACTER [ ]
With option 4, enter the character to be used to delimit data fields in output file records. The
character may be the character itself or its decimal equivalent ASCII code. ASCII must be used for
non-printing characters (e.g.: tab code) or ‘ambiguous’ characters (e.g.: “?” which will invoke a
help message; “/” which will step back a prompt; or a digit that will be interpreted as the decimal
code rather than an ASCII character). Enter “1” to use a carriage return and line feed as the field
delimiter.
RUN THE PROCEDURE (Y/n)? [y ]
Enter “Y” to run the procedure; this will enter the “PROCEDURE EXECUTION PHASE” menu,
then return here for the next prompt.
SAVE CURRENT PROCEDURE (Y/n)? [y ]
Enter “Y” to save the new procedure; this will enter the “SAVE THE PROCEDURE” menu, then
return here for the next prompt.
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SQL Interface Overview
The SQL interface
SQL Interface Overview
The SQL interface appears in Reporter menus in several places:
The Reporter program - In creating procedures, the SQL interface menu is available to prompt for
SQL product and database names.
The MBF-UDALink Manager program - The interface can be turned off at the system level or on a
user-by-user basis.
Note: This discussion assumes you have a working knowledge of SQL..
Creating a procedure with an SQL interface
When you enter the CREATE a new procedure menu item on the Main Menu, you see an
additional choice for the source of file and field definitions.
Enter the menu number for the SQL option.
If you only have one SQL interface, its name
appears on the CREATE menu.
Enter the number of the SQL interface you
want to use.
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The Allbase SQL interface
Enter the name of the SQL database environment you want to access.
You are presented with a list of tables in the database environment.
Considerations
76
•
Tables are selected from the database environment.
•
Columns are selected from tables.
•
Tables can be linked to other tables if they are in the same database environment.
•
SQL has its own set of data types. Reporter automatically maps these data types to those
used by other definition sources. For example, an SQL variable length string is treated as
an “X” string with length equal to the maximum length of the SQL field.
•
Some SQL data types are not appropriate in an Reporter environment and are enclosed in
brackets [ ] on the column menu. Selecting these items generates an error message.
•
Reporter supports multi-field joins when linking files. In file linkage, when prompted for
the “link from” field, enter the field numbers from the “from” file, separated by commas.
Reporter prompts for the corresponding “link to” fields.
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Creating a procedure with an SQL interface
An SQL example
When you choose the “CREATE a new procedure” item on the Main Menu, you see the Allbase/
SQL choice for file and field definitions, if the Allbase/SQL interface is installed. This example
shows you how to create an Allbase/SQL procedure, linking three tables from MembrDBE.
Enter the menu number for the Allbase/SQL option.
Enter the name of the Allbase/SQL database environment to access.
This screen shows the tables available in the
MembrDBE environment.
For this example, select tables 9, 11, and 17.
You are then prompted for the fields to include
from each of the three selected tables.
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You are the prompted to define the output specifications for the query, including the order in which
you want the files accessed, and the field linkages you intend to use.
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Once links and key fields are selected, continue through the output file decisions.
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Creating FILE definitions
FDGEN
Creating FILE definitions
1: ENTER your own file definitions
Select this option to define the record layout
for a file that should be accessed in this
procedure.
2: Use File-Definition (FD) file
Select this option if the file definitions have
been stored in a file definition (FD) file.
5: Use MBF-Subfile
Select this option to access a MBF-Subfile.
This type of file is produced by Reporter and
contains all the field definition information
used by Reporter.
It is often used as an intermediate file between two or more Reporter procedures.
ENTER your own file definitions
You can enter the definition of each file separately in this section or use an EDITOR program to
create a file with definitions for multiple files. This file is compiled with the utility program
FDGEN. See the MBF-UDALink Administration Manual for a complete description of FDGEN.
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ENTER your own file definitions
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This menu allows you to define a file
definition. Once the definition is complete you
can continue to create the procedure. If you
saved the file definition file, you can re-use it
when you create a procedure.
FILE name [
]
Enter the name of the file for which you are
going to describe the record layout.
You must define all fields from the start of the
record to the last field needed for reference.
The following rules govern creation of an FD
file:
•To correctly access the file, you must enter
field definitions that account for every byte of storage up to, and including, the last field
that you want to read in the record.
•
Fields must be defined in the order they appear in a record, from first byte to last.
•
Each field must begin immediately following the last byte of the previous field. Fields
cannot overlap or be contained by another field.
Entering field definitions
The next four or five prompts will repeat, allowing you to enter the fields that occur in each record
of the file. Unless you created this file yourself, you may have to refer to additional documentation
such as the printout of the COBOL Data Division entry for a file in order to use this option.
FIELD NAME [
]
Enter the name you want to use when referring to this field. When all fields have been defined,
press Return to terminate the prompt sequence.
DATA TYPE [
]
Enter the code for the data representation of the field.
You can only change the way Reporter interprets the physical representation of the data.
For example, if a date is a zoned numeric or character string of length 6, you can define it as Z(6),
X(6) or DY where the latter data type will tell Reporter to apply date properties to it. To change the
physical representation of the data, create a computational field.
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DECIMAL PLACES(0) [
ENTER your own file definitions
]
Enter the number of decimal places in the field (only for numeric data types).
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH [ ]
Enter the length of the field in bytes (characters).
OCCURRENCE COUNT(1) [ ]
Enter the number of times this field is to be repeated. Normally this value is 1.
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ENTER your own file definitions
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Saving the file definition
When all the fields have been defined you have the option of saving the file definition for future
use. The next time you want to access this file, go directly to the “Use File Definition(FD) file
menu” and enter the name of the saved FD file.
SAVE DEFINITIONS IN AN FD FILE (N/y)? [
]
Enter “Y” to be prompted for the name to be used for saving the FD file. Enter “N” or Return if
you do not want to save the file definition. You will then see the “columns in FD file.....” menu and
may continue to create the procedure.
NOTE: We recommend that you save the FD files because you will not be able to add fields from
ANY file when modifying the procedure if you do not have access to this definition source.
FD FILE NAME [
]
Enter the name of the FD file to save in your current directory.
Use File Definition (FD) file
Enter the name of the file that contains the description of the file you want to access. If the FD file
name entered contains the definition of only one file, you will automatically proceed to the menu
“columns in <type of file><name>”.
If the FD file contains the definitions of multiple files, you will first see a menu of file names, from
which you can select the file you want to read. The menu heading will be “Files in FD file
<name>”. Select the file to be read in the same manner as described under “Tables in data base
<name>”.
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ENTER your own file definitions
Tables in data base <name>
This menu will display all the tables in the
database you selected.
ENTER TABLE SELECTION [8,10
]
Enter the numbers of the tables from which
you want to select fields, separated by
commas, or as a range separated by a slash (/).
The names of the fields in each table will be
displayed in turn, allowing you to select the
fields you want.
As fields are selected they are added to the
working set that will be displayed on the
screen after all file and tables menus have
been displayed.
The order in which fields are selected will be
the default order in the report or download file but this order can be changed in the INCLUDE IN
OUTPUT prompt. If there are too many files to be displayed on one screen, the list of files will be
broken into a series of menus. Press Return to move between the menus.
Columns in <type of file> <name>
This menu is a basic menu type and is the end
result of selecting any type of file that
contains fields. The title of the menu will
show the name and type of file from which the
list of fields originates.
ENTER DATA FIELD SELECTION [1/
3,9,11,13/14
]
Enter the numbers of the fields you want to
access, separated by commas, or as a range
separated by a slash (/). By selecting fields
from a table or file, you build the working set
of fields for the procedure.
When selecting fields from more than one file
or table, you may encounter fields with the
same name.
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ENTER your own file definitions
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The prompts shown below will be displayed for each field where a field with the same name has
already been selected.
If there are too many fields to be displayed on one screen, the list of fields will be broken into a
series of menus. Press Return to move between the menus or use the navigational commands
described else where in this manual.
REGION FIELD HAS ALREADY BEEN SELECTED
DELETE THIS DUPLICATE NAME (N/y)? [
]
Enter “Y” if the field is a duplicate and you do not want two occurrences of the field in the output.
For example, the key fields from two files may both be accidentally selected for output and the
second occurrence may be deleted.
Enter “N” or press Return if the duplicate is valid. For example, in a sales history database you can
select the field SALESREP from two tables.
This prompt will occur and you have the option of deleting the second instance if it is a duplicate
or keeping it if one occurrence was the original salesrep on the account and the second was the
current salesrep.
Define output specifications
This menu displays all of the columns
currently selected for use by the new
procedure. These fields will be shown in the
order in which they were selected and they
will be numbered sequentially.
The next three sets of prompts are repeated
until you answer “N” to all of them.
ADD MORE FIELDS OR FILES FOR
SELECTION (N/y)? [ ]
Enter “Y” to include columns from other
tables or files, or if you need additional files
from the current dataset. Enter “N” or Return
to continue.
EDIT FIELD DEFINITIONS (N/y)? [ ]
Enter “Y” to re-specify the data type of a field or specify the number of decimal places for numeric
items. Enter “N” or press Return to continue.
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ENTER your own file definitions
ADD ANY COMPUTATIONAL FIELDS (N/y)? [ ]
Enter “Y” to define your own data fields.
Adding files for selection
When you enter the option to select more files, the original menu is re-displayed. Select additional
files in the same manner. If you select a file that was selected previously, Reporter will add the
additional fields to the working set but not add an additional file to the access path.
Editing field definitions
ENTER A FIELD NUMBER [
]
Enter the menu number for the field you want
to edit. This prompt will repeat until you press
the Return key, to indicate you are finished
editing fields.
Note: You must enter one of the numbers from
the menu above; otherwise, pressing Return
ends the edit process.
DATA TYPE (X&) [
]
The current data type is shown in parentheses.
Enter a valid data type or press the Return key
to keep the current setting.
To indicate the field contains a date, enter one of the Reporter date types or “&” to indicate a date
subtype will be entered next.
DATA SUBTYPE [
]
To indicate the storage format of the date field, enter one of the date subtypes discussed in this
manual. This is what is actually stored in the computer, not the format you want in your output.
DECIMAL PLACES (0) [
]
If a field that is to be used as a value is selected, you will be prompted for decimal places. The
current number of decimal places is shown in parentheses. Enter the number of decimals the field
actually contains or press the Return key to keep the current setting.
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MAINTAIN an existing procedure
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Maintaining and modifying procedures
MAINTAIN an existing procedure
If you make structural changes to a database (for example, deleting, adding, repositioning or renaming
fields in the database), the procedures or Views that access these databases MUST be modified
accordingly.
This menu allows you to change procedures,
and to save and delete procedures.
1: REVIEW procedure definitions
Display the complete definition of a
procedure. You can review all procedures you
created or to which you have been given
access. You can review a procedure before
you save it. You can send the report to a
printer or display it on the terminal.
2: MODIFY procedure definitions
This option allows you to enter the procedure
modification submenu, to alter the
specifications of a procedure.
: SAVE the procedure
This option allows you to save a procedure you have just created into any procedure catalog. You
will be asked to enter a name for the procedure and a description. You will also be asked to specify
which users will be able to access this procedure. If you try to save a procedure with a name that
already exists, you will be asked if you want to replace the old procedure with the new one.
4: DELETE an existing procedure
This allows you to delete any procedure you created. You will be asked to confirm each
deletion.
The deletion is logical rather than physical. The procedure is flagged as being deleted but not
physically removed until the next compaction of the procedure catalog.
As the procedure catalog may be compacted automatically when full, if you want to recover a
deleted procedure, contact your System Administrator as soon as possible.
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REVIEW procedure definitions
REVIEW procedure definitions
If an existing procedure (or a newly defined
entry) is currently loaded, you can press
Return to review it. Otherwise, enter the name
of the procedure to be reviewed.
Catalog directory
Enter the name of the file group in which the
catalog resides. Enter Return to indicate your
logon file group.
The Procedure Review report lists a complete
definition of a procedure. If this report is
printed to the system printer, it prints in its
entirety without interruption.
If this report is displayed to the terminal, it is
displayed in a series of “pages” that can be
reviewed using the standard report techniques.
The Procedure Review heading includes the
procedure name.
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REVIEW procedure definitions
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The Procedure Review body contains:
90
•
OUTPUT FILE FORMAT: The output file format created by this procedure.
•
OUTPUT FILE LAYOUT: The fields in the output file are listed in order of appearance in
the file. If detail records are suppressed for the output, the names of all numeric fields that
are summarized will be enclosed in parentheses.
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REVIEW procedure definitions
•
SORTED BY: Sort fields are listed in the order to be sorted, from “major” to “minor”. If a
field is to be sorted in descending sequence, the field name will be marked <descending>.
If a field is used as a pre-sort field, it will be marked <presorted>.
•
SUMMARIZED BY: A list of summary functions taken at the control breaks.
•
SELECTED BY: The fields specified for selection are listed in the order that the prompts
will appear. If selection criteria was embedded in the procedure, the selection values will
be shown.
•
COMPUTED FIELDS: Computed fields are listed in the order of their declaration,
showing the computational expression used to derive them.
•
FILE ACCESS PATH: All files used are listed in the order they will be accessed. All
fields to be accessed in each file are listed with each file entry. This includes all fields
specified by the user, plus all linkage fields.
•
FIELD DEFINITIONS: Fields are listed alphabetically, showing file names, edit masks,
field headings, etc.
•
FILE DEFINITIONS: Files are listed alphabetically, showing dictionary source where
appropriate.
In the Procedure Review footing:
•
<description> The description that was entered when the procedure was saved is shown.
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MODIFY procedure definitions
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MODIFY procedure definitions
MODIFY name [
]
Enter the name of the entry you want to
MODIFY. This will show you the entry
specifications and allow you to modify parts
of them.
Catalog directory
Enter the name of the file group in which the
catalog resides. Enter Return to indicate your
logon file group.
If there is an active (or newly defined)
procedure, its name will be displayed in the
prompt. Press Return to modify it.
To modify a different procedure, enter its name.
If the procedure is not in your local catalog, you can specify the location of the catalog. You must
have access rights to the procedure to save the modified version; otherwise, save it under a new
name.
Once you have entered all of the modifications to a procedure, you can save the changes.
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Selecting what to modify
Selecting what to modify
This menu allows you to select the areas you
want to modify.
1:
EDIT
attributes
names
and
This allows you to change the name and
location of any database, table, or file used in
this procedure; to change the access password;
and to change the names and definitions of
any fields in the procedure.
2: DELETE computational
fields
This allows you to delete computational
fields.
Computational fields that appear in the output cannot be deleted at this prompt.
3: CHANGE procedure specifications
This allows you to add more fields from existing or new files, to add computational fields and to
change the fields that are included in an output file. You can also change the way the file is sorted,
the control breaks and built-in functions used, and the selection criteria.
4: CHANGE output file format
This allows you to select a different output file format.
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EDIT names and attributes
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EDIT names and attributes
1: Data Base Environment, userid
and password
This allows you to change the name of a
database environment, the user ID and the
password used to access it.
2: Table/SET Names
This allows you to change the name of any
tables used in the procedure.
4: FIELD
definitions
names
and
This allows you to change the name of a field
and its definitions. (The definition means the
type and size information for the field.)
5. DICTIONARY names and locations
Select this option to change the name and location of any dictionary database or file used in
creating the procedure.
Note: Not all of these options will appear on your menu if the procedure you are modifying does not
contain all of these types of entities.
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Data Base Environment, userid and password
Data Base Environment, userid and password
Enter 1 to modify the database name.
MENU name [
ACTUAL name [
]
]
The prompt line displays the current
information about a database used in this
procedure. If the name has changed, enter the
new name for the base.
Table/Set names
Enter 2 to modify the names of tables/sets.
This prompt will only appear if there are more
than two tables referenced in the procedure.
MENU name: MEMBERSHIP
ACTUAL name [
]
Specify the new name for the table(s) at the
prompts provided. Tables will be shown one
at a time so that necessary changes can be
made.
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FIELD names and definitions
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FIELD names and definitions
Enter the field numbers for any of the fields
you want to change, separated by commas.
You can enter a range of field numbers by
separating two field numbers by a “/” as in “3/
5”.
Each field you specify will be displayed, one
at a time, so that you can make all required
changes.
MENU name [
ACTUAL name [
]
]
Enter a menu name up to 20 characters long,
including embedded blanks.
This name will appear in menus and as the prompt for selection values if the LOGICAL MENU
ITEM NAMES prompt in the MODIFIABLE default user parameters menu of MBF-UDALink
Manager is set to YES.
DATA TYPE (Z) [ ]
Enter a code that specifies the appropriate data representation of the field. A plus sign (+)
following numeric data types is optional and, if present, indicates that the number can contain only
positive values.
DECIMAL PLACES(0) [
]
Enter the number of decimal places. This prompt will only appear for numeric data types.
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH (6) [
]
Enter the actual amount of computer storage needed to represent the data item to the computer or
enter Return to accept the default. This length is only changed when the actual file or table length
is changed.
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FIELD names and definitions
FIELD DISPLAY LENGTH (6) [
]
Enter the maximum number of characters to be displayed for a field. You might do this if a field is
50 characters long, but the first 20 characters are all you really need. For numeric fields, the
default value for display is one greater than the storage size, to allow for the display of a negative
sign.
OCCURRENCE COUNT (1) [
]
Enter the number of times this field repeats in the file.
FIELD ENTRY PROMPT [
]
Enter the name that you want displayed if this field is used as a selection field.
FIELD HEADING [
]
Enter a text string to be used as the heading for this field. To create a multi-line heading, enter a
“^” in the heading at the point where a new heading line should start (for example,
“ACCOUNT^NUMBER”). Enter Return to leave any existing heading text. Enter one space to
eliminate a heading for the field.
FIELD EDIT MASK [
]
Enter an edit mask to be applied to each value for this field. Enter Return to leave an existing edit
mask in place. Enter one space to erase the edit mask.
DATE DISPLAY FORMAT [
]
Any field having a date type or subtype will be prompted for DATE DISPLAY FORMAT rather
than EDIT MASK. The format indicates how the date value is to be displayed on a report listing (if
it is to be different from the storage format).
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CHANGE procedure specifications
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CHANGE procedure specifications
Change procedure specification includes the ability to:
•
add new fields and files from any source
•
add/delete computational fields
•
change file linkages
•
change items in output format
•
change sort sequence
•
change selection criteria
•
suppress/enable detail records
You will be prompted through the process in the same manner as you would be for procedure
creation. Make the appropriate modifications as you are prompted through the procedure.
NOTE: Computational fields added through this menu are not automatically added to the output file.
New computational fields can be used to hold interim calculations for other computational fields and
may not be required in the output file. Computational fields that are to appear in the output file
should be added through the INCLUDE IN OUTPUT prompt in the CHANGE output file
specifications menu.
The specifications originally entered are shown above each prompt. Once you enter a change that
makes any part of the original specification illogical, the original specification is not shown. For
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ADD additional computational fields
example, if in your modification you removed the sort on a field used as a summary field in the
original report, it will not be shown in the specifications above the “summarize by” prompt
because it can no longer be used as a summary field.
Note: If you do not change the order of any linked fields, you will not be prompted for linkage fields.
If you make any changes, you will be prompted for all file linkage information.
ADD additional computational fields
A computational field is a column defined in a
procedure or data view.
It can be any data type, can be used to
define other computational fields, can be
written to a report or output file and can be
used as the link field when linking files.
Computational fields can be defined when
the procedure or data view is created or
added later.
In all cases, the basic prompt sequence is the
same:
NEW FIELD NAME [
]
Enter a name for the computational field. This adds a new column to the end of the list of columns
you have selected from tables and files. It is always numbered one greater than the last. You can
use this feature to base new computational fields on previous computational fields you have
declared. Pressing Return terminates the entry of computational fields.
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ADD additional computational fields
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COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION [
]
Enter the combination of field numbers, string and numeric constants and built-in functions to be
used to calculate the value for this field. A complete discussion of computational expressions
follows the descriptions of the prompts.
For the remaining prompts, the program will analyze the computational expression you have
entered and will determine suggested values. Often no change is required to these suggested
values. Situations where you might want to change the suggested values include:
•
matching the data type and storage length of a key field that is to be used to link one file
to another
•
converting several bytes from a character string to a numeric for use in arithmetic
calculations
•
creating a field with a specific data type and storage length for an undelimited ASCII
output file
DATA TYPE (Z) [ ]
Enter a code that specifies the appropriate data representation of the field. A plus sign (+)
following numeric data types is optional and, if present, indicates that the number can contain only
positive values.
DECIMAL PLACES (2) [
]
Enter the number of decimal positions in the number. As this is only meaningful for numeric data
types, it will only be prompted for if you have specified a numeric data type.
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH (8) [ ]
Enter the actual amount of computer storage needed to represent the column in bytes.
OCCURRENCE COUNT (1) [
]
Enter the number of times this column repeats (occurs). For example, for multiple address lines,
enter <cr> to use the default of 1.
This prompt will not occur if the target item is a date type or if the computed item is the result of an
if-then-else computation. The value is always placed in the first occurrence of the array.
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FIELD CONVERSION/MAPPING (C/m)? [
ADD additional computational fields
]
This prompt will occur if there is only one field of type X or U in the computational expression and
the data type for the computed field is specified as a numeric type, or if the computational
expression contains a numeric field and the data type for the computed field is non-numeric.
Enter “C” to have the data converted to the numeric type. Enter “M” if the numeric data is stored
in the field and just needs to be mapped (moved).
The mapping situation can arise in databases when the data portion of a record has been defined as
one string, and the contents of the record have been overlaid into this string with programs. These
“hidden” fields can be mapped into computational fields when creating procedures.
For example, an X(24) field may actually be 12 integers containing values for some columns for
the months of the year.
If this field is menu item 4 and you want to extract the third month, enter 4[5:2] into the
computational expression, “I” as the data type and “M” as the response to this prompt. The integer
embedded in the character will be moved to the integer variable, not converted.
If mapping rather than conversion has been specified for a field value assignment, the Review
listing will show “=>” instead of “=” to indicate that mapping will be performed on this computed
field.
Note: Computational fields added through this menu are not automatically added to the view. New
computational fields can be used to hold interim calculations for other computational fields, and may
not be required in the view. Computational fields that are to appear in the view should be added
through the INCLUDE IN VIEW prompt.
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CHANGE output file specifications
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CHANGE output file specifications
The specifications originally entered are
shown above the Modify prompt. In this
example, the Output order has been changed.
This is accomplished by moving the cursor
with the space bar until it is under where the
change is to take place, then enter the required
information. It is also possible to delete and/or
insert new files.
The following sub-commands can be used in the modify line. They can be upper- or lowercase.
•
D - Delete the characters from the current line that are above each D. The Ds can be
followed by I or R subcommands.
•
D> - Delete from the current position to the end of the current line. The D> can be
followed by I or R subcommands. If the D is in column 1, the line is blanked unless
followed by I or R subcommands
•
I - Insert the text following the I, up to the end of the edit line. The text is inserted in the
current line at the position of the I.
•
R - Replace. The text following the R will replace the current line, starting at the R.
Note:
Any text that does not start with D, R, I or ">" is treated the same as R…
•
>D - Delete from the end of the current line, right-to-left. The >Ds can be followed by I or
R subcommands. If not followed by I or R subcommands, the result is the removal of the
last character (or characters if multiple Ds are used).
•
>R - Replace the end of the current line with the text following the >R. The last character
of the text following >R will replace the last character of the current line.
•
>I - Append the following text to the end of the current line.
Note: Any text that does not start with >D, >R or >I is treated he same as >I…
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CHANGE output file format
CHANGE output file format
Enter the number of the output file format.
NOTE: Press Return to change the format to runtime decision.
If you decide not to change the output file
format, you must re-enter the original output
file format.
Saving a modified procedure
When you have finished making changes, you
are given the opportunity to save the modified
procedure either under the same or a new
name. Enter “Y” to save the modified
procedure or “N” to cancel the changes and
return to the MAINTAIN an existing
procedure menu.
This menu allows you to save the modified
procedure into a catalog in this account. The
prompts are identical to those explained in
the next section except that, being an
existing procedure, it has values already
established for the prompts. These existing
values are displayed above the prompt. Press
Return to keep the existing value, or enter a
new one.
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Saving a modified procedure
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To save the procedure into a catalog in a different group, enter “N” to PURGE OLD ENTRY and
this sequence of prompts will be repeated. If you re-enter the same name, the last prompt will be
changed to SAVE entry into local catalog, which will allow you to save the procedure in another
location, preserving the original.
SAVE the procedure
This menu allows you to save the procedure
into a catalog.
SAVE name [TEST
]
Enter a name for this procedure. The name can
be up to 10 characters long but may not
contain embedded blanks.
If you save the procedure with the name of an
existing procedure, you will be warned that
the name exists and be given the option of
overwriting the existing procedure.
DESCRIPTION [
]
Enter a description for this procedure. This description is displayed as part of the Procedure
Catalog Report and on all procedure listings.
ENTRY ACCESS BY USER [
]
You must also specify which users have access to this procedure. The values you can specify are:
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<RETURN>
Leave current setting.
{user-id}
Allow {User ID} to also access this procedure.
*
Allow all users who can access this catalog to access this procedure.
blank
Remove a user ID
“*”
Access and restrict access to the creator.
{class name]
User class name if Profiles is installed.
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Saving a modified procedure
ENTRY PASSWORD [
]
You can provide a password for this procedure that must be entered whenever the procedure is
referenced.
Catalog Directory[
]
Enter the name of the directory in which the catalog resides. Enter Return to indicate your logon
file directory.
CATALOG ENTRY ALREADY EXISTS, PURGE OLD ENTRY (N/y)? [
]
A procedure with this name already exists in the procedure catalog you specified. Enter “Y” to
overwrite it. Enter “N” or Return to specify a new name or a different procedure catalog.
ENTRY SAVED IN CATALOG
Your procedure has been saved.
DELETE an existing procedure
A user with “AM” capability can delete any procedure in this account. A user with “SM”
capability can delete any procedure in any account.
This menu allows you to delete procedures.
You can only delete procedures you created
unless you have AM or SM capability.
DELETE name [
]
Specify the name of a procedure to be
deleted.
DELETE entry from local catalog (Y/n)?
[ ]
If this procedure is not in the local catalog,
specify its location.
CONFIRM TO DELETE ENTRY (N/y)? [
]
Enter “y” to confirm the deletion of the procedure.
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Saving a modified procedure
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ANY MORE ENTRIES TO DELETE (N/y)? [
]
If you have more procedures to delete, enter “y”, otherwise press <RETURN> to return to the
main menu of the maintenance section.
Note: Procedures are ‘logically’ rather than ‘physically’ deleted. Procedures marked for deletion are
physically removed from the procedure catalog when it is compacted. See the procedure catalog
maintenance section of the Maintenance program in the Administration Guide.
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Types of computationals
Computational expressions
Types of computationals
There are two types of computational expressions:
simple
The value is a combination of other fields in the menu.
conditional
The value is a combination of other fields in the menu but the
value of the computation may be different based on the contents
of one or more of the fields in the menu.
For a simple computational expression, enter a numeric expression or a string expression, which
takes the general form of:
Field number or constant <operator> Field number or constant
A field number is the number of the item as it appears in the item list of the menu display.
A constant is a number or a string. To distinguish between field numbers (which are
always integers) and numeric constants, enter numeric constants with a decimal point.
For example, 3 + 1.0 will add the value 1.0 to the contents of field number 3. String
constants must always be enclosed in quotes.
An operator must be an arithmetic operator if the fields in the expression are of a numeric
data type, or must be a string operator if the fields in the expression are string data types.
You cannot perform arithmetic operations on string data types. There are two special
operators, PERCENT and RATIO, which calculate the percent or ratio of a field value
against the total of that field at a control break.
The arithmetic operators and their meanings are:
+
add
-
subtract
*
multiply
/
divide, giving the quotient
//
divide, giving the remainder
**
exponentiate
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Types of computationals
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Arithmetic operations are divided into three groups and are performed from left to right
by group, and left to right in each group, in the following order:
exponentiation
multiplication and division
addition and subtraction
You can vary the order of operations by using parentheses to group expressions. For
example:
(3 + 5) * 34.
add the contents of fields 3 and 5 before multiplying by 34.
The string operators and their meanings are:
+
concatenate with trailing blanks “AR
” + “X” will create a string “AR
X”
*
concatenate suppressing trailing blanks “JOHN ” * “ ” + “DOE” will create a
string “JOHN DOE”
-
remove all occurrences of a string *ALPHABETICAL” - “A” will create a
string “LPHBETICL”
If no preceding field exists, to change the field justification:
- “RIGHT” will create a string “....RIGHT”. If the field is already right-justified, then
it will become left-justified.
A continuation line prompt is issued if the computational expression ends with an
arithmetic or string operator.
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NEW FIELD NAME
[Name
]
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION
[2 *
]
(continuation line)
[“ ” + 3
]
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Types of computationals
The percent and ratio operators
To include a field in a report indicating which percentage or ratio a value is of its total (or
subtotal if specified), create a computational field:
•
When asked for a computational expression, enter the field number for which
the percentage or ratio is to be calculated, followed by a “P” for Percent or “R”
for ratio.
•
Include the computational field at the INCLUDE IN OUTPUT prompt.
•
No other field reference or literal may appear in the same computational
expression as the “P” or “R” operator.
•
A computational field with a “P” or “R” reference cannot be used as a Sort or
Selection field.
For example, if BALANCE is field number 3 on the menu and you want to calculate the
percentage each region’s BALANCE is of the total, the computational field would look
like this:
NEW FIELD NAME
[Percent
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION
[3P
DATA TYPE (I)
[
DECIMAL PLACES (2)
[
]
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH (4)
[
]
OCCURRENCE COUNT (1)
[
]
]
]
]
In the summary specifications for the procedure, include this field at the levels you want
the percents. The resulting report might look something like this:
REGION
BALANCE
Percent
——————————————————————————————
CE
112.50
21.52
EA
262.50
50.22
MO
25.00
4.78
PA
122.50
23.43
552.50
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Types of computationals
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Substring and subfield manipulation
Substring manipulation allows you to select either a single character or a group of
characters from a string, or bit extraction from a numeric field.
This is specified by:
•
<field number>[<starting position:length>]
where the brackets “[” and “]” are required characters
For example, 3[5:6] will select data from field 3 starting at position 5 for 6 bytes.
The program will check that the string is long enough.
•
Bit extraction is available for numeric fields using the same type of expression
as for substring extraction.
For example, “5[6:4]” means extract 4 bits starting at bit 6 if field 5. This assumes
the first byte/bit is numbered 1.
Subfield manipulation allows you to select specific information from repeating items
(i.e., an item that has an occurrence count greater than 1). This is specified by:
•
<field number>[<occurrence>] (where the brackets “[” and “]” are required
characters)
For example, 7[5] will select the fifth occurrence of field number 7. The program
will check that field 7 has at least 5 occurrences.
To compare two fields, enter one field number in the “when to use” and, when prompted
for comparison value, enter the second field number preceded by a “$”.
Operators such as “>” and “<” can also be used.
If the selection criteria for the first expression is not satisfied, the second will be
evaluated and, if satisfied, the computational field will be assigned the value of
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION(2).
This process continues until the selection criteria are satisfied or until the last or default
expression is reached.
Note: If there is no default value for the computational expression, the
computational field retains the value previously calculated. Default values are
recommended to prevent confusion unless you specifically want to carry over the
value from the previous calculation.
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Types of computationals
As an example, using the MembrDBE database in the demo system, assume that you
want to develop a new region code based on the values of the current REGION and TYPE
codes in the MEMBERSHIP table.
•
All memberships with TYPE = CORP will be brought into a new “national”
region.
•
The Pacific and Mountain regions will be renamed the “western” region.
•
The Eastern and Central regions will be combined into “eastern” except for the
senior and student members.
•
Any members not in one of the above categories will come under a “special”
region.
Conditional expressions
A conditional expression allows the value of a computational field to be based on the
value of other fields in the output file.
A conditional specification is of the form:
NEW FIELD NAME
[new field
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION
[calculation IF when to use calculation]
<connector>
field 1 name
[
]
field 2 name
[
]
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION (2)
<connector>
]
[calculation IF when to use calculation]
field 1 name
[
]
field 2 name
[
]
(as many levels as are needed)
The calculation is set up the same way as for the simple computational field: a series of
field numbers linked together to form an alphabetic or numeric expression.
The “IF” connector allows for the specification of a “when to use” this calculation for the
computational expression. The “IF” must be preceded and followed by at least one blank.
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Creating computational fields
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The “when to use” expression is a series of field numbers whose value sets will be used to
determine if the computational field should be assigned the value calculated by the
expression on the left side of the equal sign.
The connector between these fields determining when to apply the calculation can be:
a comma (,)
Indicates an AND condition between the fields.
a colon (:)
Indicates an OR condition between the fields.
As many additional expressions as are required can be added. Entry stops when an
expression with no “IF” is entered.
The computational field NEW-REGION can
be reported or used to create other
computational fields.
Creating computational fields
A computational field is a column defined in a procedure It can be any data type, can be
used to define other computational fields, can be written to a report or output file and can
be used as the link field when linking files.
Computational fields can be defined when the procedure is created or can be added later.
In all cases, the basic prompt sequence is the same:
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Creating computational fields
Note: This discussion will explain
all the prompts that could be
displayed at this portion of
creating
a
computation
expression. All prompts do not
apply in every instance.
NEW FIELD NAME [
]
Enter a name for the computational field. This adds a new field to the end of the list of
fields you have selected from tables and files. It is always numbered one greater than the
last.
Use can use this feature to base new computational fields on previous computational
fields you have declared. Press Return to terminate the entry of computational fields.
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION [
]
Enter the combination of field numbers, string and/or numeric constants and/or built-in
functions to be used to calculate the value for this field. A complete discussion of
computational expressions follows the descriptions of the prompts.
For the remaining prompts, the program will analyze the computational expression you
have entered and will determine suggested values. Often no change is required to these
suggested values.
Situations where you might want to change the suggested values include:
•
Matching the data type and storage length of a key field that is to be used to link
one file to another.
•
Converting several bytes from a character string to a numeric for use in
arithmetic calculations.
•
Creating a field with a specific data type and storage length for an undelimited
ASCII output file.
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Creating computational fields
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DATA TYPE (X) [ ]
Enter a code which specifies the appropriate data representation of the field. A plus sign
(+) following numeric data types is optional and, if present, indicates that the number can
contain only positive values.
DECIMAL PLACES (2) [
]
Enter the number of decimal positions. As this is only meaningful for numeric data types,
it will only be prompted for if you have specified a numeric data type.
FIELD STORAGE LENGTH (26) [ ]
Enter the actual amount of computer storage needed to represent the field in bytes.
OCCURRENCE COUNT (1) [
]
Enter the number of times this field repeats (occurs). For example, for multiple address
lines, enter <cr> to use the default of 1.
This prompt will not occur if the target item is a date type or if the computed item is the
result of an if-then-else computation. The value is always placed in the first occurrence of
the array.
FIELD CONVERSION/MAPPING (C/m)? [
]
This prompt will occur if there is only one field of type X or U in the computational
expression and the data type for the computed field is specified as a numeric type or the
computational expression contains a numeric field and the data type for the computed
field is non-numeric.
Enter “C” to have the data converted to the numeric type. Enter “M” if the numeric data is
stored in the field and just needs to be mapped (moved).
The mapping situation can arise in databases when the data portion of a record has been
defined as one string, and the contents of the record have been overlaid into this string
with programs.
These “hidden” fields can be mapped into computational fields when creating procedures.
For example, an X(24) field may actually be 12 integers containing values for some
column for the months of the year. If this field is menu item 4 and you want to extract the
third month, enter 4[5:2] into the computational expression, “I” as the data type and “M”
as the response to this prompt. The integer embedded in the character will be “moved” to
the integer variable, not converted.
If mapping rather than conversion has been specified for a field value assignment, the
Review listing will show “=>” instead of “=” to indicate that mapping will be performed
on this computed field.
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Special features for computationals
Special features for computationals
Entry of value at runtime
This function allows a value to be entered at
runtime. The data type defaults to X with a
length of 10 but the data type and other field
attributes can be changed by the user when
creating the computed field.
When used, this function is the only item that
can appear in the computational expression
but the computational field itself can be used
to create computational fields.
$PROMPT - Value supplied by
the user at runtime.
Entry of a value from a file
An initial value for a computational field can
be read from a file.
The $FILE function has one parameter, the
name of the file containing the initial value, in
square brackets. The example that follows
illustrates reading a control date from a file
named FISCAL.
Considerations
• The computed field can be used in
other computations.
• The file usually contains one field
which can be an alphanumeric, a
numeric, or a date field.
•
If more than one value is contained in the field, sub-string notation can be used
to break the field read from the file into multiple computational fields.
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Special features for computationals
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•
You must know the data type and storage length of the field.
•
Long text strings can be broken into several records. The file will be read until
enough characters have been read to fill the string. The string is padded with
spaces if there are not enough characters in the file to fill the string.
•
The function must be the only item in the computational expression.
Convert dollar values to words
The $TEXT function converts a numeric value to words for use in check production and
other similar applications.
If the value converted to words is negative (in most applications negative values would
likely not be selected), the text is preceded by the word “minus”; for example, “minus
twelve & 50/100”.
The default size is 50 characters; if the words generated have more than 50 characters,
the output field is filled with “#” characters and an OVERFLOW warning is generated.
To right justify the value in the field, enter a “ -” in front of the expression, as shown:
COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION [ - $TEXT[n]
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Report Designer Overview
The ReportDesigner option
Report Designer Overview
One of the output formats of Reporter is the report listing. This listing is broken into page parts if
the width of the output is greater than the width of the display terminal. You can scroll through the
report listing, backwards and forwards, or go to a specific page and scroll side-to-side through the
page parts.
The ReportDesigner option allows customization of a report listing online, displaying the results
of the changes as they are made. This customization can include:
•
folding the report line within the display width rather than page parts
•
creating multiple report images
•
adding a page heading and footing
•
page breaks and line spacing on sort fields
•
reordering or removing columns
•
altering the default column spacing
•
setting up different formats for the screen and printer from the same report
•
adding or changing column headings and edit masks
•
fixing the location of columns on the report
•
justifying the data and column headings for each column
The ReportDesigner works with all the other options and interfaces to produce the desired report.
If column headings and edit masks are built into your source file, there is less customization to do
with the ReportDesigner.
If you spend more time designing the output file during procedure creation, there is also less
formatting to do with the ReportDesigner. You can, however, generate the report listing quickly
and do all the formatting in the ReportDesigner.
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Designing a report
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Designing a report
To use the ReportDesigner, run a procedure
that creates a report listing as its output
format. Enter “N” at the prompt LIST ON
PRINTER to display the report on the screen.
Enter “P”, “M” or “T” when the prompt
PAGE
PARTS,
MULTI-LINE
OR
TRUNCATE appears, so that you can work
with the entire report.
Enter Designer mode by pressing the
DESIGN REPORT (F7) function key, or if
your terminal or desktop does not support
function keys, entering “D” in response to the
PAGE-FORWARD/EXIT prompt.
Modify the report format using the GLOBAL
and FIELD edit function.
When finished, save the format. The report format is saved as part of the procedure definition in
the Procedure catalog. Keep in mind that the report definition is a subset of the complete output
file format.
For example, you can create an output file format containing the name and address as well as other
information to be downloaded to an application on your desktop.
With ReportDesigner you can also design a report in the same procedure, containing just the name
and address information in three-up mail label format and print them on your terminal or desktop
printer.
The mailing labels and letters are sorted in the same order for ease in matching, and contain
exactly the same information, eliminating duplication of effort and the chance of introducing
errors by typing.
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Entering Designer mode
Entering Designer mode
When a report is displayed on the screen, you can browse it using the standard navigational
commands or function keys.
F1
FORWARD
A PAGE
F2
BACK
A PAGE
INSERT
TEXT
MULTIPLE
LINE
PAGE
PARTS
F3
F4
F5
NUMBER
OF PAGE
<PART
PART>
SUPPRESS
OR SHOW
GROUP
FORMAT
DETAILED
FORMAT
DETAIL
HEADINGS
SUPPRESS
OR SHOW
LAYOUT
PAGE
HEADING
PAGE
FOOTING
LAYOUT
INSERT
TEXT
SUPPRESS
TITLES
SUPPRESS
HEADINGS
F6
F7
F8
FIELD
EDIT
EXIT
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
ESCAPE
EXIT
NEXT KEYS
LEFT
JUSTIFY
FIELD
SPACING
LINE
SPACING
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
RIGHT
JUSTIFY
CENTER
JUSTIFY
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
LINE
SPACING
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
HEADING
JUSTIFY
INCREASE
DECREASE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
HEADING
JUSTIFY
FIELD
JUSTIFY
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
INCREASE
DECREASE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
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Entering Designer mode
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Field Edit Function Keys
F1
FORWARD
A PAGE
FORWARD
F3
F4
F5
F6
BACK
A PAGE
F2
NUMBER
OF PAGE
<PART
PART>
GLOBEL
ALIGN
FIELD
ADJUST
FIELD
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
BACK
REMOVE
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
ADJUST
FIELD
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
START
POSITION
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
MOVE
FIELD
NEW LINE
JOIN
MOVE
FIELD
ALIGN
FIELD
LEFT
SHIFT
RIGHT
SHIFT
TRUNGATE
F7
F8
EXIT
EDIT
NEXT KEYS
FIELD
JUSTIFY
HEADING
JUSTIFY
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
BEFORE
FIELD
FIELD
HEADING
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
INSERT
TEXT
HEADING
JUSTIFY
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
LEFT
JUSTIFY
RIGHT
JUSTIFY
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
INSERT
TEXT
FIELD
JUSTIFY
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
LEFT
JUSTIFY
RIGHT
JUSTIFY
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
CENTER
JUSTIFY
NEXT KEYS
GROUP
EDIT
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
DISP/SUP
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
SORT
EDIT
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
PROMPT
MODE
NEXT
KEYS
EXIT
NEXT
CHOICE
PREVIOUS
CHOICE
DEFAULT
ESCAPE
EXIT
PAGE
SKIP
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DOUBLE
SKIP
LINE
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Entering Designer mode
To design the report, press the DESIGN REPORT (F7) function key or enter “D” in response to the
prompt.
You see a partial page of data with a column number added beneath the column heading of each
column. These numbers will continue to increase on page parts although the repeating columns
will retain their original column numbers.
To modify the report listing:
•
Press the GLOBAL EDIT function key to enter global format rules to apply to the entire
report.
OR
Press the FIELD EDIT function key to enter format rules for specific fields. Edit rules for
an individual field override the rules entered for the global format.
•
If your terminal does not support function keys, enter “D” to the
PAGE-FORWARD/EXIT prompt to display the prompt EDIT FIELD NUMBER. Enter
the number of the column you want to edit or “0” (zero) to enter global specifications.
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Entering Designer mode
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Entering global format specifications
Global format specifications are formatting rules that affect the entire report. Some of these rules
can be overridden for individual fields using the FIELD EDIT facility.
The first three function keys on each line generate an additional set of function keys. The Next
Keys function key displays the keys in the lower image.
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Entering Designer mode
In PROMPT mode, all possible edit prompts for the highlighted field are displayed. The current
setting for the prompt is also shown. The function key labels display values that can be selected
where possible.
CONTINUE - Retain the default value shown and proceed to the next prompt.
ESCape - Back up one prompt.
EXIT - Accept any changes made so far and return to the GLOBAL/EDIT keys.
Layout
PAGE PARTS are displayed if the report is in
MULTIPLE LINE mode. Press this function
key to switch to PAGE PART mode.
MULTIPLE LINE are displayed if the report
is in PAGE PART mode. Press this function
key to switch to MULTIPLE LINE mode.
GROUP FORMAT moves control break
columns into a header on each section.
IMAGES allows multiple images of the data
to be displayed across the screen. The
following prompts are generated if the
number of images is greater than 0 (zero).
NUMBER OF IMAGES (0) [ ]
Enter the number of repeating images to appear across each page of the output report. To remove
the multiple labels, enter 0 or 1.
IMAGE WIDTH (39) [
]
Enter the character width of the image display block. The total page display width is equal to this
width multiplied by the number of images specified, plus any defined pre-spacing before the first
image.
FIRST IMAGE COLUMN PRE-SPACE (0) [
]
Enter the number of characters of pre-spacing to appear before the first image of the print page.
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Entering Designer mode
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IMAGE LINE SPACING (0) [ ]
Enter the number of spacing lines between format images (or single detail lines). This spacing is
suppressed at the start of a new page.
COLUMN FORMAT (NO) [ ]
Enter YES if the data records in a multiple image page are to be ordered down each image column
in turn on the page. Enter NO if the data records are to be ordered across the page images.
Other global and field options can be used to suppress column headings and align fields as
required.
Insert Text
The INSERT TEXT function key allows a page heading and a page footing to be generated.
PAGE HEADING - Enter a string of
characters to appear at the top of each page of
the report.
PAGE FOOTING - Enter a string of
characters to appear at the bottom of each
page of the report.
For both headings and footings, the string of
characters can include the formatting
character “\” and $DATE and $TIME
functions described on the following pages.
The format of the page heading and footing
entry is:
PAGE HEADING [ entry 1 \ entry 2 \ entry 3]
PAGE FOOTING [ entry 1 \ entry 2 \ entry 3]
where the entries can be any combination of the following:
$DATE - The system date in the format dd-mmm-yyyy (hh:mm); for
example: 02-JUN-1996 (16:29).
$PAGE - The page number of the report; for example, page 1 of 10.
<a text string> - The string of characters to appear in the heading or footing.
Note: This area is limited to 50 characters. The example $DATE/$TIME/PRODUCTS would be 20
characters.
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Entering Designer mode
Considerations
•
Entry:
1 is left adjusted in the heading or footing
3 is right adjusted in the heading or footing
2 is centered in the remaining space
•
The $PAGE and $DATE can appear in both heading and footing and can appear more
than once in either.
•
$DATE and $PAGE appear in the screen display as well as the printer report.
Suppress or Show
The SUPPRESS or SHOW function key allows for the suppression of the column headings and/or
the Report Headings and Footers. The function keys work as toggle switches.
SUPPRESS TITLES - Press to suppress titles
and column headings.
SHOW TITLES - Press to restore title and
column headings.
SUPPRESS HEADINGS - Press to suppress
column headings.
SHOW HEADINGS - Press to restore column
headings.
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Entering Designer mode
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Heading Justify
The HEADING JUSTIFY function key controls default alignment of column headings.
LEFT JUSTIFY - Change the default column justification to left justify.
RIGHT JUSTIFY - Change the default column justification to right justify.
CENTER JUSTIFY - Change the default column justification to center justify.
Field Spacing
The FIELD SPACING function key controls the default spacing between the fields.
INCREASE - Increase the default spacing between columns by one. (Default is 2 spaces.)
DECREASE - Decrease the default spacing between columns by one.
Line Spacing
The LINE SPACING function key controls the spacing between the detail lines.
INCREASE - Increase the number of blank lines between detail lines by one. (Default is no blank
lines.)
DECREASE - Decrease the number of blank lines between detail lines by one.
Prompt Mode
You can enter the Global edit facility directly while in Field edit by entering a zero at the ENTER
FIELD NUMBER prompt.
In GLOBAL edit mode, the prompts described on the next page are displayed, including the
current setting for the prompt.
CONTINUE - Retain the default value shown and proceed to the next prompt.
ESCape - Back up one prompt.
EXIT - Accept any changes made so far and return to the GLOBAL/EDIT keys.
If the defaults are already overridden, the current settings are displayed followed by an asterisk;
for example, DEFAULT COLUMN SPACING (3*).
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Entering Designer mode
The prompts displayed in GLOBAL edit mode are:
REORDER/REMOVE FIELD COLUMNS (N/y)?
MOVE FIELD COLUMN NUMBER
AFTER FIELD COLUMN NUMBER
LAYOUT FOR TERMINAL/PRINTER (T/P)?
BREAKPOINT GROUP FORMAT (NO)
PAGE LINE FORMAT (PARTS)
NUMBER OF REPEATING FIELD COLUMNS (1)
LINE SPACING (0)
NUMBER OF IMAGES (0)
IMAGE WIDTH (39)
FIRST IMAGE COLUMN PRE-SPACE (0)
COLUMN FORMAT (NO)
DEFAULT COLUMN SPACING (2)
SUPPRESS PAGE HEADERS (NO)
SUPPRESS FIELD HEADINGS (NO)
DEFAULT HEADING JUSTIFICATION (CENTER)
PAGE HEADING [This line will appear as the title of the report ]
PAGE FOOTING [This line will appear as the footer of the report ]
[y
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
REORDER/REMOVE FIELD COLUMNS (N/y)? [ ]
Enter “Y” to move a column to a different location on the report, or to remove it. This prompt and
the following two prompts appear until “N” or Return is entered here.
Fields can also be reordered or removed using the MOVE FIELD function key menu of the FIELD
EDITs.
MOVE FIELD COLUMN NUMBER [
]
Enter the number of the field to be moved. If you enter “0” to this prompt, any moves you have
made are reversed, any removed (deleted) fields are returned to the screen, and you are returned to
the default field order.
AFTER FIELD COLUMN NUMBER [
]
Enter the number of the field that the field to be moved should follow. The “after” field can be on
any page part. Enter a zero if the “move” field is to appear as the first field in the report.
NOTE: Entering a blank or pressing Return will delete the MOVE FIELD column.
LAYOUT FOR TERMINAL/PRINTER (T/p)? [ ]
Enter “T” or Return to work with the report as it will appear on a screen.
Enter “P” to work with the report as it will appear when printed.
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Entering Designer mode
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BREAKPOINT GROUP FORMAT (NO) [ ]
Enter“Y” to display breakpoint (summarized) fields in a group heading format displayed at the
start of each group’s detail records. Enter “N” to display report in the default format.
PAGE LINE FORMAT (PARTS)
Enter “P” to break reports wider than the display format into page parts.
Enter “M” to fold the report line within the display width, that is, to create MULTIPLE line
images.
Enter “T” to truncate the report at the end of the display. Any additional fields are lost.
NUMBER OF REPEATING FIELD COLUMNS (1) [ ]
This prompt only appears if the PAGE LINE FORMAT is PARTS. The repeating fields always
begin with the left-most field on the first page part, and are the fields immediately following it.
Repeating fields allow page parts to be lined up correctly.
LINE SPACING (0)
This prompt only appears if the NUMBER OF IMAGES is greater than 1. Enter the number of
blank lines that should appear between each image if in MULTIPLE LINE format or between each
report line if in PAGE PARTS format.
NUMBER OF IMAGES (0)
Enter the number of times the report line image should be repeated in the output display width.
IMAGE WIDTH (39)
This prompt only appears if the NUMBER OF IMAGES is greater than 0. Enter the number of
columns in each image display block. The total display width is equal to the number of images
times the image width plus the first image pre-space.
FIRST IMAGE COLUMN PRE-SPACE (0)
This prompt only appears if the NUMBER OF IMAGES is greater than 0. Enter the number of
blank characters that should appear before the first image. This can be used to adjust the output for
special forms to match the standard setup for printers.
COLUMN FORMAT (NO)
This prompt only appears if the NUMBER OF IMAGES is greater than 0. Enter “Y” if the images
are to be ordered down the image columns like the names in a phone book. Enter “N” to order
them across the page.
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Entering Designer mode
DEFAULT COLUMN SPACING (2) [ ]
Enter the number of blanks that should separate the fields on a report. This default can be
overridden for individual fields.
SUPPRESS PAGE HEADERS (NO)
Enter “Y” to suppress all page headings and footings including column headings for use with
special forms such as mailing labels.
SUPPRESS FIELD HEADINGS (NO)
Enter “Y” to suppress all field headings for use with special forms such as mailing labels.
DEFAULT HEADING JUSTIFICATION (C) [ ]
Enter the code to determine the heading justification for fields on the report. This default can be
overridden for individual fields.
PAGE HEADING [
]
Enter a string of characters to appear at the top of each page of the report.
PAGE FOOTING [
]
Enter a string of characters to appear at the bottom of each page of the report. At the end of this
prompt sequence, the report will be refreshed. Additional global specifications can now be made
or FIELD EDITS can be performed.
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Entering Designer mode
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Formatting individual fields
Press the FIELD EDIT function key, F7, to display the first line of function keys shown below.
Press the NEXT KEYS function key to display the next row and, when at the last row, recycle back
to the first.
The field to be edited is highlighted. It is the first field in a multi-line format or on page part one
and the first non-repeating field in subsequent page parts.
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Entering Designer mode
To edit other fields, press the NEXT or PREVIOUS CHOICE function keys, enter a field number
(it can be on a different page part), or go to a new page part.
The first three function keys on each line generate an additional set of function keys, which are
described in the following pages. The other keys are standard and appear on all FIELD EDIT
menus. The effect of pressing these keys is discussed on the next page.
These keys can be pressed any time they appear and can be used to select a new field to be edited
while in a particular function.
NEXT CHOICE - Move the highlight bar one field to the right. If the highlight bar is on the last field
in the report, pressing this key will move it to the first field. If the highlight bar is on the last field of
a page part, it will move it to the first non-repeating field on the next page part.
PREVIOUS CHOICE - Move the highlight bar one field to the left. If the highlight bar is on the first
field in the report, pressing this key will move it to the last field. If the highlight bar is on the first
field of a page part, it will move it to the last field on the previous page part.
PROMPT - All possible field edit prompts are shown with their current settings. Press Return to
retain the current setting and move to the next.
ESCape - Return to the current FIELD edit function keys.
EXIT - Accept any changes made so far and return to GLOBAL/FIELD function keys.
To perform the same function on all fields (for example, to change all field headings):
•
Highlight the first field to be edited.
•
Press the INSERT TEXT key and the FIELD HEADING key.
•
Insert the new heading.
•
Press the NEXT CHOICE key to highlight the next field.
•
Repeat the sequence, skipping over any fields that have the correct heading.
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Entering Designer mode
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Move Field
The MOVE FIELD function key is used to switch the position of a field with that of the field on
either side of it, or to remove it from the report.
FORWARD - Switch the positions of the
highlighted field and the field on its right.
BACK - Switch the positions of the
highlighted field and the field on its left.
REMOVE - Remove the highlighted field
from the report. To restore all removed fields,
use the DEFAULT key.
DEFAULT - Return all removed fields to the
report and restore the field columns to their
original order. This is similar to an UNDO
function but affects all changes.
Align Field
The ALIGN function key is used to change the position of the field in relation to the field on its
left, or to reduce the column width.
NEW LINE - Move the highlighted field to a
new line if in MULTIPLE mode or to the next
part if in PARTS mode.
JOIN - Concatenate the highlighted field to
the last non-blank character of the field to its
left, with one blank separating them.
START POSITION - Enter the column
number in which this field is to start. The
default is immediately after the field on its
left, following the default number of blank
columns. This entry forces the field to begin
in a specific column.
DEFAULT - Restore the highlighted field to
its original position with its original field
length.
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Entering Designer mode
Adjust Field
The ADJUST function key shifts a field one position in either direction.
LEFT SHIFT - Move the entire field one
position to the left.
RIGHT SHIFT - Move the entire field one
position to the right.
TRUNCATE - Remove one character position
from the end of the highlighted field. Use
prompt mode to restore the length if too many
characters are truncated.
DEFAULT - Return the highlighted field to its
original position.
Insert Text
The INSERT TEXT function key allows for the insertion of characters before and after the data in
the report line. It can also modify the field heading and edit mask.
BEFORE FIELD - Insert a string of characters in front of the highlighted field. If spacing is
required, add one or more blanks to the string value. To remove the string, enter a blank.
FIELD HEADING - Change the predefined field heading. Enter the heading when prompted. To
create a multi-line heading, enter a “^” between the lines. For example, “First^Name” would
generate a two-line heading. To restore the heading to its previous value, enter a blank.
FIELD MASK - To change the way a field is displayed, enter a field edit mask or date format when
prompted. To remove the edit mask, enter a blank.
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Entering Designer mode
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Field Justify
The FIELD JUSTIFY function key controls the default justification of data within the field width.
LEFT JUSTIFY - Align the contents of the highlighted field with the left margin.
RIGHT JUSTIFY - Align the contents of the highlighted field with the right margin.
DEFAULT - Restore the highlighted field to its default justification (left for alphanumeric fields,
right for numeric).
Heading Justify
The HEADING JUSTIFY function key controls the default justification for the field heading.
LEFT JUSTIFY - Align the heading for the highlighted field with the left of the column width.
RIGHT JUSTIFY - Align the heading for the highlighted field with the right of the column width.
CENTER JUSTIFY - Center the heading for the highlighted field within the column width.
DEFAULT - Restore the default field heading justification.
Sort Edit
The SORT EDIT function key is used to cause sort key values to be repeated on each report line.
DISPLAY REPEAT - This key will only appear for fields that are sort items. Force the value of the
field to appear on each report line.
DEFAULT - Suppress the printing of the highlighted field after the first occurrence.
Group Edit
The GROUP EDIT function key is used to add blanks lines before total and subtotal lines and to
generate page breaks on specific sort fields. The field must have been identified as a control break
for these prompts to appear (or be entered at SUMMARIZE BY prompt in procedure creation).
PAGE SKIP - Generate a page skip before printing the first value for a sort item.
DOUBLE SKIP - Insert two blank lines after the subtotal line for this group.
LINE SKIP - Insert one blank lines after the subtotal line for this group.
DEFAULT - Remove the blank line(s) after the subtotal line for this group.
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Entering Designer mode
Prompt Mode
The PROMPT function key is used to generate a sequence of prompts for all the items that can be
changed for a particular field. The current settings are displayed.
In PROMPT mode, all possible edit prompts for the highlighted field are displayed. The current
setting for the prompt is also shown.
CONTINUE - Retain the default value shown and proceed to the next prompt.
ESCape - Back up one prompt.
EXIT - Accept any changes made so far and return to the GLOBAL/FIELD keys.
If the defaults are already overridden, the current settings are displayed suffixed by an asterisk; for
example, Field Column Spacing (4*).
The prompts displayed in PROMPT mode are:
DISPLAY REPEATING SORT FIELD (N)[
SUMMARY LINE SPACING (0)
FIELD COLUMN WIDTH (11)
FIELD START POSITION (31)
FIELD COLUMN SPACING (2)
FIELD LINE SPACING (0)
HEADING JUSTIFICATION
FIELD JUSTIFICATION
[
FIELD HEADING
]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
BALANCE]
[Balance^Owing]
[
]
[ZZZ.ZZ
]
[
]
[
]
FIELD EDIT MASK
FIELD TEXT
DISPLAY REPEATING SORT FIELD (N) [
]
This prompt only appears if the field is a sort field. By default, the value in a sort field is only
displayed when the value in that field changes. Enter “Y” to print the value of the sort field on each
report line.
SUMMARY LINE SPACING (0) [ ]
Enter 0, 1 or 2 as the number of spacing lines following the summary line for this field when it
immediately precedes the next group of detail lines. Enter 3 to force a new page rather than line
spacing.
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Entering Designer mode
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FIELD COLUMN WIDTH (14) [ ]
The column width is determined by the edit mask or the field heading length, whichever is longer.
If an alphanumeric field is made smaller, Reporter will truncate the values in the field. If a numeric
field is made too small to contain its values, the field will be filled with ### characters. Enter a
new value for the width of this column, up to the maximum width allowed.
FIELD START POSITION (21) [
]
Enter the starting column for this field. A column ruler is shown at the bottom of the report to
assist in spacing.
FIELD COLUMN SPACING (2) [ ]
Enter the number of blank columns to separate this field from the one that precedes it. This field
can be concatenated to the field on its left by entering “+” as a prefix to the number of blank
columns to be printed. For example, a field column spacing of “+1” for LAST-NAME would align
the last name up to the last non-blank of FIRST-NAME, with one space between the two names.
FIELD LINE SPACING (0) [
]
Enter line spacing to force this field to a new line or page part. Enter “0” for no spacing, ”1” for the
next line, “2” for skip a line, etc.
HEADING JUSTIFICATION [ ]
Enter the code for the heading justification for this field.
FIELD JUSTIFICATION [ ]
Enter the code for the field justification for this field.
FIELD HEADING [
]
Enter the new field heading. To indicate a multi-line heading, place a “^” wherever a new line is to
start (for example, EXPIRY^DATE). To retain the default shown, press Return. Enter a blank to
erase the heading.
FIELD EDIT MASK [
]
Enter an Edit Mask to tell ReportDesigner how the values for a field should be displayed in the
report.
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Entering Designer mode
FIELD TEXT [
]
Enter a string of characters to be displayed on the report line in front of this field.
At the end of the prompt mode sequence, you can:
•
select another field for editing
•
specify that you want to enter global format specifications (i.e. enter a field number of
zero)
•
press return at the prompt for another field to edit, so you can see the effect of the changes
you have made. You can then print the formatted report or go back into Report Designer
and make more changes.
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Editing concepts
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Editing concepts
The following concepts used in the ReportDesigner are discussed in this section:
•
justification of data and field headings within the field column
•
field edit masks to modify how data is displayed on the report line
•
display formats to allow different layouts on the screen and printer from the same
procedure
•
multi-line reports to allow the display of a complete record on one screen or printer page
and to create special forms such as mailing labels
•
creating group headers
Justification
Both the contents of a field and its field heading can be justified within the maximum field width.
The defaults are:
•
Headings are centered over the maximum field width.
•
Alphanumeric items are left justified.
•
Numeric items are right justified.
Using the GLOBAL edits facility, the default heading justification can be changed for all fields in
the report and the justification for individual fields can then be modified with the FIELD edit
facility.
For field headings, the choices are:
C - centered
R - right justified
L - left justified
Alphanumeric fields can be right justified and numerics left justified using the FIELD edits.
Report Listing
page 1 of 3
Left
RightCentered
Left
Adjusted
AdjustedAdjusted Adjusted
——[1]—+——+——[2]—+——+——[3]—+——+——+-[4]+———
Frank
138
Alaopa010704
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Editing concepts
Jean
Amoux010509
Sean
Connery010706 6129415555
8554711
Paul
Dauer010611
3037724599
Kirby
Dick010706
4087385186
——+——1——+——2——+——3——+——4——+——5——+—
PAGE-FORWARD/EXIT (F/e)? [ ]
In this example:.
•
The first name is left justified (by default) and its heading has been left justified
•
The last name and its heading have been right justified.
•
The date field (numeric) has been positioned at the default, which is centered.
•
The phone number and its heading have been left adjusted.
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Editing concepts
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Edit masks
Edit masks are combinations of the substitution and insertion character that affect how a field is
displayed on the output report. One character from the data field is assigned to each substitution
character in turn. Insertion characters (any character not in the list shown below) are printed as is.
The following characters can be included in a field edit mask:
SUBSTITUTION
CHARACTER
^
Z
$
*
.
!
mask( )
maskmaskCR
maskDR
DEFINITION
Insert actual data character in this position.
Suppress leading zeros (must be upper case).
Suppress leading zeros and place a dollar sign before the left-most digit.
Replace all leading zeros with asterisks.
Align decimal point with decimal positions defined in the field.
Put a decimal point in this position, regardless of the number of defined
decimals for this field.
Format as indicated by the edit mask; if the value is negative, enclose it
in parentheses.
Format as indicated by the edit mask; if the value is negative, it will
print with a trailing negative sign.
Format as indicated by the edit mask; if the value is negative, it will
print followed by “CR”.
Format as indicated by the edit mask; if the value is negative, it will
print followed by “DR”.
Any other character is considered an insertion character, and is displayed at that position in the
field.
When you specify an edit mask, you must allow a character for the sign position. For example, an
edit mask of $$$$$$.^^ can hold a maximum value of 9999.99 because one character is taken up
by the $ and another is reserved in case a negative sign is required.
If your edit mask is not large enough to contain the field values, the field will be filled with ###
characters.
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Editing concepts
Some examples follow.
EDIT MASK
VALUE
^^^-^^^
^^/^^/^^
$$$$$$.^^
$$$,$$$.^^
***,**$.^^
$$$,$$$.^^( )
123456
010186
100000
100000
100000
100000
-100000
9995551212
(^^^) ^^^-^^^^
RESULT
123-456
01/01/86
$1000.00
$1,000.00
**$1,000.00
$1,000.00
($1,000.00)
(999) 555-1212
Creating a test file
Create a file for testing download of various type
page 1A of 3
NUMBER LAST EXPIRY-DATE LAST-PAID-DATE REGION TYPE
BALANCE
JOIN-DATE
[1]+------------[2]------+-------[3]---------+------[4]+---------+------[5]---+-----[6]-+-------[7]--+--------+----[8]
10066
Dick
010706
000706
PA
STU
12.50
000706
10173
Lelo
010613
000613
PA
IND
25.00
000613
10181
Tark
010721
000721
CE
IND
25.00
000721
10182
Conn
010706
000706
CE
STU
12.50
000706
10183
Rath
010721
000630
PA
IND
10.00
000721
[1]+------------[2]------+-------[3]---------+------[4]+---------+------[5]---+-----[6]-+-------[7]--+--------+----[8]
DATE DISPLAY FORMAT [YYMMDD ]
DATE SEPARATOR () [- ]
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DATE DISPLAY FORMAT [YYMMDD ]
Enter a date display format if required—valid formats are:
YYMMDD, YYMMMDD, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMMDD (year-month-day)
MMDDYY, MMMDDYY, MMDDYYYY, or MMMDDYYYY (month-day-year)
DDMMYY, DDMMMYY, DDMMYYYY, or DDMMMYYYY (day-month-year)
YYMM, YYMMM, YYYYMM or YYYYMMM (year-month)
MMYY, MMMYY, MMYYYY or MMMYYYY (month-year)
MMDD or MMMDD (month-day)
DDMM or DDMMM (day-month)
YYDDD or YYYYDDD (year-day)
DDDYY or DDDYYYY (day-year)
DATE SEPARATOR() [ ]
Enter a separator character for the date display format if required. Typically, “-”, “/” or a blank are
used as separators.
Press Return to indicate that you do not want a separator and the date will print as 951231 (for
example). Enter “0” to cancel any existing separator.
This prompt only appears if you enter a date display format. To change the date separator, re-enter
the date display format.
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Display formats
Display formats
Reporter adjusts the report line to fit the output display width: usually 79 characters for the screen
and 132 for a printer.
The LAYOUT FOR TERMINAL/PRINTER prompt in the GLOBAL edits allows you to design a
report at the screen to be printed on a printer with a display width greater than that of the screen.
To view the portion of the screen outside the display width, press the “PART>” and “< PART”
function keys. The prompt shown below allows you to go to the next part by pressing Return or to
go to the hidden portion of the page part by entering a starting location.
For example, enter 54 to see columns 54 to 132. When you press PART, enter 1 to re-display
columns 1 to 80.
Press Return to move a page part
DISPLAY from position [
]
You can produce two different formats from the same procedure, one for the screen and one for the
printer.
Three field edit items determine the different formats: field column width, field start position, and
field column spacing.
As long as the values of these edit items have been defined for one of the two formats, the formats
are identical.
To create different formats:
•
Run the procedure to create the report.
•
Enter ReportDesigner mode.
•
In the global edit specifications, specify whether you want to create a format for the
terminal or the printer with the prompt: LAYOUT FOR TERMINAL/PRINTER (T/P) ?
•
In field edit mode, change the length or fixed starting location for any field or change the
spacing between specific columns.
•
Return to global edit specifications and request the other layout format.
•
In field edit mode, change the field length, fixed start location, or spaces between
columns for some of the fields.
Changing one of the three edit items for a field in the terminal display format has no effect on the
printer layout for this report.
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Display formats
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A typical use of this feature is the creation of a screen format where all fields have been truncated
as much as possible or codes printed rather than their descriptions, and the spacing between
columns minimized to get as much data onto one page part as possible.
This may be useful for fast lookup of certain information where an entire field is not needed to
obtain the required information.
A complete record of the information can be sent to the printer. All fields are printed at their full
lengths and with columns spaced for readability.
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Display formats
Page parts and multiple line formats
If there is too much data in the report line to fit within the display width of the terminal or printer,
the report line is normally broken into page parts.
Each page part is identified by a letter after the page number such as page 1B of 12 or page 1C of
12. The first field in the report line is repeated to assist in lining up the page parts after printing or
on the screen.
With ReportDesigner, additional capabilities are available:
•
More than one field can be repeated to assist in lining up the parts.
•
The data can be modified to fit more information on each part.
•
The data that will not fit on the first report line can be displayed on a second line rather
than on a new part. Additional report lines are added as necessary.
The report line is folded within the display area by selecting MULTIPLE LINE IMAGES when
printing the report.
In this mode, field headings are suppressed to maximize the amount of data that appears on the
report image. To label data, use the INSERT TEXT function of FIELD EDIT to add text before
and/or after the field value.
In page part format:
•
The page parts are labelled “A”, “B”, “C”, etc. As many page parts as are necessary are
used.
•
There is a “>” in the last position of the dashed line under the report, to indicate there are
more page parts following this one.
•
There is a “<” in the first position of the dashed line under the report, to indicate there are
more page parts before this one.
•
The prompt at the end of the page adjusts to reflect the choices available. For example,
when you are at page part 1B of this report, you can only go back or exit; this is the last
page.
In multiple-line format:
•
Fields are printed on the first line until there is no room to display a complete field. As
many lines as are necessary are used to print the record.
•
The field headings are also “folded” and only the first line of the field heading is
displayed.
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Display formats
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Sample page part format
LIST REPORT ON PRINTER (N/y)? [ ]
PAGE PARTS, MULTI-LINE OR TRUNCATE (P/m/t)? [P
]
This is the first page part of the report
page 1A of 1
Name
ADDRESS
——————————————————————————————
Sean Connery
Box 2139
David Fletcher
294 West Ogden Ave.
Andrei Tarkovsky
P.O. Box 749
Frank Alaopa
Box 4353
Jean Amoux
21 Cranberry Street
Mark Gibson
39406 Mentor Route
Jerry Holst
971 Park Ave.
Lynn Mawerston
1095 Bloomfield Avenue
Russell Wilson
3300 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Paul Dauer
1485 Meeker Drive
——————————————————————————————
PAGE-FORWARD/EXIT (F/e)? [ ]
This is the second part of Page 1
page 1B of 1
Name
CITY
STATE
ZIP
——————————————————————————————
Sean Connery
Minneapolis
MN
55424
David Fletcher
Westmount
IL
60559
Andrei Tarkovsky
Beeville
TX
78102
Frank Alaopa
SilverSprings
MD
20901
Jean Amoux
Brooklyn
NY
11201
Mark Gibson
Willoughby
OH
44094
Jerry Holst
Orange
NJ
07050
Lynn Mawerston
WestCaldwell
NJ
07006
Russell Wilson
Philadelphia
PA
19130
Paul Dauer
Longmont
CO
80501
——————————————————————————————
EXIT/PAGE-BACK (E/b)? [ ]
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Display formats
Default multiple-line format
PAGE PARTS, MULTI-LINE OR TRUNCATE (P/M/T)? [M
This sample shows the Multiple Line format
FIRST-NAME
LAST-NAME ADDRESS
CITY
]
page 1 of 2
STATE ZIP
———————————————————————————————————————
Frank
Alaopa
Box 4353
SilverSprings
MD
20901
Jean
Amoux
Sean
Connery
21Cranberry Street
Brooklyn
NY
11201
Box2139
Minneapolis
MN
55424
———————————————————————————————————————
PAGE-FORWARD/EXIT(F/e)?[]
This default format can be customized with a combination of global and field edits.
In GLOBAL edits:
•
Specify two images for two-up mailing labels (3.5 inches times 6 characters to the inch,
plus one for the gap between them).
•
Add as many characters to the beginning to make the labels match the printer, to avoid
adjusting the printer. (Eight characters makes things appear properly on the screen.)
•
Add two blank lines to the four detail lines, to make up the six lines to the inch for the
labels.
•
Request column format and remove page headings (left in for this example).
In FIELD edits:
•
Press ALIGN then NEXT CHOICE until LAST-NAME is highlighted, then press JOIN.
Repeat for STATE.
•
Any unnecessary fields can be REMOVED with the MOVE sub-functions and any final
ADJUSTments and other ALIGNments can be performed.
Press EXIT to refresh the screen at any time.
SAVE the format when complete.
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Display formats
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Sample 2-up mailing labels
page 1 of 3
——————————————————————————————
Frank Alaopa
Paul Dauer
Box 4353
1485 Meeker Drive
Silver Springs MD
Longmont CO
20901
80501
Jean Amoux
Kirby Dick
21 Cranberry Street
740 Almanor Ave
Brooklyn NY
Sunnyvale CA
11201
94086
Sean Connery
David Fletcher
Box 2139
294 West Ogden Ave.
Minneapolis MN
Westmount IL
55424
60559
Mark Gibson
Lynn Mawerston
39406 Mentor Route
1095 Bloomfield Avenue
Willoughby OH
West Caldwell NJ
44094
07006
Jerry Holst
Basil Rathbone
971 Park Ave.
415 W. Foothill Blvd.
Orange NJ
Claremont CA
07050
91711
——————————————————————————————
Headers and footers can also be suppressed.
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Creating group headers
Creating group headers
In many reports there are several sort fields that always change together and take up space on detail
lines, often forcing page parts where they are not really necessary. This example shows how to move
this repeating information up into a “report header”.
Create the report as you normally would. Put the fields to be moved into the group header on the left of
the INCLUDE IN OUTPUT line. Sort on only one of the fields that change together.
The sample shown, above right, is the result of creating the report and pressing:
F7 DESIGN REPORT to enter the Report Designer option.
F6 GLOBAL EDIT to indicate you want to enter GLOBAL EDIT options.
Return to exit GLOBAL edit [ ].
Note: A detailed description of the Global and Field Edit keys is explained earlier in this chapter.
The following examples provide a brief explanation of the functionality of this option of
Reporter.
F1 LAYOUT - Display the LAYOUT options.
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F2 GROUP FORMAT - Move the control break field value (sort fields with summaries specified)
onto “header lines”. This is a toggle function key. When in GROUP formats, this key shows
DETAIL FORMAT. To return to detail format, press the key again.
Note: Enter the control break fields first in the INCLUDE IN OUTPUT response when creating a
procedure using GROUP FORMAT. Fields can be moved to column 1 but it saves effort and
eliminates possible confusion.
F3 DETAIL HEADINGS - Move the column headings from the page header to the top of each
detail group. Skip this step if you want the column headings at the top of the page only. This is a
toggle function key. When in DETAIL HEADINGS it will show PAGE HEADING. To return to
PAGE HEADINGS, press the function key again.
F1 EXIT - Exit from GLOBAL edits.
F7 FIELD EDIT - Enter FIELD EDITS.
F4 NEXT CHOICE - Move the highlight bar to the REGION-NAME field.
F1 MOVE - Access MOVE functions.
F2 BACK - Move the field from column 1 up into the group header. (If the field is not in column 1,
press F2 multiple times until the field moves into the header.)
F7 ESCape - Return to the FIELD EDIT keys.
F4 NEXT CHOICE - Move the highlight bar to the NUMBER field.
F2 ALIGN - Access ALIGN functions.
F3 START POSITION - Generate the prompt for the starting position for the NUMBER. This is
optional and serves to highlight the break points on the left margin.
F7 ESCape - Return to the FIELD EDIT keys.
F4 NEXT CHOICE twice - Move to the EXPIRY-DATE field.
F7 NEXT KEYS - Locate INSERT TEXT function.
F1 INSERT TEXT - Access Insert text functions.
F3 FIELD HEADING - Add a new column heading as appropriate. Only one line of column
heading is allowed in this format.
F6 FIELD MASK - Add a field or date mask as appropriate.
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Common keys
NEXT CHOICE - Move the highlight bar one field to the right. If the highlight bar is on the last
field in the report, pressing this key will move it to the first field. If the highlight bar is on the last
field of a page part, it will move it to the first non-repeating field on the next page part.PREVIOUS
CHOICE - Move the highlight bar one field to the left. If the highlight bar is on the first field in the
report, pressing this key will move it to the last field. If the highlight bar is on the first field of a
page part, it will move it to the last field on the previous page part.
ESCape - Return to the previous menu.
EXIT - Return to the ReportDesigner mode.
PROMPT MODE - Generate a sequence of prompts for all the items that can be changed for a
particular field. The current settings are displayed
Field edit keys
MOVE FIELD - Switch the position of a field with that of the field on either side of it or to remove
it from the report.
FORWARD - Switch the positions of the highlighted field and the field on its right.
BACK - Switch the positions of highlighted field and the field on its left.
REMOVE - Remove the highlighted field from the report. To retrieve the field, use the DEFAULT
key.
DEFAULT - Return all removed fields to the report and restore the field columns to their original
order.
ALIGN FIELD - Change the position of the field in relation to the field on its left or to reduce the
column width.
NEW LINE - Move the highlighted field to a new line if in MULTIPLE mode or to the next part if
in PARTS mode.
JOIN - Concatenate the highlighted field to the last non-blank character of the field to its left, with
one blank separating them.
ADJUST FIELD - Shift a field one position in either direction.
LEFT SHIFT - Move the entire field one position to the left.
RIGHT SHIFT - Move the entire field one position to the right.
TRUNCATE - Remove one character position from the end of the highlighted field.
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INSERT TEXT - Enable insertion of characters before data in the report line and field headings
and edit masks.
BEFORE - Insert a string of characters in front of the highlighted field. If spacing is required, add
one or more blanks to the string value. To remove the string, enter a blank.
FIELD HEADING - Change the pre-defined field heading. To create a multi-line heading, enter a
“^” in the text where appropriate.
FIELD MASK - To change the way a field is displayed, enter a field edit mask. To remove the edit
mask, enter a blank.
FIELD JUSTIFY - Changes the default justification of data within the field width.
LEFT JUSTIFY - Align the contents of the highlighted field with the left margin.
RIGHT JUSTIFY - Align the contents of the highlighted field with the right margin.
DEFAULT - Restore the highlighted field to its default justification (left for alphanumeric fields,
right for numeric).
HEADING JUSTIFY - Change the default justification for the field heading.
LEFT JUSTIFY - Align the heading for the highlighted field with the left of the column width.
RIGHT JUSTIFY - Align the heading for the highlighted field with the right of the column width.
CENTER JUSTIFY - Center the heading for the highlighted field within the column width.
DEFAULT - Restore the default field heading justification.
SORT EDIT - Cause sort key values to be repeated on each report line.
DISP/SUP REPEAT - Reverse the setting of the switch that causes the value of the field to appear
on each report line. (Only appears for fields that are sort items.)
GROUP EDIT - Add blank lines before total and subtotal lines and generate page breaks on
specific sort fields. The sort field must be a control break.
PAGE SKIP - Generate a page skip before printing the first value for a sort item.
DOUBLE SKIP - Insert two blank lines after the subtotal line for this group.
LINE SKIP - Insert one blank line after the subtotal line for this group.
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Report design without function keys
Report design without function keys
Reporter knows if function keys are not available and adds instructional prompts where
appropriate.
Enter a page control character:
F - Forward a page.
B - Back a page.
E - Exit from Report Designer.
P - Generate the prompt for page number to display.
> - Display the page part to the right.
< - Display the page part to the left.
“D” - Refresh the screen with the standard report design format; puts you directly into field edit
mode, unlike report designing with function keys.
Enter <field> - The column number of the field you want to edit.
Enter 0 (zero) - Enter global edit mode.
Entering the column number of a field on the screen puts you directly into prompt mode for that
field. The default setting is shown; make changes as you step through the prompts.
Entering the column number of a field not on the screen causes Reporter to refresh the screen with
the appropriate page part and puts you in field edit mode for the column number you specified. To
change the field number, enter “/” to return to the EDIT FIELD NUMBER and enter the column
number.
The screen is always refreshed after the last response. You can edit any field as often as required to
obtain the desired result.
Date editing is also available in PROMPT mode.
Enter “0” (zero) to begin GLOBAL EDIT mode.
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What is the JDBC1 driver?
The JDBC1 driver
MBF-UDALink has both a JDBC and an ODBC driver.
What is the JDBC1 driver?
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is a standard Application Programming Interface (API) for
database access from Java. The JDBC1 driver is an implementation of the standard JDBC API. It
consists of full Java driver for JDBC, network protocol and database server interface components
for concurrent access to ALLBASE/SQL and Oracle databases.
What is JDBC?
JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) is a standard Java interface for connecting to relational
databases from Java. The JDBC standard was defined by Sun Microsystems, allowing individual
providers to implement and extend the standard with their own JDBC drivers.
JDBC is based on the X/Open SQL Call Level Interface, and complies with the SQL92 Entry
Level standard.
In addition to the standard JDBC API, JDBC1 drivers have extensions to properties, types, and
performance.
Basic JDBC driver architecture
A typical JDBC Java application consists of a Java application or applet, the JDBC Driver
Manager, a vendor specific JDBC driver, and a database. The JDBC Driver Manager is provided
with the Java SDK and its primary function is to load and register the vendor-specific JDBC driver
with the Java applications and then get out of the way.
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The following diagram shows the various components of a client-server JDBC application.
Java Application or Applet
JDBC Driver Manager
MB Foster Driver for JDBC
Network
MB Foster Universal Server
IMAGE, ALLBASE, ORACLE,
KSAM …
JDBC client-server application
The JDBC1 driver is a Type IV driver that is written in 100% pure Java and complies with the
JDBC 1.2 standard, which provides the complete compatibility with all Java Virtual Machines on
all platforms. This driver is targeted to both Java applet developers and Java application
developers. The JDBC1 driver interfaces with the MBF Universal Server, which currently runs on
HP-MPE and UNIX platforms. The Universal Server provides connectivity to the MB Foster’s
ODBC, JDBC, and RPC Client Drivers.
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JDBC1 Installation and Setup
JDBC1 Installation and Setup
Java Requirements
The JDBC1 driver requires a Sun-compliant JDK version 1.1.x or above; the JDK must include
JDBC version 1.2. Install the JDK from Sun or from your platform vendor. Individual platform
vendors may have their own requirements for the platform host.
Setup
This section assumes that you have already installed the Sun Microsystems Java Developer’s Kit
(JDK) on your system.
The JDBC1 driver uses Java Sockets to connect directly to the MBF Universal Server and is used
for Java applications or applets in either a two-tier or three-tier configuration. (MBF Universal
Server must first be installed on the server host before the JDBC1 driver can be installed.)
The JDBC1 driver consists of the ODBC driver Java class files and a sample JDBC client source
file.
To install the JDBC1 driver, run <CD Drive>\Program_Files\jdbc1\setupWin32.exe. If you are
not running Windows, select the platform-specific installer from the jdbc1 directory.. The JDBC1
driver class files must be installed in your Java class path so that the Java compiler and the Java
class loader can find them.
Example on the Win32 Platform
CLASSPATH=C:\JDK1.1.8\LIB;.
You would then install the JDBC1 driver class files (MBFJDBC1.jar) in the directory:
C:\JDK1.1.8\LIB\
The JDBC1 driver can also be downloaded into a browser simultaneously with the Java applet
being run. From the client (usually a browser), you select a URL from an HTML page that
contains a Java applet tag. The web server downloads the Java applet and the JDBC1 driver to the
client. The JDBC1 driver then establishes a direct connection to the MBF Universal Server using
Java Sockets.
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Using the JDBC1 driver
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Using the JDBC1 driver
Preparing to compile and run Java
Before using the JDBC1 driver, to further ensure that Java is set up properly on your client system,
go to the samples directory (for example, C:\MBFoster\jdbc\samples if you are using the JDBC1
driver on a Windows NT machine), then see if javac (the Java compiler) and java (the Java
interpreter) will run without error.
Enter:
Javac
then enter:
java
Each should give you a list of options and parameters and then exit.
Checking the environment variables
The Java class path must be set to include the JDBC1 driver class files. Without this setting, both
the Java compiler and the Java Run Time Environment will not be able to locate the JDBC1 driver.
Please refer to your JDK documentation for more explicit details as to how to set the Java class
path. In general, the Java class path must include the directory in which the JDBC1 driver class
files have been installed.
If the JDBC1 driver class files are installed in:
C:\MBFoster\JDBC\MBFJDBC1.jar
The CLASSPATH environment variable should be:
CLASSPATH=C:\JDK1.1.8\LIB\classes.zip:.:C:\MBFoster\JDBC\MBFJDBC1.jar
Importing packages
When you use the JDBC1 driver, you must include the following import statements at the
beginning of your program.
import java.sql.* JDBC packages.
import java.math.* Java math packages; for example, these are required for the BigDecimal
classes.
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Loading the JDBC1 driver
The Java method used to load all JDBC drivers is the class.forName method. To load the JDBC1
driver, the code is:
class.forName("mbf.jdbc1.MBFDriver ");
This loads the JDBC1 driver and registers it with the JDBC Driver Manager. Once a driver has
been loaded and registered with the ODBC driver Manager, it is ready to be used to connect to a
database.
Opening a JDBC1 Connection
You open a connection to the database with the static getConnection() method of the JDBC
DriverManager class. This method returns an object of the JDBC Connection class which needs as
input a userid, password, connect string that identifies the JDBC driver to use, and the name of the
database to which you want to connect.
The following example connects user "jdbcmgr" with password "chicago" to a MBF Universal
Server through port 21249 of host "myhost", using the MBF-JDBC driver.
Connection conn =
DriverManager.getConnection ("jdbc:mbf://myhost:21249 ", " jdbcmgr ", " chicago ");
Creating a Statement object
Once you connect to the MBF Universal Server and, in the process, create your Connection object,
the next step is to create a Statement object. The createStatement() method of your JDBC
Connection object returns an object of the JDBC Statement class. To continue the example from
the previous section where the Connection object conn was created, here is an example of how to
create the Statement object:
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
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Executing a query and returning a Result Set object
To query the database, use the executeQuery() method of your Statement object. This method takes
a SQL statement as input and returns an object of the JDBC ResultSet class.
To continue the example, once you create the Statement object stmt, the next step is to execute a
query that populates a ResultSet object with the contents of the FIRST_NAME (first name of
member) and LAST_NAME (last name of member) columns of a table of member-ship that is
named MEMBERSHIP:
ResultSet rset =
stmt.executeQuery ("SELECT FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME FROM MEMBERSHIP");
Processing the Result Set
Once you execute your query, use the next() method of your ResultSet object to iterate through the
results. This method loops through the result set row by row, detecting the end of the result set
when it is reached.
To pull data out of the result set as you iterate through it, use the various getXXX() methods of the
ResultSet object, where XXX corresponds to a Java datatype.
For example, the following code will iterate through the ResultSet object rset from the previous
section, and will retrieve and print each member first name and last name:
while (rset.next())
System.out.println (rset.getString(1) + " " + rset.getString(2));
Closing the Result Set
You must explicitly close the ResultSet and Statement objects after you finish using them. This
applies to all ResultSet and Statement objects you create when using the JDBC1 driver. the ODBC
driver does not have finalizer methods; cleanup routines are performed by the close() method of
the ResultSet and Statement classes. If you do not explicitly close your ResultSet and Statement
objects, serious memory leaks could occur.
For example, if your ResultSet object is rset and your Statement object is stmt, close the result set
and statement with these lines:
rset.close()
stmt.close();
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Using the JDBC1 driver
Closing the Connection
You must close your connection to the database once you finish your work. Use the close() method
of the Connection class to do this. For example, if your Connection object is conn, close the
connection with this statement:
conn.close();
Connection Parameters
The following information is required for all JDBC1 connections to an MBF Universal Server:
Host name -- The name of the server host on which the MBF Universal Server is running. This
can either be the name of the server host, or the IP address. For example, ’myhost.mbfoster.com’
or ’123.4.5.6’.
Port number -- The port number on which the MBF Universal Server is listening. This is
specified when the listener is started on the server host in the startup command or script. The
default port number for use by the MBF Universal Server is 21245. If a port number is not
specified, this default value is used.
User Name (UID) -- A valid user name (matching a UID from the Host Configuration Setup) for
the MBF Universal Server.
User Password (PWD) -- The password (if required) that matches the provided user name.
Optional Parameters
The following information is optioned for all JDBC1 connections:
Client Debug Level
Debug - This parameter will set the JDBC1 debug level.
Server Debug Level
HostDebug - This parameter will set the MBF Universal Server debug level.
Space Padding for CHAR Columns
Padding - This parameter will set Space Padding for CHAR Columns. The default value is true.
Login to other account
LOGIN - This parameter will tell the server to change to another account.
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If the MBF Universal Server is running on UNIX, you should use the format :
LOGIN=# uname/upwd;
URL Syntax
The JDBC1 connection URL string syntax is:
jdbc:mbf://<host_name>[:<port_number>][;parameter=value][;...]
URL Syntax (Including User Name and Password)
The first connection method specifies all connection parameters in a URL string including the user
name and password.
java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
where:
String url =
" jdbc:mbf://<host_name>[:<port_number>];UID=uid;PWD=pwd[;...]"
URL Syntax (Without User Name and Password)
The second connection method specifies the user id and password as method arguments, so this
information is not present in the URL.
java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url, uid, pwd)
where:
String url = " jdbc:mbf://<host_name>[:<port_number>]][;parameter=value][;...]";
String uid = "uid";
String pwd = "pwd";
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JDBC1 Samples
JDBC1 Samples
//
// This simple Java application loads a JDBC Driver, prompts the
// user for connection information, creates the ODBC driver URL, makes
// the connection to the database, and sends user provided SQL
// statements to the database.
//
// If the result of the statement is a result set, it is printed out.
//
// This code and information is provided "as is" without warranty
// of any kind, either expressed or implied.
//
// Copyright (c) 2001 MB Foster Associates Limited. All Rights Reserved
//
import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
class Sample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// User input fields
String hostName
= getInputInfo("Host Name: ");
String portNumber = getInputInfo("Port Number: ");
String userName
= getInputInfo("User Name: ");
String userPassword = getInputInfo("User Password: ");
// Create the URL based on the user input
String url = "jdbc:mbf://" + hostName + ":" + portNumber;
try {
// Load the MBF-JDBC driver
Class.forName("mbf.jdbc1.MBFDriver");
// Connect to the database
Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url,
userName, userPassword);
// Main processing loop
for (;;) {
// Ask user for an sql statement
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System.out.println("");
String sql = getInputInfo("SQL (empty string to end) > ");
System.out.println("");
// If empty string, then exit
if (sql == null || sql.equals(""))
break;
// Submit the SQL statement
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
// If execute returns true, there is a result set
if (stmt.execute(sql)) {
ResultSet rs = stmt.getResultSet();
displayResultSet(rs);
rs.close();
}
// Otherwise, there is an update count
else {
System.out.println(stmt.getUpdateCount() + " rows changed.");
}
stmt.close();
}
// End of main processing loop
conn.close();
System.exit(0);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
System.exit(-1);
}
}
//
// This captures console input until a CR is hit and
// then returns a Java String with the input.
//
private static String getInputInfo(String prompt) {
String rtn = "";
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try {
byte[] buf = new byte[1024];
System.out.println(prompt);
int len = System.in.read(buf);
rtn = new String(buf, 0, len);
rtn = rtn.trim();
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
return rtn;
}
//
// Displays all columns and rows in the given result set
//
private static void displayResultSet(ResultSet rs) throws SQLException {
// Get the ResultSetMetaData.
// This will be used for the column headings.
ResultSetMetaData rsmd = rs.getMetaData();
// Get the number of columns in the result set
int numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();
// For each column, print out the column names, separated by commas
for (int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++) {
System.out.print(rsmd.getColumnName(i));
if (i < numCols)
System.out.print(", ");
}
System.out.println("\n");
// Print out the data, fetching until end of the result set
while (rs.next()) {
// For each column, print out the data as String
for (int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++) {
String colValue = rs.getString(i);
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// If data was null, use the null string instead
if (rs.wasNull())
colValue = "<NULL>";
System.out.print(colValue);
if (i < numCols)
System.out.print(", ");
}
System.out.println();
// Fetch the next result set row
}
System.out.println();
}
}
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What is JDBCLink-UX?
JDBCLink-UX
What is JDBCLink-UX?
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is a standard Application Programming Interface (API) for
database access from Java. JDBCLink-UX driver is an implementation of the standard JDBC API.
It consists of full Java driver for JDBC, network protocol and database server interface
components for concurrent access to ALLBASE/SQL, Oracle databases and Eloquence.
What is JDBC?
JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) is a standard Java interface for connecting to relational
databases from Java. The JDBC standard was defined by Sun Microsystems, allowing individual
providers to implement and extend the standard with their own JDBC drivers.
JDBC is based on the X/Open SQL Call Level Interface, and complies with theSQL92 Entry Level
standard.
In addition to the standard JDBC API, JDBC2 drivers have extensions to properties, types, and
performance.
Basic Driver Architecture
A typical JDBC Java application consists of a Java application or applet, the JDBC Driver
Manager, a vendor-specific JDBC driver, and a database. The JDBC Driver Manager is provided
with the Java SDK and its primary function is to load and register the vendor-specific JDBC driver
with the Java applications and then get out of the way..
JDBCLink-UX is a Type IV driver, that is written in 100% pure Java and complies with the JDBC
1.2 standard. This provides the complete compatibility with all Java Virtual Machines on all
platforms. This driver is targeted for both Java applet developers and Java application developers.
JDBCLink-UX interfaces with the MB Foster Universal Server.
The Universal Server provides connectivity to the MBFoster’s ODBC, JDBC, and RPC Client
Drivers.
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J2EE Background
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J2EE Background
What is J2EE?
The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) was designed to simplify complex problems with
the development, deployment, and management of multi-tier enterprise solutions. J2EE is an
industry standard, and is the result of a large industry initiative led by Sun Microsystems.
It's important for you to realize that J2EE is a standard, not a product. You cannot "download"
J2EE. Rather you download a set of Adobe Acrobat PDF files which describe agreements between
applications and the containers in which they run. So long as both sides obey the J2EE contracts,
applications can be deployed in a variety of container environments.
The J2EE camp's goal is to give customers choice of vendor products and tools, and to encourage
best-of-breed products to emerge through competition. The only way this would ever happen is if
the industry as a whole were bought-into J2EE. To secure buy-in, Sun collaborated with other
vendors of eBusiness platforms, such as BEA, IBM, and Oracle, in defining J2EE. Sun then
initiated the Java Community Process (JCP) to solicit new ideas to improve J2EE over time. The
reason Sun did this is because they had to do so to achieve success--the best way to secure buy-in
to an idea is to involve others in defining that idea.
The J2EE architecture is based on the Java programming language. J2EE is an application of Java.
What is a JavaBean?
The goal of the JavaBeans is to define a software component model for Java, so that third party
ISVs can create and ship Java components that can be composed together into applications by end
users.
A component model defines an environment that supports reusable application components. Any
object that conforms to certain basic rules as defined in the JavaBeans API can be a JavaBean. In
addition to having a default constructor and being serializable, a JavaBean exports properties,
events, and methods. Properties indicate the internal state of a Bean and can be manipulated using
a pair of get and set methods (getter/setter methods).
A Bean is also capable of generating events and follows the Java 1.1 Delegation Event Model for
generating them. A bean defines an event by providing methods for adding and removing event
listener objects from a list of interested listeners for that event. Bean methods are any public
methods the bean exposes (except the getter/setter methods) to change property values or the
methods to register and remove event listeners.
In addition to this, JavaBeans also define indexed properties, bound properties, and constrained
properties. An indexed property is a property that has an array value and methods to change the
value of either an individual array element or the entire array. A bound property is one that sends
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out a notification event when its value changes. A constrained property is one that sends out a
notification when its value changes and allows the change to be vetoed by its listeners.
A bean can also provide a BeanInfo class that provides additional information about the bean in
the form of FeatureDescriptor objects, each of which describe a single feature of the bean. If a
bean has complicated property types, it may need to define a PropertyEditor class that enables the
user to set values for that property. A bean can also define a Customizer class, which creates a
customized GUI that enables the user to configure the bean in some useful way.
What is EJB?
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) technology is an emerging part of a fundamental software architecture
that attempts to combine the best of Internet technology, distributed object architecture, and
platform-independent coding into a better way of creating and maintaining E-commerce, corporate
and personal applications. Announced as a specification effort two years ago and as a specification
one year ago, serious EJB-based applications are now making their appearance in corporate Web
applications.
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) takes a high-level approach for building distributed systems. It frees
the application developer to concentrate on programming only the business logic, while removing
the need to write all the "plumbing" code required in any enterprise application development
scenario. For example, the enterprise developer no longer needs to write code that handles
transactional behavior, security, connection pooling, or threading because the architecture
delegates this task to the server vendor.
The current version of EJB bears little relation to JavaBeans. The name "Enterprise JavaBeans,"
however, implies a relationship that doesn't really hold. Typically, JavaBeans are used in a manner
similar to Microsoft's ActiveX components (to provide user-friendly controls for building user
interfaces), whereas EJBs are used to implement transactional middleware and are decidedly
nonvisual. In addition, EJB does not include things like BeanInfo classes, property editors, or
customizers.
In essence, EJB is a server component model for Java and is a specification for creating serverside, scalable, transactional, multiuser, and secure enterprise-level applications. Most important,
EJBs can be deployed on top of existing transaction processing systems including traditional
transaction processing monitors, Web servers, database servers, application servers, and so forth.
What is the Naming Service?
A naming system provides a natural, understandable way of identifying and associating names
with data. For example, the DOS file system uses a naming system for associating data with folder
and file names, while a relational database uses a naming system for associating data with column
and table names. Naming systems enable humans to interact with complex computer addressing
systems by associating data and objects with simple, understandable names.
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A naming service is a dedicated piece of software that manages a naming system or namespace.
Naming services often run independently of the computer systems that use them. In other words,
they provide the service of associating names with data or objects-a naming system-but are
independent and can serve any system that understands their protocol and can connect to them.
Directory and naming services usually employ two layers: a client layer and a server layer. The
server is responsible for maintaining and resolving the actual name-object bindings, controlling
access, and managing operations performed on the structure of the directory service. The client
acts as an interface that applications use to communicate with the directory service.
What is JNDI?
The Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) is a client API that provides naming and
directory functionality. JNDI is specified in Java and is designed to provide an abstraction that
represents those elements most common to naming and directory service clients. JNDI is not
intended as an alternative to established naming and directory services. Instead, it is designed to
provide a common interface for accessing existing services like DNS, NDS, LDAP, CORBA, or
RMI.
JNDI provides an interface that hides the implementation details of different naming and directory
services behind the JNDI API. This allows multiple directory services to coexist and even
cooperate within the same JNDI client. Using JNDI, a user can navigate across several directory
and naming services while working with seemingly only one logical federated naming service.
What is JTS?
The Java Transaction Service (JTS) plays the role of a transaction coordinator for all the
constituent components of the EJB architecture. In JTS terminology, the director is called the
transaction manager. The participants in the transaction that implement transaction-protected
resources, such as relational databases, are called resource managers. When an application begins
a transaction, it creates a transaction object that represents the transaction. The application then
invokes the resource managers to perform the work of the transaction. As the transaction
progresses, the transaction manager keeps track of each of the resource managers enlisted in the
transaction.
The application's first call to each resource manager identifies the current transaction. For
example, if the application is using a relational database, it calls the JDBC interface, which
associates the transaction object with the JDBC connection. Thereafter, all calls made over that
connection are performed on behalf of the database transaction until it ends.
Typically, the application completes the transaction by invoking a xa_commit() method and the
transaction is said to commit. If the application is unable to complete for any reason, it performs a
rollover by calling the xa_rollback() method, which undoes the transaction's actions. If the
application fails, the JTS aborts the transaction. When the application successfully completes the
transaction's work, it calls the JTS to commit the transaction. The JTS then goes through a twophase commit protocol to get all the enlisted resource managers to commit.
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J2EE Background
What are the JDBC 2 extensions?
JDBC 2 support JTS, JavaBean, EJB and JNDI
MB Foster supports both the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and the Java Native Interface (JNI).
Consult http://java.sun.com/j2ee/ for more information on using J2EE.
Consult http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/native1.1/index.html for more information on
using the JNI.
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JDBCLink-UX Installation and Setup
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JDBCLink-UX Installation and Setup
Java Requirements
JDBCLink-UX requires a Sun-compliant JDK version 1.2.2 or above; the JDK must include JDBC
version 2.2. Install the JDK from Sun or from your platform vendor. Individual platform vendors
may have their own requirements for the platform host.
Setup
This section assumes that you have already installed the Sun Microsystems Java Developer’s Kit
(JDK) on your system.
JDBCLink-UX uses Java Sockets to connect directly to the MB Foster Universal Server and is
used for Java applications or applets in either a two-tier or three-tier configuration. (MB Foster
Universal Server must first be installed on the server host before JDBCLink-UX can be installed)
JDBCLink-UX consists of the ODBC driver Java class files and a sample JDBC client source file.
To install the JDBC2 driver, run <CD Drive>\Program_Files\jdbc2\setupWin32.exe. If you are
not running Windows, select the platform-specific installer from the jdbc2 directory.. The JDBC2
driver class files must be installed in your Java class path so that the Java compiler and the Java
class loader can find them.
JDBCLink-UX class files must be installed in your Java class path so that the Java compiler and
the Java class loader can find them.
Example on the Win32 Platform
CLASSPATH=C:\JDK1.2.2\LIB;.
You would then install JDBCLink-UX class files (mbfjdbc.jar) in the directory:
C:\JDK1.2.2\LIB\
JDBCLink-UX can also be downloaded into a browser simultaneously with the Java applet being
run. From the client (usually a browser), you select a URL from an HTML page that contains a
Java applet tag. The web server downloads the Java applet and JDBCLink-UX to the client.
JDBCLink-UX then establishes a direct connection to the MB Foster Universal Server using Java
Sockets.
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Connection Parameters
Connection Parameters
The following information is required for all JDBCLink-UX connections to an MB Foster
Universal Server:
Host name -- The name of the server host on which the MB Foster Universal Server is running.
This can either be the name of the server host, or the IP address. For example,
’myhost.mbfoster.com’ or ’123.4.5.6’.
Port number -- The port number on which the MB Foster Universal Server is listening. This is
specified when the listener is started on the server host in the startup command or script. The
default port number for use by the MB Foster Universal Server is 21245. If a port number is not
specified, this default value is used.
User Name (UID) -- A valid user name (matching a UID from the Host Configuration Setup) for
the MB Foster Universal Server.
User Password (PWD) -- The password (if required) that matches the provided user name.
Optional Parameters
The following information is optional for all JDBCLink-UX connections:
Client Debug Level
Debug – This parameter will set the JDBCLink-UX debug level.
Server Debug Level
HostDebug – This parameter will set the MB Foster Universal Server debug level.
Space Padding for CHAR Columns
Padding – This parameter will set Space Padding for CHAR Columns. The default value is true.
Login to another account
LOGIN – This parameter will tell the server to change to another account. There are two formats
to change the account login.
If the MB Foster Universal Server is running on MPE, you should use the format:
LOGIN=#session,uname/upwd.acctname/acctpwd,gpname/gppwd;
If the MB Foster Universal Server is running on UNIX, you should use the format:
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LOGIN=# uname/upwd;
Use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to connect
SSL – This parameter will set connection with SSL. The default value is false.
URL Syntax
The JDBCLink-UX connection URL string syntax is:
jdbc:mbf://<host_name>[:<port_number>][;parameter=value][;…]
URL Syntax (Including User Name and Password)
The first connection method specifies all connection parameters in a URL string including the user
name and password.
java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url)
where:
String url =
" jdbc:mbf://<host_name>[:<port_number>];UID=uid;PWD=pwd[;…]"
URL Syntax (Without User Name and Password)
The second connection method specifies the user id and password as method arguments, so this
information is not present in the URL.
java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(url, uid, pwd)
where:
String url = " jdbc:mbf://<host_name>[:<port_number>]][;parameter=value][;…]";
String uid = "uid";
String pwd = "pwd";
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Using JDBCLink-UX
Using JDBCLink-UX
Verifying that you can compile and run Java
Before using JDBCLink-UX, to further ensure that Java is set up properly on your client system,
go to the samples directory (for example, C:\MBFoster\jdbc\samples if you are using JDBCLinkUX on a Windows NT machine), then see if javac (the Java compiler) and java (the Java
interpreter) will run without error.
Enter:
Javac
then enter:
java
Each should give you a list of options and parameters and then exit.
Checking the environment variables
The Java class path must be set to include JDBCLink-UX class files. Without this setting, both the
Java compiler and the Java Run Time Environment will not be able to locate JDBCLink-UX.
Please refer to your JDK documentation for more explicit details as to how to set the Java class
path. In general, the Java class path must include the directory in which JDBCLink-UX class files
have been installed.
If JDBCLink-UX class files are installed in:
C:\MBFoster\JDBC\mbfjdbc.jar
The CLASSPATH environment variable should be:
CLASSPATH=C:\JDK1.2.2\LIB\classes.zip:.:C:\MBFoster\JDBC\mbfjdbc.jar
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Loading JDBCLink-UX
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Loading JDBCLink-UX
Once the ODBC driver is installed, you can connect from your application to your database in two
ways: with a connection URL through the JDBC driver manager, or with a JNDI data source.
Using a connection URL
The Java method that is used to load all JDBC drivers is the class.forName method. To load
JDBCLink-UX, the code is:
class.forName("com.mbf.jdbc.MBFDriver");
This loads JDBCLink-UX and registers it with the JDBC Driver Manager. Once a driver has been
loaded and registered with the ODBC driver Manager, it is ready to be used to connect to a
database(s).
Alternatively, you can use the ODBC driverManager.registerDriver() method to register the JDBC
driver. For example:
DriverManager.registerDriver (new com.mbf.jdbc.MBFDriver ());
Opening a Connection
You open a connection to the database with the static getConnection() method of the JDBC
DriverManager class. This method returns an object of the JDBC Connection class which needs as
input a userid, password, connect string that identifies the JDBC driver to use, and the name of the
database to which you want to connect.
The following example connects user "jdbcmgr" with password "chicago" to a MB Foster
Universal Server through port 21249 of host "myhost", using JDBCLink-UX.
Connection conn =DriverManager.getConnection ("jdbc:mbf://myhost:21249", " jdbcmgr", "
chicago");
Creating a Statement Object
Once you connect to the MB Foster Universal Server and, in the process, create your Connection
object, the next step is to create a Statement object. The createStatement() method of your JDBC
Connection object returns an object of the JDBC Statement class.
To continue the example from the previous section where the Connection object conn was created,
here is an example of how to create the Statement object:
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
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Loading JDBCLink-UX
Executing a Query and Returning a Result Set Object
To query the database, use the executeQuery() method of your Statement object. This method takes
a SQL statement as input and returns an object of the JDBC ResultSet class.
To continue the example, once you create the Statement object stmt, the next step is to execute a
query that populates a ResultSet object with the contents of the FIRST_NAME (first name of
member) and LAST_NAME (last name of member) columns of a table of membership that is
named MEMBERSHIP:
ResultSet rset =
stmt.executeQuery ("SELECT FIRST_NAME, LAST_NAME FROM MEMBERSHIP");
Processing the Result Set
Once you execute your query, use the next() method of your ResultSet object to iterate through the
results. This method loops through the result set row by row, detecting the end of the result set
when it is reached.
To pull data out of the result set as you iterate through it, use the various getXXX() methods of the
ResultSet object, where XXX corresponds to a Java datatype.
For example, the following code will iterate through the ResultSet object rset from the previous
section, and will retrieve and print each member first name and last name:
while (rset.next())
System.out.println (rset.getString(1) + " " + rset.getString(2));
Closing the Result Set
You must explicitly close the ResultSet and Statement objects after you finish using them. This
applies to all ResultSet and Statement objects you create when using JDBCLink-UX. the ODBC
driver does not have finalizer methods; cleanup routines are performed by the close() method of
the ResultSet and Statement classes.
If you do not explicitly close your ResultSet and Statement objects, serious memory leaks could
occur.
For example, if your ResultSet object is rset and your Statement object is stmt, close the result set
and statement with these lines:
rset.close()
stmt.close();
Closing the Connection
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Loading JDBCLink-UX
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You must close your connection to the database once you finish your work. Use the close() method
of the Connection class to do this. For example, if your Connection object is conn, close the
connection with this state
ment:
conn.close();
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JDBCLink-UX Functionality
JDBCLink-UX Functionality
JDBCLink-UX supports the JDBC 2.0 specification. The ODBC driver also supports a subset of
the JDBC 2.0 Optional Package, which provides the following functionality:
•
Java Naming Directory Interface (JNDI) for naming data sources
•
Connection Pooling
•
Distributed Transactions
Connecting Through Data Sources
A JDBC2 data source is a DataSource object that provides the connection information needed to
connect to an underlying database. The main advantage of using a data source is that it works with
the Java Naming Directory Interface (JNDI) naming service, and it is created and managed outside
of the applications that use it.
Because the connection information is outside of applications, the time it takes to reconfigure your
infrastructure when a change is made is minimal. For example, if the underlying database is moved
to another server and uses another port number, the administrator must change only the relevant
properties of the JDBC2 data source (a DataSource object). The applications using the underlying
database do not need to change because they only refer to the logical name of the JDBC2 data
source.
Importing Packages
The JDBC2 data source class implements the following interfaces defined in the JDBC 2.0
Optional Package:
•
javax.sql.DataSource
•
javax.sql.ConnectionPoolDataSource, which enables you to implement connection
pooling
When you use JDBCLink-UX, you should include those import statements at the beginning of
your program.
import javax.sql. *
JDBC 2.0 Standard Extension.
import javax.naming.*
to support JNDI.
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Calling a Data Source in an Application
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Calling a Data Source in an Application
Applications can call a JDBC2 data source using a logical name to retrieve the
javax.sql.DataSource object. This object loads JDBCLink-UX and can be used to establish a
connection to the underlying database.
Once a JDBC2 data source has been registered with JNDI, it can be used by your JDBC
application as shown in the following example:
Context ctx = new InitialContext();
DataSource ds = (DataSource)ctx.lookup("jdbc/Membership");
Connection con = ds.getConnection("jdbcmgr", "chicago");
In this example, the JNDI environment is first initialized. Next, the initial naming context is used
to find the logical name of the JDBC2 data source (Membership). The Context.lookup() method
returns a reference to a Java object, which is narrowed to a javax.sql.DataSource object. Finally,
the DataSource.getConnection() method is called to establish a connection with the underlying
database.
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Using Connection Pooling
Using Connection Pooling
Connection pooling allows you to reuse connections rather than create a new one every time the
JDBCLink-UX needs to establish a connection to the underlying database.
Connection pooling manages connection sharing across different user requests to maintain
performance and reduce the number of new connections that must be created.
For example, compare the following transaction sequences.
Example A: Without Connection Pooling
1.The client application creates a connection.
2.The client application sends a data access query.
3.The client application obtains the result set of the query.
4.The client application displays the result set to the end user.
5.The client application ends the connection.
Example B: With Connection Pooling
1.The client checks the connection pool for an unused connection.
2.If an unused connection exists, it is returned by the pool implementation;
otherwise, it creates a new connection.
3.The client application sends a data access query.
4.The client application obtains the result set of the query.
5.The client application displays the result set to the end user.
6.The client application returns the connection to the pool.
NOTE: The client application still calls "close()", but the connection remains open and the pool is
notified of the close request.
The pool implementation creates "real" database connections using the getPooledConnection()
method of ConnectionPoolDataSource. Then, the pool implementation registers itself as a listener
to the PooledConnection.
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When a client application requests a connection, the pool implementation (Pool Manager) assigns
one of its available connections. If there is no connection available, the Pool Manager establishes a
new connection and assigns it to that application. When the client application closes the
connection, the Pool Manager is notified by the ODBC driver through the
ConnectionEventListener interface that the connection is free and available for reuse.
The pool implementation is also notified by the ConnectionEventListener interface when the client
somehow corrupts the database connection, so that the pool implementation can remove that
connection from the pool.
Once a JDBC2 data source has been registered with JNDI, it can be used by your JDBC
application as shown in the following example, typically through a third-party connection pool
tool:
Context ctx = new InitialContext();
ConnectionPoolDataSource ds =
(ConnectionPoolDataSource)ctx.lookup("jdbc/Membership");
pooledConnection pcon = ds.getPooledConnection("jdbcmgr", "chicago");
In this example, the JNDI environment is first initialized. Next, the initial naming context is used
to find the logical name of the JDBC data source (Membership). The Context.lookup() method
returns a reference to a Java object, which is narrowed to a javax.sql.ConnectionPoolDataSource
object. Finally, the ConnectionPoolDataSource.getPooledConnection() method is called to
establish a connection with the underlying database.
Data source properties
You can use the following connection properties with JDBC2 data sources:
Table 3: Connection properties
Property Name
Type
Description
databaseName
String
Name of a particular database on a server
dataSourceName
String
A data source name; used to name an underlying
XADataSource, or ConnectionPoolDataSource when
pooling of connections is done
Description
String
Description of this data source
networkProtocol
String
Network protocol used to communicate with the server
Password
String
A database password
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Using Connection Pooling
Table 3: Connection properties
Property Name
Type
Description
portNumber
int
Port number where a server is listening for requests
RoleName
String
The initial SQL rolename
serverName
String
Database server name
Username
String
User’s account name
minCacheSize
int
The minimum no of connections for the Cache
maxCacheSize
int
The maximum no of connections for the Cache
Using SSL mode connections
Data that travels across a network can easily be accessed by someone who is not the intended
recipient. When the data includes private information, such as passwords and credit card numbers,
steps must be taken to make the data unintelligible to unauthorized parties. It is also important to
ensure the data has not been modified, either intentionally or unintentionally, during transport. The
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) was designed to help protect the privacy and integrity of data, while it
is transferred across a network.
About Java Socket Extension (JSSE)
JDBCLink-UX implements SSL connection with Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE). When you
try to connect server with SSL mode, you should make sure that you have installed the Java Secure
Socket Extension (JSSE) package if your JDK or JRE version is 1.2.x or 1.3.x. JSSE has now been
integrated into the J2SDK, v 1.4.x
A keystore is a database of key material. Key material is used for a variety of purposes, including
authentication and data integrity. There are various types of keystores available, including
"PKCS12" and Sun’s "JKS."
Generally speaking, keystore information can be grouped into two different categories: key entries
and trusted certificate entries. A key entry consists of an entity’s identity and its private key, and
can be used for a variety of cryptographic purposes. In contrast, a trusted certificate entry only
contains a public key in addition to the entity’s identity. Thus, a trusted certificate entry can not be
used where a private key is required. In the J2SDK implementation of "JKS", a keystore may
contain both key entries and trusted certificate entries.
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Using Connection Pooling
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A truststore is a keystore which is used when making decisions about what to trust. If you receive
some data from an entity that you already trust, and if you can verify that the entity is the one it
claims to be, then you can assume that the data really came from that entity.
Properties of JDBCLink-UX SSL
When you use SSL mode to connect the MB Foster Universal Server, make sure that the MB
Foster Universal Server is set SSL enable. Then you must explicitly assert "SSL=true" in your
connection URL.
For example, the URL is "jdbc:mbf://myhost:21249;SSL=true;"
You can customize SSL mode for your connection with JDBCLink-UX SSL properties
Server Certificate Authenticate
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.serverAuth – This parameter declares whether the server certificate needs to
authenticate or not. The default value is false.
Trust Store
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStore – This parameter declares where is the truststore. The default is
".keystore" in your home directory. (Note: if this property is not defined, JDBCLink-UX will use
system property javax.net.ssl.trustStore)
Trust Store Type
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStoreType – This parameter declares what kind of the truststore. (Note: if
this property is not defined, JDBCLink-UX will use system property javax.net.ssl.trustStoreType).
Trust Store Password
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStorePassword – This parameter declares the password of the truststore.
Default is null. (Note: if this property is not defined, JDBCLink-UX will use system property
javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword).
Client Certificate Authenticate
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.clientAuth – This parameter declares whether the client certificate needs to
authenticate or not. The default value is false.
Key Store
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.keyStore – This parameter declares where is the keystore. The default is
".keystore" in your home directory. (Note: if this property is not defined, JDBCLink-UX will use
system property javax.net.ssl.keyStore)
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Using Connection Pooling
Key Store Type
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.keyStoreType – This parameter declares what kind of the keystore. (Note: if this
property is not defined, JDBCLink-UX will use system property javax.net.ssl.keyStoreType).
Key Store Password
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.keyStorePassword – This parameter declares the password of the keystore.
Default is null. (Note: if this property is not defined, JDBCLink-UX will use system property
javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword).
Client Certificate Alias
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.clientAlias – This parameter declares the alias of client certificate in keystore.
The default is null.
Client Key Password
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.keyPassword – This parameter declares the password of client private key. The
default is null.
Setting a com.mbf.jdbc.ssl Property
You can set a JDBCLink-UX SSL property either statically or dynamically:
To set a JDBCLink-UX SSL property statically, use the -D option of the java command. For
example, to run an application named MyApp that invokes JDBCLink-UX and set the
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStore property to specify a truststore named "MyCacertsFile", type the
following:
java –Dcom.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStore=MyCacertsFile MyApp
To set a JDBCLink-UX SSL property dynamically, call the java.lang.System.setProperty method
in your code:
System.setProperty(propertyName,"propertyValue");
Substituting the appropriate property name and value. For example, your application will invoke
JDBCLink-UX to do SSL mode connection, the application requests to authenticate server
certificate with specify a truststore named "MyCacertsFile". So you should call setProperty for
setting the com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.serverAuth and com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStore properties would be:
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Using Connection Pooling
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System.setProperty("com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.server","true");
System.setProperty("com.mbf.jdbc.ssl.trustStore","MyCacertsFile");
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JDBCLink-UX Examples
JDBCLink-UX Examples
//
// This simple Java application loads a JDBC Driver, prompts the
// user for connection information, creates the ODBC driver URL, makes
// the connection to the database, and sends user provided SQL
// statements to the database.
//
// If the result of the statement is a result set, it is printed out.
//
// This code and information is provided "as is" without warranty
// of any kind, either expressed or implied.
//
// Copyright (c) 2002 MB Foster. All Rights Reserved
//
import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
class Sample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// User input fields
String hostName
= getInputInfo("Host Name: ");
String portNumber = getInputInfo("Port Number: ");
String userName
= getInputInfo("User Name: ");
String userPassword = getInputInfo("User Password: ");
// Create the URL based on the user input
String url = "jdbc:mbf://" + hostName + ":" + portNumber;
try {
// Load JDBCLink-UX
Class.forName("com.mbf.jdbc.MBFDriver");
// Connect to the database
Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url,
userName, userPassword);
// Main processing loop
for (;;) {
// Ask user for an sql statement
System.out.println("");
String sql = getInputInfo("SQL (empty string to end) > ");
System.out.println("");
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// If empty string, then exit
if (sql == null || sql.equals(""))
break;
// Submit the SQL statement
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
// If execute returns true, there is a result set
if (stmt.execute(sql)) {
ResultSet rs = stmt.getResultSet();
displayResultSet(rs);
rs.close();
}
// Otherwise, there is an update count
else {
System.out.println(stmt.getUpdateCount() + " rows changed.");
}
}
stmt.close();
// End of main processing loop
conn.close();
System.exit(0);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
System.exit(-1);
}
//
// This captures console input until a CR is hit and
// then returns a Java String with the input.
//
private static String getInputInfo(String prompt) {
String rtn = "";
try {
byte[] buf = new byte[1024];
System.out.println(prompt);
int len = System.in.read(buf);
rtn = new String(buf, 0, len);
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JDBCLink-UX Examples
rtn = rtn.trim();
} catch (Exception ex) {
ex.printStackTrace();
}
}
return rtn;
//
// Displays all columns and rows in the given result set
//
private static void displayResultSet(ResultSet rs) throws SQLException {
// Get the ResultSetMetaData.
// This will be used for the column headings.
ResultSetMetaData rsmd = rs.getMetaData();
// Get the number of columns in the result set
int numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();
// For each column, print out the column names, separated by commas
for (int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++) {
System.out.print(rsmd.getColumnName(i));
}
if (i < numCols)
System.out.print(", ");
System.out.println("\n");
// Print out the data, fetching until end of the result set
while (rs.next()) {
// For each column, print out the data as String
for (int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++) {
String colValue = rs.getString(i);
// If data was null, use the null string instead
if (rs.wasNull())
colValue = "<NULL>";
System.out.print(colValue);
}
if (i < numCols)
System.out.print(", ");
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}
}
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}
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System.out.println();
// Fetch the next result set row
System.out.println();
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Transaction Support in JDBCLink-UX
Transaction Support in JDBCLink-UX
Handling Transactions
By default, all new Connection objects are in autocommit mode. When autocommit mode is on, a
COMMIT statement is automatically executed after each statement that is sent to the database
server. To turn autocommit mode off, explicitly call setAutoCommit(false) in Connection objects.
When autocommit mode is off, the JDBCLink-UX driver implicitly starts a new transaction when
the next statement is sent to the database server. This transaction lasts until the user issues a
COMMIT or ROLLBACK statement. If the user has already started a transaction by executing
setAutoCommit(false) and then calls setAutoCommit(false) again, the existing transaction
continues unchanged. The Java program must explicitly terminate the transaction by issuing either
a COMMIT or a ROLLBACK statement before it drops the connection to the database or the
database server.
If the Java program sets autocommit mode on while inside a transaction, the JDBCLink-UX driver
rolls back the current transaction before it actually turns autocommit mode on.
In a database that has been created with logging, if a COMMIT statement is sent to the database
server and autocommit mode is on, a error is returned by the database server because there is
currently no user transaction started. This occurs whether the COMMIT statement was sent with
the Connection.commit() method or directly with an SQL statement.
For an XAConnection object, autocommit mode is off by default and must remain off while a
distributed transaction is occurring. The transaction manager performs commit and rollback
operations; therefore, you should avoid performing these operations directly.
How XA Transaction Control Works
JDBCLink-UX supports distributed transactions and the two-phase commit protocol for enterprise
applications. A distributed transaction is a transaction that updates multiple resource managers
(such as databases) in a coordinated manner. In contrast, a local transaction begins and commits
the transaction to a single resource manager that internally coordinates API calls; there is no
transaction manager.
The two-phase commit protocol is a method of coordinating a single transaction across two or
more resource managers. It guarantees data integrity by ensuring that transactional updates are
committed in all of the participating databases, or are fully rolled back out of all the databases,
reverting to the state prior to the start of the transaction. In other words, either all the participating
databases are updated, or none of them are updated.
Distributed transactions involve the following participants:
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Transaction originator initiates the transaction. The transaction originator can be a user
application, an Enterprise JavaBean, or a JMS client.
Transaction manager manages transactions on behalf of application programs.A transaction
manager coordinates commands from application programs to start and complete transactions by
communicating with all resource managers that are participating in those transactions. When
resource managers fail during transactions, transaction managers help resource managers decide
whether to commit or roll back pending transactions.
Recoverable resource provides persistent storage for data. The resource is most often a database.
Resource manager provides access to a collection of information and processes. Transaction-aware
JDBC drivers are common resource managers. Resource managers provide transaction capabilities
and permanence of actions; they are entities accessed and controlled within a distributed
transaction. The communication between a resource manager and a specific resource is called a
transaction branch.
The first phase of the two-phase commit protocol is called the prepare phase. The required updates
are recorded in a transaction log file, and the resource must indicate, through a resource manager,
that it is ready to make the changes. Resources can either vote to commit the updates or to roll
back to the previous state. What happens in the second phase depends on how the resources vote.
If all resources vote to commit, all the resources participating in the transaction are updated. If one
or more of the resources vote to roll back, then all the resources participating in the transaction are
rolled back to their previous state.
For the detail of XA API support in JDBC, please reference JDBC 2.0 specification in particular:
XAResource, XADataSource, XID, XAConnection and Pooling support.
Tech Tips
1: For XA transaction, JDBCLink-UX will change Allbase open mode in XA mode and normal
transaction (such as autocommit transaction) can not work in this mode, so Connection.close
should be called after XA transaction finishes. At this time, the logical Connection will drop to the
Connection Pool. XA mode will be open when getXAResource will be called, and will continue
till Connection.close is called.
2: XA functionality is more like a protocol between Transaction Manager and Resource Manager,
JDBCLink-UX supports direct XA calls without Transaction Manager.
3: XA will cause the DB to be locked for prepare, if there is problem in an application or network
during this time, there are two ways to unlock DB, JTA will automatically recover transaction
later, or use odbcutil (reference ODBCLINK manual) from the server part. Please reference all the
client and server logs carefully before manually recovering transaction. Recovery is an
administrator task as it could cause loss of data. That is one of the reasons we do not support
XAResource.forget in our driver.
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Transaction Support in JDBCLink-UX
4: Before starting to program for XA transactions, understanding more about two-phase commit,
in particular roles of TM and RM, can be very helpful.
If you have a special requirement for transaction control, please contact M.B. Foster.
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Interface Support
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Interface Support
The following tables describe the interface support for various transaction methods:
Table 4: Javax.sql XAConnection
Method
getXAResource
Version introduced
2.0
Supported
Comments
Yes
Table 5: Javax.sql XADatasource
Method
Version introduced
Supported
getLoginTimeout
2.0
Yes
getLogWriter
2.0
Yes
getXAConnection
2.0
Yes
setLogWriter
2.0
Yes
setLoginTimeout
2.0
Yes
getLoginTimeout
2.0
Yes
Comments
Table 6: Javax.xa XAResource
Method
Version introduced
Supported
commit
2.0
Yes
end
2.0
Yes
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Interface Support
Table 6: Javax.xa XAResource
Method
Version introduced
Supported
forget
2.0
No
getTransactionTimeout
2.0
Yes
isSameRM
2.0
Yes
prepare
2.0
Yes
recover
2.0
Yes
rollback
2.0
Yes
setTransactionTimeout
2.0
Yes
start
2.0
Yes
Comments
Table 7: Javax.xa.Xid
Method
Version introduced
Supported
getFormatId
2.0
Yes
getGlobalTransactionId
2.0
Yes
getBranchQualifier
2.0
Yes
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Comments
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Table 8: Javax.xa.XAException
Method
Version introduced
Supported
Comments
getXAErrorCode
N/A
Yes
getXAErrorMessage
N/A
Yes
Pass nothing
getXAErrorMessage
N/A
Yes
Pass error code in
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Example of an XA transaction
Example of an XA transaction
The following code may not work properly on your computer. It is for reference only.
/*
*/
A sample of XA demo.
// You need to import the java.sql package to use JDBC
import java.sql.*;
import javax.sql.*;
import com.mbf.jdbc.*;
import com.mbf.jdbc.xa.MBFXid;
import com.mbf.jdbc.xa.MBFXAException;
import javax.transaction.xa.*;
class XA1
{
public static void main (String args [])
throws SQLException
{
try
{
DriverManager.registerDriver(new MBFDriver());
String url = "jdbc:mbf://191.1.2.3:7777";
try {
String url1 = System.getProperty("JDBC_URL");
if (url1 != null)
url = url1;
} catch (Exception e) {
// If there is any security exception, ignore it
// and use the default
}
// Connect to the database
Connection conn =
DriverManager.getConnection (url, "user", "password");
// Prepare a statement to create the table
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement ();
try
{
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// Drop the test table
stmt.execute ("drop table my_table");
}
catch (SQLException e)
{
// Ignore an error here
}
try
{
// Create a test table
stmt.execute ("create table my_table (col1 int)");
}
catch (SQLException e)
{
// Ignore an error here too
}
// Create a XADataSource instance
MBFXADataSource mxds = new MBFXADataSource();
mxds.setURL(url);
mxds.setUser("user");
mxds.setPassword("password");
// get a XA connection
XAConnection pc = mxds.getXAConnection();
// Get a logical connection
Connection conn1 = pc.getConnection();
// Get XA resource handle
XAResource mxar = pc.getXAResource();
Xid xid = createXid();
// Start a transaction branch
mxar.start (xid, XAResource.TMNOFLAGS);
// Create a Statement
Statement stmt1 = conn1.createStatement ();
// Do some DML
stmt1.executeUpdate ("insert into my_table values (7321)");
// Close the Statement
stmt1.close();
stmt1 = null;
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Example of an XA transaction
// End the branch
mxar.end(xid, XAResource.TMSUCCESS);
// Do a 1 phase commit
mxar.commit (xid, true);
// Close the connection
conn1.close();
conn1 = null;
// close the XA connection
pc.close();
pc = null;
ResultSet rset = stmt.executeQuery ("select col1 from my_table");
while (rset.next())
System.out.println("Col1 is " + rset.getInt(1));
rset.close();
rset = null;
stmt.close();
stmt = null;
conn.close();
conn = null;
}
} catch (SQLException sqe)
{
sqe.printStackTrace();
} catch (XAException xae)
{
xae.printStackTrace();
}
static Xid createXid()
throws XAException
{
byte[] data = new byte[128];
byte[0] = (byte)'a';
byte[64] = (byte)'b';
Xid xid = new MBFXid(0x1234, 64, 64, data);
return xid;
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Example of an XA transaction
}
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}
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ODBC Driver Overview
The ODBC driver
ODBC Driver Overview
ODBC driver is an implementation of Microsoft’s Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) Protocol.
It enables Microsoft Windows-based applications and tools to access relational (SQL) databases
through a Winsock connection.
In an ODBC environment, application developers and end users can take advantage of the PC’s
graphical user interface (GUI) and processing power, while relying on the security, integrity, and
database management capabilities of the server database environment.
There are many different types of ODBC implementations. The most popular are referred to as
Thin Client and Thick Client. In a thin client environment, the processing is done on the server
where the resources are better equipped to deal with large volumes of data. A thick client will
transfer the raw data down to the desktop for processing.
ODBC driver is a thin client. It allows the processing of data to take place on the server before
moving the results to the client. It goes beyond the definition of the ODBC standard by providing
access to Eloquence tables, user-defined sequential files, flat files, and PowerHouse PDL.
ODBC driver supports Winsock and serial connection (through modem) to server data in addition
to Eloquence tables, ALLBASE/SQL and Oracle databases. Flat files can be accessed via the
PowerHouse PDL, a file definition dictionary (FDGEN), or a View.
The Views option of MBF-UDALink provides the ability to create Views and enable field value
security. PowerHouse dictionary support also includes support for PowerHouse subfiles.
ODBC compliancy level
The ODBC driver is Level 3.5-compliant, with the following exceptions:
SQLBrowseConnect, SQLExtendedFetch and SQLSetPos
Scalar function
SQL_BIT, SQL_TINYINT, and SQL_BIGINT data types
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Client environment
ODBC driver is compliant with the following operating systems:
Windows 98, WindowsNT 4.0 and Windows 2000. ODBC driver
supports LAN connections, direct or dial-up on all platforms and under
all operating systems. With ODBC driver and application software,
you can develop SQL applications, generate reports, and query the
database on the server. The tested client applications include:
Cognos Axiant
Cognos Impromptu
Lotus Approach
PowerBuilder
Crystal Reports
MSExcel
MSAccess
MSQuery
Visual Basic
Visual C++
Visual FoxPro
Paradox
Server environment
The ODBC driver runs on an HP 9000, under HP-UX 10.2 or greater. The database environment
on these platforms can be Eloquence tables, ALLBASE/SQL or ORACLE.
Security is provided by HP-UX and the database environment. A listener process running on the
server responds to client requests.
The connecting link
Dynamic link libraries (DLLs) on the client are used to connect the client to the server. Desktop
applications make the request for data to the Driver.
The ODBC driver makes the request of the server to establish access to the appropriate data
repository through Winsock or the native communications driver (for serial and modem). Once
established, the reply is returned to the client, along the same route.
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ODBC Driver Overview
Use the ODBC driver in a thin client environment for fast and reliable multi-thread access to hostbased data. Host-based security ensures you retain control of data integrity and access controls.
ODBC driver requirements
HP 9000 server requirements
Operating systems supported:
HP-UX 10.2 or greater
Databases supported
Eloquence
ALLBASE/SQL
ORACLE
Networks supported
Sockets configured and running
Client requirements
Platform
Pentium processor
16 mb memory
10 mb of free disk space
Operating systems
Windows 98, Windows NT Version 4.0 and Windows 2000
Networks supported
Winsock or other TCP/IP software
Software provided
Server program for the HP 9000
Client programs for 32-bit platforms
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Field types supported
All data types supported by Eloquence, ALLBASE/SQL and Oracle
SQL commands supported
Complete ALLBASE/SQL syntax, and a subset for Eloquence tables that are accessed directly.
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Supported ODBC functions
Supported ODBC functions
The ODBC functions are listed here for application software developers. These functions are supported
by ODBC driver at the time of publication.
You can use the ODBC SQLGetFunctions call for a list of the supported ODBC driver functions.
Descriptions and conformance designations are listed in the ODBC API Reference, included with the
Microsoft Software Developers Kit (SDK).
Functions that are not completely implemented or are only in the ODBC 2 version of the driver are
noted by an R in parentheses and are discussed below.
SQLAllocConnect(R1)
SQLError(R1)
SQLSetParam
SQLAllocEnv(R1)
SQLExecute
SQLPrepare
SQLAllocStmt(R1)
SQLExecDirect
SQLPrimaryKeys
SQLBindCol
SQLFetch
SQLProcedureColumns
SQLBindParam
SQLForeignKeys
SQLProcedures
SQLCancel
SQLFreeConnect(R1)
SQLRowCount
SQLColAttributes (R1)(R2) SQLFreeEnv(R1)
SQLSetConnectOption(R1) (R3)
SQLColumns
SQLFreeStmt(R1)
SQLSetCursorName
SQLColumnPrivileges
SQLGetConnectOption(R1) SQLSetStmtOption(R1) (R4)
SQLConnect
SQLGetCursorName
SQLSpecialColumns
SQLDataSources
SQLGetFunctions
SQLStatistics
SQLDescribeCol
SQLGetInfo
SQLTablePrivileges
SQLDisconnect
SQLGetTypeInfo
SQLTables
SQLDriverConnect
SQLNumResultCols
SQLTransact(R1)
SQLSetStmtOption(R1)
Functions that are ONLY implemented in the ODBC 3 version of the driver:
SQLSetDescField SQLGetDescField
SQLGetDescRec SQLSetDescRec
SQLCopyDesc
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Supported ODBC functions
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R1
Functions implemented in ODBC3 version of the driver which replace ODBC 2 functions:
SQLAllocHandle(replaces SQLAllocEnv,SQLAllocConnect,SQLAllocStmt)
SQLFreeHandle(replaces SQLFreeEnv,SQLFreeConnect,SQLFreeStmt)
SQLGetDiagField(Additional functionality replaces SQLError)
SQLGetDiagRec(Additional functionality replaces SQLError)
SQLEndTran (replaces SQLTransact - SQLCommit/SQLRollback)
SQLSetConnectAttr(replaces SQLSetConnectOption )
SQLGetConnectAttr (R3) (replaces SQLGetConnectOption)
SQLGetStmtAttr(replaces SQLGetStmtOption)
SQLSetStmtAttr(R4)(replaces SQLSetStmtOption)
SQLColAttribute(R2)(replaces SQLColAttributes)
R2
The following SQLColAttribute(s) options are implemented; the others return 'Not Implemented'.
SQL_COLUMN_COUNT SQL_COLUMN_PRECISION
SQL_COLUMN_NAME SQL_COLUMN_SCALE
SQL_COLUMN_TYPE SQL_COLUMN_DISPLAY_SIZE
SQL_COLUMN_LENGTH SQL_COLUMN_NULLABLE
R3
The following SQLSetConnectOptions SQLSetConnectAttr are supported. All others return a
Driver not
Capable (SQLState S1C00).
SQL_AUTOCOMMIT 1=ON (default) 0=OFF
SQL_OPT_TRACE Supported by Driver Manager
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Supported ODBC functions
SQL_OPT_TRACEFILE Supported by Driver Manager
SQL_TRANSLATE_DLL Supported
SQL_TRANSLATE_OPTION Supported
SQL_TXN_ISOLATION Supported: Cursor Stability isolation level (CS) is not supported by
SQLSetConnectOption but you may set it from the ODBC Administrator.
SQL_TXN_READ_UNCOMMITTED (Read Uncommitted (RU))
SQL_TXN_READ_COMMITTED (Read Committed (RC))
SQL_TXN_REPEATABLE_READ (Read Repeatable (RR))
SQL_TXN_SERIALIZABLE (Note: Sets to Repeatable Read (RR))
SQL_TXN-VERSIONING Not Implemented - DO NOT USE
R4
The SQLSetStatementOption(ODBC 2) options that are implemented in the ODBC 2 version of
the driver are:
SQL_QUERY_TIMEOUT
SQL_MAX_ROWS
For the ODBC 3 version of the driver, the SQLSetStmtAttr(ODBC 3) attributes that are
implemented within the ODBC driver are:
SQL_ATTR_QUERY_TIMEOUT
SQL_ATTR_MAX_ROWS
SQL_ATTR_APP_PARAM_DESC
SQL_ATTR_APP_ROW_DESC
SQL_ATTR_PARAM_BIND_OFFSET_PTR
SQL_ATTR_PARAM_BIND_TYPE
SQL_ATTR_PARAM_OPERATION_PTR
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Supported ODBC functions
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SQL_ATTR_PARAM_STATUS_PTR
SQL_ATTR_PARAMS_PROCESSED_PTR
SQL_ATTR_PARAMSET_SIZE
SQL_ATTR_ROW_ARRAY_SIZE
SQL_ATTR_ROW_BIND_OFFSET_PTR
SQL_ATTR_ROW_BIND_TYPE
SQL_ATTR_ROW_OPERATION_PTR
SQL_ATTR_ROW_STATUS_PTR
SQL_ATTR_ROWS_FETCHED_PTR
Any other options/attributed will return either OPTION_VALUE_CHANGED, if set to other than
the ODBCdrivers default, or DRIVER_NOT_CAPABLE, or in the ODBC 3 version may be
ignored.
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Performance considerations
Performance considerations
Most people find ODBC access to their server very fast. You should, however, be aware of the
following considerations.
While reading and sorting a large table, the host may not return control to the client until the entire
database has been read and sorted. If this occurs, even restarting your PC will have no effect. You
must manually abort the server, terminate the connection with the ISQL Terminate User
command, or terminate the process using MBF-Console.
When opening a large table in MS Access, the program typically displays a screenful of data and
then seems to wait for user input. In many cases, however, it is downloading data to the client in
the background. You should think about this when giving users ODBC access to large tables on the
server. You can give or withhold access to certain tables with the ALLBASE/SQL GRANT and
REVOKE commands.
As a rule of thumb, ODBC driver does not complete any request faster than ISQL does, and may
be slower due to network overhead. If you are writing your own SQL, you may want to verify in
ISQL how ALLBASE/SQL optimizes your queries by reading the SYSTEM.PLAN pseudo-table.
Refer to the ALLBASE/SQL manual for details.
If you are writing your own SQL to do multi-row inserts or updates, you can speed up your
application by using dynamic substitution parameters. See the ODBC SDK manual (from
Microsoft Press) for details.
Note: If you are developing applications that use an ODBC interface, you may want to obtain a copy
of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Professional (Level 2) from Microsoft. The MSDN
contains the ODBC Software Developers Kit (SDK), which includes the ODBC API reference,
sample ODBC applications, and other technical information to assist you in developing your
applications. There are also many good books written on the use of ODBC.
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Using stored procedures
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Using stored procedures
The ODBC driver implements all ALLBASE/SQL stored procedures, including those that return
multiple-format results sets. You can list the stored procedures available to your ODBC session by
calling SQLProcedures. You can also get parameter information for stored procedures by calling
SQLProcedureColumns.
Stored procedures return data either through bound parameters or through one or more results sets.
To get a return value that is a procedure parameter, prepare an SQL statement (with SQLPrepare)
of the form:
{?=call owner.procedure (?,?..)}
Bind the parameters with SQLBindParameter, specifying an output parameter where appropriate.
(SQLProcedureColumn will tell you which are input parameters, which are output parameters, and
which are input/output parameters.) Call SQLExecute. The return value(s) are copied into your
stack according to the SQLBindParameter specifications. Note that all stored procedures return an
integer return status called RETURN_STATUS.
If your stored procedure returns one or more result sets, you call SQLNumResultCols,
SQLDescribeCol, SQLFetch, SQLGetData normally, as you would for any Select statement. If the
procedure returns only one result set, you call SQLMoreResults when you get to the end of the
first result set. You can then retrieve another result set.
Turning AutoCommit on/off
AutoCommit on is the default value for all ODBC drivers. Turning AutoCommit on/off is
normally accomplished by the application calling SQLSetConnectOption. The AutoCommit on/off
setting in ODBC Administrator is there for historical reasons only and should not be used.
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Supported data types
Supported data types
The following table details the correspondence between HP data types and ODBC data types.
HP DATA TYPE
ODBC DATA TYPE
DESCRIPTION
CHAR, max length <255
SQL_CHAR
CHAR, max length >=255
SQL_LONGVARCHAR
VARCHAR, max length <255
SQL_VARCHAR
VARCHAR, max length >=255
SQL_LONGVARCHAR
BINARY, length <256
SQL_BINARY
BINARY, length >=256
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
VARBINARY <256
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
VARBINARY >=256
SQL-LONGVARBINARY
LONG BINARY
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
LONG VARBINARY
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
INTEGER (32-bit)
SQL_INTEGER
SMALLINT (16-bit)
SQL_SMALLINT
DECIMAL (Internal
representation is packed
decimal)
SQL_DECIMAL
FLOAT(24) or REAL or
SQL_REAL
FLOAT(53) or DOUBLE
PRECISION or
SQL_DOUBLE
DATE
SQL_DATE
6-byte with year, month, day in
2-byte binary fields
TIME
SQL_TIME
6-byte with hour, minute,
second in 2-byte binary fields
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Character representation with
leading sign and decimal point
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DATETIME
SQL_TIMESTAMP
16-byte made up of year(2),
month(2), day (2), hour (2),
minute (2), second (2), fraction
(4)
INTERVAL
SQL_CHAR
Format is Addddddd
hh:mm:ss.fff@
Note: When creating a table using CHAR and Binary data types that are greater than 255
characters, the resulting data types used will be LONGVARCHAR and LONGVARBINARY. This
may not be the data type expected by the application.
Notes on data types
Updates to LONGVARCHAR and LONGVARBINARY items are not supported. To retrieve
them, call SQLFetch and SQLGetData in chunks.
When a zoned-decimal item is a key item in a dataset and qualifying data according the value of
the item, the DBFIND is done twice, once for the signed value and, if no entries are found, again
for the unsigned value. This won’t work if both signed and unsigned values are present in the
database.
Notes on ODBC data types
SQL_CHAR can only go up to 255 bytes. Everything longer must go into a LONGVARCHAR.
SQL_DECIMAL is a character-based value, with leading sign and decimal point.
SQL_DATE is a 6-byte binary value, with the year in bytes 0-1, month in bytes 2-3, and day in
bytes 4-5.
Determining the data type
Run MBFUTIL with the user ID and password you are using and do a SHOW <tablename>.
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Supported data types
Notes on using BLOBs
When creating an ALLBASE table for storage of BLOBs, use a LONG VARBINARY column.
ALLBASE will allocate storage space according to the actual size of the BLOB. For example,
creating a table with a column defined as LONG VARBINARY (200000000) and writing a 10K
BLOB to it results in only 10K of space being used (not the maximum of 2 GB as specified when
the column was created).
Although you can store a BLOB using a LONGBINARY column, this is not recommended
because ALLBASE will allocate storage space according to the specified column size for each
BLOB regardless of the size of the actual data. For example, creating a table with a column
defined as LONGBINARY(1000000) and writing a 10K BLOB will result in 1000000 bytes of
space being used for each BLOB. You would quickly run out of space in your database.
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Isolation levels
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Isolation levels
Isolation levels allow you to control the degree of concurrency by regulating the extent to which
operations performed by one user in a multi-user environment can be affected by operations
performed by another user.
ALLBASE/SQL allows four different isolation levels:
•
Cursor Stability (CS)
•
Repeatable Read (RR)
•
Read Committed (RC)
•
Read Uncommitted (RU)
ODBC driver uses the isolation level specified in the ODBC setup screen. The application can
later change this by calling SQLSetConnectOptions with the SQL_TXN_ISOLATION option.
The recommended isolation level is RU for Read Uncommitted. This minimizes the number of
locks that are held on your database.
Refer to the ALLBASE/SQL Reference Manual for further information.
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ODBC Translator
ODBC Translator
Select “Roman8 to PC-ANSI Translator” if you want extended characters on your HP 9000 (such as
foreign accented characters) to appear correctly on your PC. The translation goes both ways. For
example, extended characters are entered on the PC and sent to the host in an SQL update or insert
operation will be translated.
Note: The ODBC Translator is
16 bit double bite support read.
It gives access to Asian
Characters. The MS Code Page
Translator is a DOS based
translator. The Roman9 to PCANSI Translator will recognize
the symbol for the European
Currency Symbol, known as the
Euro.
Select Translator Window
After setting up the data source, the translator window is displayed. To change the
translator options select the appropriate ODBC translator and click OK.
The Data Source Administrator window is re-displayed.
Select:OK to return to the Control Panel.
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
The following is a list of features that are specific to ODBC driver.
Character set conversion
The ODBC driver converts characters greater than 127 between Windows ANSI and Roman-8.
Additional character set translations are planned for the future.
Primary key name returned by SQLStatistics
Most ODBC applications, including Microsoft Access, Visual Basic and PowerBuilder, require a
unique primary key for a table to be updatable. The algorithm used to locate the primary key is as
follows:
If the table or dataset is defined as a SnapShot (the default), no primary key is returned and the
table is not updatable.
If there is a PrimaryKey specified for the table or dataset in the HOSTCONF Utility, it is used.
Note: ALLBASE/SQL Views are not updatable and the primary key is ignored.
If no PrimaryKey specified, the algorithm does the following:
For ALLBASE/SQL tables, the algorithm tries to locate a hashed or unique index on the table. If it
cannot find one, no primary key is returned and the table is not updatable.
Updating search and sort items in Eloquence Details
To update, search, or sort items in Eloquence Details, enable the CIUPDATE (critical item update)
option via DBUTIL.
Date support and Year 2000
Version 5.6 adds a large number of date datatype conversions to support the various date types
available in Reporter. These include the following: Char, Integer, Packed, and Zoned dates in
YMD, MDY, and DMY formats, with either two or four digits years, as well as CYMD, ASK, and
Julian formats.
To support two-digit years, a century delimiter parameter has been added as a setvar. The
parameter is set using SETVAR ODBC_CENTURY_DELIMITER # (where # is a number
between 0 and 99 and has a default of 0).
Another new feature of date conversion is the ability to address invalid dates as null. This is
enabled by using SETVAR ODBC_NULLIFY_INVALID_DATES 1 (default is 1).
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
Eloquence character fields
Eloquence character fields are assigned data type CHAR (or LONGVARCHAR if the length is
greater than 254 bytes and nullable). If a field contains all spaces, it is considered null. All other
data types are non-nullable. In addition, the primary key is always non-nullable.
Eloquence subfielded fields
Subfielded fields in Eloquence are assigned an underscore followed by a number, e.g. FIELD_1,
FIELD_2, etc. To concatenate Eloquence character-type subfielded fields into one field, set the
environment variable ODBC_CONCATENATE_SUBFIELDS to 1 before running the server.
Eloquence locking strategy
ODBC driver always locks Eloquence datasets at the minimum possible level. For updates and
deletes, this involves locking at the item level for the key that has the most associated master
records (on a detail) or the primary key on a master. For DBPUT, there is no choice but to lock the
entire dataset. All locks are done conditionally and are repeated at approximately 0.5 second
intervals until they succeed or until the server times out.
Automatic masters in Eloquence not reported
Automatic master datasets do not show on the tables list. To override, set environment variable
ODBC_SHOW_AUTOMATIC_MASTERS to a non-zero value.
Viewing the access path of an Eloquence query
To view the access strategy and I/Os made by the server, run ODBCUTIL with environment
variable ODBC_DEBUG set to 5. You may also view the keys that were found by the server, and
all the columns in the table, by running ODBCUTIL and entering the command SHOW
<TableName>.
Detection of keys on ALLBASE/SQL
ODBC driver will locate and report keys on an ALLBASE/SQL table.
Unsupported data types
Unsupported data types are returned as BINARY. It is up to the application to convert them.
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
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Sending a file to the host
SQLPutFile (an ODBC extension) sends a file to the host. It takes two parameters: the file name
on the PC and the file name on the host. The file is created with short records 2 bytes long.
Padding may occur on the last byte.
Reading or writing ALLBASE/SQL LongVarBinary
items
Any file on the HP can be inserted into an ALLBASE/SQL LongVarBinary field with the
command:
INSERT INTO Table VALUES (..., '<BLOB >%$', ...);
where BLOB is the name of the file on the HP and “>%$” tells ALLBASE/SQL to copy the
contents to a memory location when retrieving the row. You can also have ALLBASE/SQL copy
the contents to a file during retrieval “<BLOB>OUTFILE”). In either case, the data can be
retrieved in the standard way (SQLFetch followed by SQLGetData in chunks).
You can also create a binary column on the HP by using ODBC functions call sequence:
SQLPrepare, SQLBindparameter (DATA_AT_EXECUTION), SQLExecute, SQLParamData,
SQLPutData. Refer to the ODBC SDK manual for details.
Maximum number of statements
ODBC driver supports up to 50 concurrent statements, or cursors, per connection. However,
SQLGetInfo with option SQL_MAX_STMT set to 1 will only report 1 as the maximum number of
concurrent statements. This is because multiple statements (or cursors) in ALLBASE/SQL on the
same connection are not truly independent. Having SQLGetInfo return 1 for SQL_MAX_STMT
forces MS Access and other applications to use multiple connections (multiple
SQLDriverConnect’s) instead of multiple statements on the same connection (one
SQLDriverConnect and multiple SQLAllocStmt’s).
You can use multiple statements from in the same connection. (In fact, some applications ignore
the SQLGetInfo and do this anyway.) There is a performance advantage to doing things this way
because a new statement (or cursor) in ALLBASE/SQL takes much less overhead than a new
connection. However, you should be aware of the following:
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•
In ALLBASE/SQL, a COMMIT or ROLLBACK operation closes all open cursors in the
connection. If you have multiple Select statements going on different statements, the next
time you SQLFetch on one statement, after a Commit on another statement, you will get
the following error: “ALLBASE has closed the cursor for this statement”. You may not
get this error immediately because ODBC driver caches a certain number of rows during
a fetch.
•
If you are in AUTOCOMMIT mode ON (this is the default option, set through
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
SQLSetConnectOptions and in ODBC Administrator), there is an implicit Commit done
whenever you fetch the last row. This is so that locks held on the database by the open
cursor are released. This may destroy other open cursors.
Note: Opening a table for the first time automatically triggers various initialization calls that cause a
commit to be performed when AUTOCOMMIT is ON.
•
If you are using prepared statements with substitution parameters to insert or update, you
need not be concerned about this. The prepared statement will still be valid after a
Commit. You can bind new parameters and SQLExecute again with no problem.
Prepared statements are SQL statements with question marks “?” that you SQLPrepare
and then call SQLBindParam or SQLBindCol. Refer to ODBC SDK for details.
If you want to specify the max number of statements the driver should use, set the desired number
in the ODBC driver setup thru the ODBC Administrator. See ODBC Driver client Configuration
later in this chapter.
Multiple serial connections
ODBC driver does not support multiple serial connections. If you get a message "Connection in
use", exit your application and try again.
New SQLGetInfo types
These return (or expect and return) a LONG value:
1000
Expected length of a BLOB being received by SQLFetch during asynchronous
execution.
1001
Number of bytes sent by SQLPutFile.
1002
Number of bytes received in current transmission block.
1003
Block number being received.
1004
Current column number being received by SQLFetch.
1005
Number of substitution parameters (after SQLPrepare).
1006
Expects the parameter number, returns the ODBC data type.
Note: These functions have to be called directly into ODBCLINK.DLL (not ODBC.DLL) because
they are not supported by the Microsoft driver.
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
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SQLGetDataCol
This is an ODBC extension. It works the same way as SQLGetData but uses a null-terminated
column name instead of the icol parameter.
NOTES: You must call this function into UDALINK2.DLL or UDALINK3.DLL. You should not mix
calls between ODBC.DLL and UDALINK2.DLL or UDALINK3.DLL. ODBC.DLL uses its own
statement and connection handles which are different than the ones it passes to UDALINK2.DLL
or UDALINK3.DLL.
SQLPutData
This function is not supported for SQL_LONGVARCHAR and SQL_LONGVARBIN types. Use
SQLPutFile followed by an SQLExecDirect (INSERT) instead.
SQLSetCursorName
The cursor naming and updating functions are not supported.
Substitution parameter
Most applications (such as MS Access), use ODBC by calling substitution parameters
functionality. Most commonly used functions include: SQLPrepare, SQLSetParam and
SQLBindParameter, SQLGetData. New 7.01.00 release extends support to all these functions thus
improving our Dynamic SQL driver support.
SQLForeignKey
This functionality is used to automatically determine and show relationship between selected
tables.
This interface will return: 1: A list of foreign keys in the specified table (columns in the specified
table that refer to primary keys in other tables). 2: A list of foreign keys in other tables that refer to
the primary key in the specified table.
The driver returns each list as a result set on the specified statement
SQLTablePrivileges
Returns a list of tables and the privileges associated with each table. The driver returns the
information as a result set on the specified statement.
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
SQLColumnPrivileges
Returns a list of columns and associated privileges for the specified table. The driver returns the
information as a result set on the specified StatementHandle.
SQLProcedure
Returns the list of procedure names stored in a specific data source. Procedure is a generic term
used to describe an executable object, or a named entity that can be invoked using input and output
parameters.
SQLProcedureColumns
Returns the list of input and output parameters, as well as the columns that make up the result set
for the specified procedures. The driver returns the information as a result set on the specified
statement.
SQLProcedure and SQLProcedureColumn provide a way for programmers to build SQL
statements that execute procedures and may provide a way for programmers to test procedures,
such as call SQLProcedure to list available procedures and SQLprocedureColumns to list the
input, input/output, and output parameters, the procedure return value, and the columns of any
result sets created by a procedure.
ALLBASE/SQL restrictions on ODBC grammar
The following table summarizes the ALLBASE/SQL restrictions on the ODBC grammar.
Statement
Programming Considerations
CREATE TABLE
UNIQUE PRIMARY KEY must follow NOT NULL
DROP TABLE
ALLBASE/SQL does not provide CASCADE or RESTRICT
REVOKE
ALLBASE/SQL does not provide RESTRICT
ALLBASE/SQL provides a DATETIME data type that is similar to TIMESTAMP.
ALLBASE/SQL does not implement optimistic locking. Optimistic locking occurs when the
DBMS does not lock data until just before an update is made. This improves concurrency because
locks are not held for long.
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ANSI character set
The HP 9000 uses the default ROMAN8 character set. Most Windows applications use the 8-bit
ANSI (ISO 8859/1) character set to provide support for Western European languages as well as
American English. The first 127 characters are the same for both ROMAN8 and ANSI character
sets. Only the extended and special characters are different.
If your client application uses these extended or special characters, the data from the database
server must be converted from ROMAN8 to ANSI. The data returning to the database server must
be converted from ANSI to ROMAN8. To activate the conversion, select the
“Roman8 to PC-ANSI translation” DLL during the data-source setup. The conversion takes place
on the client.
Bind variables of datatype CHAR and VARCHAR are also converted. A bind variable in an SQL
statement is associated (bound) to variables defined in a program. A bind variable is another name
for a dynamic parameter. For more information, refer to the ALLBASE/SQL Reference Manual.
A few characters cannot be converted to ROMAN8 and then back to ANSI. For example, when the
copyright sign in ANSI is converted to ROMAN8, it is changed to a lowercase "c." When the data
is returned to the client, the copyright sign cannot be recognized because of the conversion
process.
The following characters, sent from the client, cannot be properly converted from ANSI to
ROMAN8 in a round-trip fashion. (The hex designation is listed along with the character name.)
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A6
broken bar
A9
copyright sign
AC
not sign
AE
registered trade mark
B2
superscript 2
B3
superscript 3
B8
cedilla
B9
superscript 1
D7
multiply sign
F7
divide sign
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Extended features of the ODBC driver
Similarly, the following characters, sent from the database server, cannot be properly converted
from ROMAN8 to ANSI in a round-trip fashion.
A9
accent grave
AA
circumflex accent
AC
tilde accent
BE
Dutch guilder
EB
upper-case S caron
EC
lowercase s caron
EE
upper-case Y umlaut
F6
long dash
FC
solid box
Unsupported ALLBASE/SQL statements
Some ALLBASE/SQL statements are not supported in the ODBC driver environment.
•
Several ALLBASE/SQL statements work only with embedded SQL. ODBC driver does
not support embedded SQL.
•
Some ALLBASE/SQL statements relate to functions, such as connection, that have been
replaced by functions resident on the client.
•
Some ALLBASE/SQL functions should be restricted to the DBA. Statements controlling
these functions are accessible only through Interactive Structured Query Language
(ISQL) on the server.
•
ODBC driver internally prepares an SQL statement to be dynamically preprocessed.
Therefore, you cannot use statements such as EXECUTE IMMEDIATE. Refer to the
"PREPARE" section of the "SQL Statements" chapter in the
ALLBASE/SQL Reference Manual for a list of statements that cannot be prepared.
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ALLBASE/SQL statements that work with embedded
SQL
Client application software accessing ALLBASE/SQL databases through the ODBC driver does
not support embedded SQL. The application software calls the database functions directly. There
is no need for preprocessing. The following ALLBASE/SQL statements function only with
embedded SQL. They are not supported by the ODBC driver:
CLOSE CURSORFETCH
BEGIN DECLARE SECTIONINCLUDE
DECLARE CURSOROPEN
DESCRIBE
PREPARE
END DECLARE SECTIONREFETCH
EXECUTE
SQLEXPLAIN
EXECUTE IMMEDIATEWHENEVER
ALLBASE/SQL statements replaced by client
functions
Some functionality has moved from the database server to the client with ODBC driver. The
following ALLBASE/SQL statements are no longer supported. They have been replaced by other
functions resident on the client:
CONNECT
SET MULTITRANSACTION
DISCONNECT START DBE
RELEASE
START DBE NEW
RESET
START DBE NEWLOG
SET CONNECTSTOP DBE
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Creating a DBEnvironment on the HP 9000
Creating a DBEnvironment on the HP 9000
If you do not have an existing database for testing purposes, you can create a DBEnvironment
called PartsDBE.
Follow these steps to create the PartsDBE database on the HP 9000:
To create PartsDBE only, without preprocessing or compiling any sample programs, execute the
setup script as follows:
$ /opt/allbase/lib/hpsql/setup 2
The script copies the hpsql/sampledb directory into your current working directory. Then it creates
and loads the two databases in the PartsDBE DBEnvironment in the new sampledb directory.
Note: For a complete explanation of the procedures necessary to create the PartsDBE
DBEnvironment, refer to the appendix "Sample DBEnvironment" in the ALLBASE/SQL Reference
Manual.
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Supported SQL syntax
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Supported SQL syntax
Eloquence
The ODBC driver implements a subset of SQL for Eloquence databases. It takes an SQL statement
and translates it into the series of Eloquence calls (DBFIND, DBGET, etc.) required to optimally
read the data. It then does internal processing for joins, calculated columns, sorts, etc. Finally, it
returns the data to the client as a rowset (table of rows and columns).
Query optimization is invisible to the user (except in terms of speed). Not all queries are
optimizable. Some may require a serial read of the database.
Fully supported SQL
•
Simple SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, DELETE: no restrictions.
•
ORDER BY: no restrictions
•
GROUP BY AND AGGREGATE FUNCTIONS
•
WHERE clause: no restrictions except for subqueries.
Partially supported SQL
•
Joins: Inner joins and Left Outer Joins supported. Both ways of specifying join syntax
are supported ("SELECT ... WHERE T1.key = T2.Key" and “SELECT ... FROM table1
T1 LEFT OUTER JOIN table2 T2 ON T1.key = T2.key”).
•
Conversion functions in Select list: only SUBSTRING is supported.
•
Calculated columns: all numeric data types are converted to double-float.
•
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ... Usually it returns the count of the largest number of
records that may qualify (up to the dataset capacity), before join expansion, and before
any record qualification is done.
•
TRANSACTION CONTROL: The ability to commit and rollback transactions. It is
disabled by default, that is, the AutoCommit option is on by default. This means all
inserts/updates/deletes to the databases are normally performed immediately, with no
possibility of rolling back the transaction. To use transaction control on ALLBASE/SQL
databases, do the following:
Disable the AutoCommit option by calling SQLSet connection Option with fOption=102(SQLAUTOCOMMIT) and vParam=0 (SQL_AUTOCOMMIT_OFF)
Call SQLExecDirect with your INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE operation.
Call SQL Transact with fType=0 (SQL_COMMIT and 1(SQL-ROLLBACK).
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Supported SQL syntax
ISOLATION LEVELS refers to the level of locking the host uses when reading the database. To
set isolation level with ODBC driver, you call SQLSetConnectOption with fOption=108
(SQL_TXN_ISOLATION) and a vParam that is either 1 (SQL_TXN_READ_UNCOMMITTED, 2
(SQL_TXN_READ_COMMITTED),
or 4(SQL_TXN_REPEATABLE_READ). Refer to the
ALLBASE/SQL Manual for a description of isolation levels.
•
SELECT FOR UPDATE. You can lock data on a read of an ALLBASE/SQL database
(before doing an update) by using the construct: “SELECT ... FROM table WHERE
conditions FOR UPDATE”.
When the record(s) are retrieved, the operation will lock the rows qualified by the
WHERE clause until you Commit or Rollback the data. Use this feature to ensure the
selected data remains stable until you can update it.
Unsupported SQL
•
Table creation and index creation (CREATE TABLE, CREATE INDEX, DROP TABLE,
DROP INDEX, etc.)
•
Subqueries (where a query returns data based on the results of another query)
•
Isolation levels. ODBC driver never locks the data on a read and does not guarantee
repeatability of the read. This is equivalent to isolation level RU (Read Uncommitted).
•
HAVING clause on a GROUP BY.
•
Any SQL construct not explicitly referred to above.
Special supported features
The following features are supported even though they are not part of SQL, or are not usually
supported by SQL engines such as ALLBASE/SQL:
•
CALL statement: can be used to call any function on the host that has a fixed number of
parameters (e.g. option variable not supported) that has parameters of type integer, short
integer, or character, and return results in the form of a result set with one row, and as
many column as there are parameters in the CALL.
•
SQLRowCount function:. Returns an accurate count on queries that are read by means of
TPI (Third-Party Indexing) keys.
•
INSERT INTO _LOGFILE VALUES (...): Used for inserting a record into the
MBFSERVRlogfile. Can be used by a programmatic client to explicitly log connections
or other activity.
The following features are supported even though they are not part of SQL, or are not usually
supported by SQL engines such as ALLBASE/SQL:
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Supported SQL syntax
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•
CALL statement: can be used to call any function on the host that has a fixed number of
parameters (e.g. option variable not supported) that has parameters of type integer, short
integer, or character, and return results in the form of a result set with one row, and as
many column as there are parameters in the CALL.
•
SQLRowCount function:. Returns an accurate count on queries that are read by means of
TPI (Third-Party Indexing) keys.
•
INSERT INTO _LOGFILE VALUES (...): Used for inserting a record into the
ODBCLink logfile. Can be used by a programmatic client to explicitly log connections
or other activity.
Requirements for joins
Even though SQL does not require it, ODBC driver requires a key field on the secondary joined
table. For example, when using the syntax SELECT...FROM MEMBERSHIP T1 REGIONS_M
T2 WHERE T1.REGION=T2.REGION, column T2.REGION must be a key item.
Certain clients, in particular Impromptu and MS-Access, seem to reverse the order of tables in the
FROM clause. To correct this problem, ODBC driver now internally attempts to find a join order
such that the secondary joined table has a key item. This does not affect the result of the query. It
affects the way that ODBC driver processes the query internally.
Numeric and character expressions
Numeric and character expressions are supported in the Select list, in the join condition, and in the
WHERE clause.
Numeric expressions consist of numeric data field or constants separated by arithmetic operations
(+,-,*,/), and may be nested in parentheses (). All numeric expressions are converted to double
float.
Character expressions consist of character data fields or constants or SUBSTRING functions,
separated by a “+” sign for concatenation. The syntax of SUBSTRING is SUBSTRING (Datafield,
StartPos, Length). StartPos is 1 for the first byte.
User-defined conversion functions
You can write a procedure in “C” or another programming language to convert data from your
database into specific output formats.
To use this feature, you must modify the SQL generated by the client application. In the Select list,
you add a column with the following syntax:
CALL (“Function_Name”,DataType,Column1....)
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Supported SQL syntax
Function_Name is the name of the conversion function that must be compiled into
XLUSER.UDA.MBFOSTER, or you can access another XL by setting environment variable
ODBC_XL before running the server.
DataType is the expected datatype of the result and must be one of SQL_CHAR,
SQL_SMALLINT, SQL_INTEGER, SQL_DATE or SQL_DOUBLE. Column1, etc., are the
names of the column (or constant values) from which the result will be calculated.
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ODBC driver client configuration
ODBC driver client configuration
Data sources
Data sources are configured
through the ODBC application in
the Windows Control Panel. The
data
source
defines
the
connection to the host.
From Windows, Select Start,
Settings, and Control Panel,
then
Double-click the Data Sources
ODBC icon.
The Data Source screen
displayed.
is
This screen gives you a list of
your installed data sources.
Select Add on the right side of the
screen to access the Add Data
Source screen.
Highlight MBFoster UDALink.
Note: The MBFoster UDALink
Driver is ODBC-3 compliant.
The MBFoster UDALink2 Driver
is ODBC-2 compliant.
Select Finish. The
ODBC driver Setup screen is
displayed.
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ODBC driver client configuration
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The setup program prompts for
information specific to the
communication method you
intend to use. Avoid using special
characters, (i.e. “?”, “/”, “>”, “<“,
“:”, “,”) when creating a data
source name.
In the Data Source Name field,
Type the name of the data
source (for example, TEST)
The Description field is
optional but for this purpose we
have made an entry.
Type MBF-UDALink.
In both the HostConf User-ID and HostConf Password fields,
Type ?. to be prompted for the ODBC user ID and password at connection time, or enter the
ODBC user ID and Password assigned by your ODBC Administrator.
Communications port
Select the appropriate setting for your circumstances, e.g. Winsock.
Winsock is the preferred method for networked installations. To use Winsock, you must have
Winsock-compliant communication software on your desktop.
Host server Info
Host server name or IP address
Enter the server name or IP address for the host you intend to connect to. This is either a name that
has been assigned to the host, or an IP address (for example, 192.0.0.1).
If you are not sure about your host name or IP address, or consult your System Administrator.
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ODBC driver client configuration
Note: If you are using Winsock, Reflection for Windows is not required. It is, however, helpful for
debugging.
Move the cursor to the host server name or IP address field,
Type:
the TCPIP address of the Host (e.g. 123.456.789.111 or the host name)
Socket ID (port number on host)
If your host will support multiple Winsock listeners, then each one must be identified by a unique
socket ID. To accept the default socket ID (which is 21245), you can leave this field blank.
Change Logon
Change Logon allows the user to
change the logon of the odbc server
process created by the listener job. It
could be a different logon or the same
one the listener is using.
Fill in the appropriate information and
click OK.
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USE SSL
This enables Secure Socket Layer. The following screen is displayed.
SSL versions
There are three different SSL
protocols. Select one, based on
the following descriptions:
SP_PROT_TLS1 Encryption
TLS1 Protocol provides privacy
and data integrity between two
communicating applications. The
protocol is composed of two
layers: the TLS Record Protocol
and
the
TLS
Handshake
Protocol.
SP_PROT_SSL2 - Encryption and Authentication
The SSL 2.0 Protocol provides privacy between a client and a server. The protocol is designed to
authenticate the server and, optionally, the client. SSL requires a reliable transport protocol (such
as TCP) for data transmission and reception. The advantage of the SSL Protocol is that it is
application protocol independent.
A higher level application protocol (e.g. HTTP, FTP, TELNET, etc.) can layer on top of the SSL
Protocol transparently. The SSL Protocol can negotiate an encryption algorithm and session key as
well as authenticate a server before the application protocol transmits or receives its first byte of
data. All of the application protocol data is transmitted encrypted, ensuring privacy.
SP_PROT_SSL3 - Encryption, Authentication, and Certificates
The SSL 3.0 Protocol provides privacy and reliability between two communicating applications.
The protocol is composed of two layers. At the lowest level, layered on top of some reliable
transport protocol (such as TCP/IP), is the SSL Record Protocol. The SSL Record Protocol is
used for encapsulation of various higher level protocols.
One such encapsulated protocol, the SSL Handshake Protocol, allows the server and client to
authenticate each other and to negotiate an encryption algorithm and cryptographic keys before the
application protocol transmits or receives its first byte of data. One advantage of SSL is that it is
application protocol-independent. A higher level protocol can layer on top of the SSL Protocol
transparently.
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ODBC driver client configuration
Exchange Key Mode
CALG_DH_EPHEM and CALG_RSA_KEYX. These enable the server to communicate
separately with a client on a separate setting, independent of the network which is on a common
setting.
Certificate Server Common Name
This should match the “People Name” or “Common Name (CN)” of the certificate from the server
such as: Subject: C=CA, ST=ONT, L=OTTAWA, O=MBF, OU=DEPTNAME CN=MYNAME/
Email = myname@mbf.com. This will put “MYNAME” in the CertificateServerCommonName
parm. For additional information on creating certificates, contact MB Foster Technical Support.
Server Certificate Authorization
This activates the Server Certificate Authorization.
Max Stmts Per Connection (1-48)
Refers to the maximum number
of threads on a connection.
Keep Trailing Spaces
The default is to eliminate the
extra spaces in character
columns. Some applications
require that the columns be set
to their expected size. Checking
this box will add back
the spaces.
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Timeouts command
This is the maximum time in milliseconds the client waits on a request from the host, i.e., it is the
maximum time the host is expected to take to process a command (other than a sort or a serial read
-- see below). If this time is exceeded, the client produces the message "Timeout on data read".
You can increase this parameter if you get frequent timeouts. The default value is 180 seconds.
Timeouts sort
This is the maximum time in milliseconds that the server takes to execute a sort or serial read of
the database. After this time has elapsed, the server returns the message "Host database timeout".
A default value of 0 (zero) indicates an indefinite timeout value.
Using the native communication driver
The native communication
driver supports direct serial and
modem connections for 32-bit
clients.
The dialog is shared by both the
"Direct serial" and "Modem"
selections.
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ODBC driver client configuration
Host configuration log-in
HostConf User-ID
This is the default user ID that will be used if the connection string created by the client application
does not have a user ID. If the connection has a different user ID, a warning message is displayed,
prompting for a new user ID. To be prompted for a user ID at connect-time, enter a single “?” in
this field.
HostConf Password
This is the default password that will be used if the connection string does not contain a password.
If the connection has a different password, a warning message is displayed, prompting for a new
password. To be prompted for a password at connect-time, enter a single “?” in this field.
Modem settings
Communications port
Select the appropriate setting for your circumstances.
Speed
Select the speed at which the port is to be used.
Modem init string
Either accept the default value or set to a value that matches your modem (For modem connection
only.)
Dial prefix
If necessary, set to a value that is required by your phone system before the actual number can be
dialed (For modem connection only).
Phone number
The number to be dialed to connect to the host. (For modem connection only.)
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On Disconnect
Exit Server, Exit Modem, Logoff Host
If Exit Server and Logoff Host are not checked, the server is left running and the session remains
active after disconnecting. If Exit Modem is off, the modem is left connected as well. Use these
parameters to save time if you log on and off frequently, however you will have to logoff the
server manually. If you plan to leave the modem connected, make sure the modem is set up so as
not to respond to DTR changes.
If you are connecting by modem, make sure the modem is configured as follows (through the
modem init string):
•
Hardware flow control is on, and you are using an 8 bit, no-parity link to the host.
•
Carrier-detect signal from the modem reflects the true state of the carrier (otherwise, the
client will think the host is connected even when it is not).
•
An error-correcting protocol is enabled (MNP5, V32 or V42).
•
Modem does not respond to DTR changes (otherwise, it will disconnect if you log on
from a terminal emulator and then close the connection).
•
The DTE speed is locked (some modems change the DTE speed when connecting to a
slower modem).
Run Server
The command to run the server on the host. If the driver finds the server already running, it will
not run it again.
Timeouts: Command
This is the maximum time in milliseconds the client will wait on a request from the host, i.e., the
maximum time the host is expected to take to process a command. If this time is exceeded, the
client produces the message "Timeout on data read". You can increase this parameter if required.
The default value is 180 seconds.
Timeouts: Sort
This is the maximum time in milliseconds that the server will take to execute a sort or serial read of
the database. After this time has elapsed, the server will return the message "Host database
timeout". A default setting of 0 indicates an indefinite timeout value.
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ODBC driver client configuration
Debug logging on the client
Check this box to generate a log file called ODBCLINK.LOG on your desktop. The file is usually
created in the subdirectory where the client application is located. For example, the log file for the
HOSTCONF program is in \Program files\MBFoster. For MS Access, the logfile is usually
created in the subdirectory where the database is located.
Note: The ODBCLINK.LOG will use an enormous amount of space on your disk.
recommended that this trace log be conducted on request from MB Foster Tech Support.
It is
Debug logging on the host
Check this box to log all SQL sent to the host into ODBCLOG. This file is created in the
directory where the server is running.
Press OK when finished.
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Using ODBC driver with ODBC applications
Using ODBC driver with ODBC applications
Data access
To access your host database through ODBC, first set up one or more data sources through the
ODBC Datasource Administrator in the Control Panel. You must also Configure host security
using the Host Configuration program (Programs->MB Foster->Host Configuration Utility).
In order to connect from an ODBC client, you must specify a User-ID and Password that matches
the User-ID and Password as defined in the Host Configuration. The host uses the User-ID to
determine which tables the client can access.
You can enter the information either in the Connect string sent from the desktop application or as
part of the data-source configuration, or if the application provides a windows handle to the driver,
you can specify a "?" in the Datasource setup so the driver will prompt for a User-ID and/or
Password . Not all clients let you enter a User-ID and password, in particular MS Access, MS
Query and Lotus Approach. For these clients, you must enter the User-ID and password in your
data-source configuration. Alternatively, you may let your client application connect with a null
(or blank) User-ID and set-up a User-ID on the host named "DEFAULT".
Updating data
Most ODBC applications require a unique primary key, existing on a table or data set, to be able to
update the table. ODBC driver attempts to locate a primary key. For ALLBASE/SQL tables
created with a unique primary key, this works, but in some cases you must enter the primary key
name, if one exists, in the user-tables screen in HOSTCONF. You must also disable the "SnapShot
Only" checkbox in HOSTCONF.
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Sample ODBC application
The following example demonstrates how an application can update two databases through MS-DTC
compliant ODBC drivers under the control of an MS-DTC transaction.
The example introduces the OLE Transaction calls for initiating and committing MS-DTC transactions
and the ODBC call for propagating an MS-DTC transaction from an application to a relational database.
1. The client application connects to MS-DTC by calling DtcGetTransactionManager.
DtcGetTransactionManager returns an interface pointer to a transaction dispenser object. The
transaction dispenser object is used to initiate subsequent transactions or to create multiple transactions.
ITransactionDispenser *pTransactionDispenser;
ITransaction *pTransaction;
HRESULT hr = S_OK ;
// Obtain an interface pointer from MS-DTC proxy.
hr = DtcGetTransactionManager(
0,
0,
IID_ITransactionDispenser,
0,
0,
0,
(void **)&pTransactionDispenser
);
if (FAILED (hr))
{
printf("DtcGetTransactionManager failed: %x\n", hr);
exit (1);
}
// LPTSTR pszHost
// LPTSTR pszTmName
// REFIID rid
// DWORDdwReserved1
// WORD wcbReserved2
// void FAR * pvReserved2
// void** ppvObject
It is not necessary for applications to call either CoInitialize or OleInitialize. These are called by the
operating system.
2. The application connects to two databases using ODBC. These standard ODBC calls are not affected
by usage of MS-DTC. Changing the application to use a different database is as simple as changing the
DSN name to the name of the application to which it is connected.
// Establish connection to database on server#1
LogonToDB(&gSrv1);
// Establish connection to database on server#2
LogonToDB(&gSrv2);
void LogonToDB(DBCONN *ptr)
{
RETCODE rc = 0;
rc = SQLAllocConnect(gHenv, &(ptr->hdbc) );
if (ProcessRC("SQLAllocConnect",ptr,rc))
{
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rc = SQLConnect(ptr->hdbc,
(unsigned char *)(ptr->pszDSN),
SQL_NTS,
(unsigned char *)(ptr->pszUser),
SQL_NTS,
(unsigned char *)(ptr->pszPasswd),
SQL_NTS
);
ProcessRC("SQLConnect",ptr,rc);
}
}
3. The application begins a transaction by invoking the ITransactionDispenser::BeginTransaction
method on the transaction dispenser object obtained in Step 1. BeginTransaction returns a transaction
object that represents the transaction.
// Initiate an MS-DTC transaction
hr = pTransactionDispenser->BeginTransaction(
NULL,
// [in] IUnknown __RPC_FAR *punkOuter,
ISOLATIONLEVEL_ISOLATED,
// [in] ISOLEVEL isoLevel,
ISOFLAG_RETAIN_DONTCARE, // [in] ULONG isoFlags,
NULL,
// [in] ITransactionOptions *pOptions,
&pTransaction
// [out] ITransaction__RPC_FAR
// *__RPC_FAR *ppTransaction
);
if (FAILED (hr))
{
printf("BeginTransaction failed: %x\n",hr);
exit(1);
}
4. The application associates the transaction object with the ODBC database connection, through the
new ODBC enlistment interface that indicates that further work done on the ODBC connections is to be
done under the auspices of the MS-DTC transaction.
// Enlist each of the data sources in the transaction
Enlist(&gSrv1,pTransaction);
Enlist(&gSrv2,pTransaction);
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------void Enlist(DBCONN *ptr, ITransaction *pTransaction)
{
RETCODE rc = 0;
// Enlist database in the transaction
rc = SQLSetConnectOption (ptr->hdbc, SQL_ATTR_ENLIST_IN_DTC,
(UDWORD)pTransaction);
}
ProcessRC("SQLSetConnectOption",ptr,rc);
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Sample ODBC application
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5. The application associates a statement handle with each ODBC database connection. These ODBC
calls are not affected by the use of MS-DTC. The application uses the ODBC database connections to do
work on behalf of the transaction.
// Generate the SQL statement to execute on each of the
// databases.
sprintf(SqlStatement,
"update authors set address = '%s' where au_id = '%s'",
gNewAddress,gAuthorID
);
// Perform updates on both of the DBs participating in
// the transaction
ExecuteStatement(&gSrv1,SqlStatement);
ExecuteStatement(&gSrv2,SqlStatement);
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------void ExecuteStatement(DBCONN *ptr, char *pszBuf)
{
RETCODE rc = 0;
// Allocate an ODBC statement handle
rc = SQLAllocStmt(ptr->hdbc,&(ptr->hstmt));
ProcessRC("SQLAllocStmt",ptr,rc);
rc = SQLExecDirect(ptr->hstmt,
// Execute the passed string as a SQL statement
(unsigned char *)pszBuf,SQL_NTS);
ProcessRC("SQLExecDirect",ptr,rc);
// Free the statement handle
rc = SQLFreeStmt(ptr->hstmt, SQL_DROP);
ptr->hstmt = SQL_NULL_HSTMT;
ProcessRC("SQLFreeStmt",ptr,rc);
}
6. After updating the databases, the application calls the commit method on the transaction object. MSDTC performs the Two-phase Commit Protocol to commit the transaction. If any Resource Manager is
unable to commit the transaction, the transaction is aborted and its effects are undone from all databases
that were modified.
The ODBC database connections cannot be used until Commit completes and another
SQLSetConnectOption call is made to enlist the ODBC connection in a new MS-DTC transaction or in
the NULL transaction. Do not reuse the ODBC connection before this is done. When the application
completes the transaction, it releases the transaction object.
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This example assumes that the execution of Step 5 passed. If this step failed, the application should call
the abort method rather than Commit.
// Commit the transaction
hr = pTransaction->Commit(0,0,0);
if (FAILED(hr))
{
}
// Release Transaction
pTransaction->Release();
if (FAILED(hr))
{
}
printf("pTransaction->Commit() failed: %x\n",hr);
exit(1);
printf("pTransaction->Commit() failed: %x\n",hr);
exit(1);
7. When no more transactions are needed, the application releases the transaction dispenser object and
closes the ODBC connections.
// release transaction dispenser
pTransactionDispenser->Release();
// Free ODBC handles
FreeODBCHandles(&gSrv1);
FreeODBCHandles(&gSrv2);
// Free the global ODBC environment handle.
SQLFreeEnv(gHenv);
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------void FreeODBCHandles(DBCONN *ptr)
{
SQLDisconnect(ptr->hdbc);
SQLFreeConnect(ptr->hdbc);
}
ptr->hdbc = SQL_NULL_HDBC;
ptr->hstmt = SQL_NULL_HSTMT;
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Visual Basic sample
Client EXE Project
Filename: MTSADO.VBP
Description: A sample ADO Test Client that shows how to connect using an ADO Connection and
to fetch records with a timer to check performance.
Option Explicit
Private Const APP_ERROR = -2147467008
Dim obj As Object
Timer Variables:
Private Declare Function GetTickCount Lib “kernel32” () As Long
Private Declare Sub Sleep Lib “kernel32” (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)
Private StartTime As Long
Private Elapsed As Long
Private AvgResponseTime As Long
Private minRespTime As Long
Private maxRespTime As Long
Private Res As Variant
Private Sub Close_Click()
End
End Sub
Private Sub Command1_Click(index As Integer)
Screen.MousePointer = 11
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
Dim ProgID As String
ProgID = "TestServices.TestService"
Result = ""
'Create the appropriate ADO object
On Error GoTo objError
Set obj = CreateObject(ProgID)
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
If obj Is Nothing Then
Screen.MousePointer = 0
MsgBox "Create object " + ProgID + "failed."
Exit Sub
End If
InitTimer
‘Call the object
Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To nTrans
StartTimer
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Res = ""
Res = obj.Test(CStr("DSN=" & DSNName & ";UID=" & UIDName & ";PWD=" &
PWDName & ";"))
EndTimer
nCurTrans = i
nCurTrans.Refresh
Result = Res
Next i
FinishTimer
nCurTrans.Refresh
Set obj = Nothing
Result = Res
Screen.MousePointer = 0
Exit Sub
objError:
MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & " " & Err.Description & " Could not create Object: Make sure
the ADO Test package has been correctly installed in MTS."
Screen.MousePointer = 0
Err.Clear
Exit Sub
ErrorHandler:
Screen.MousePointer = 0
MsgBox Err.Number & "(" & Err.Source & ") :" & Err.Description
Err.Clear
End Sub
Private Sub Command2_Click()
Screen.MousePointer = 11
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
Dim ProgID As String
ProgID = "TestServices.TestService"
Result = ""
‘Create the appropriate ADO object
On Error GoTo objError
Set obj = CreateObject(ProgID)
If obj Is Nothing Then
Screen.MousePointer = 0
MsgBox "Create object failed."
Exit Sub
End If
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
InitTimer
'Call the object
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Sample ODBC application
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Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To nTrans
StartTimer
Res = ""
Res = obj.Fetch(CStr(SQLSTMT), CStr("DSN=" & DSNName & ";UID=" & UIDName
& ";PWD=" & PWDName & ";"))
EndTimer
nCurTrans = i
nCurTrans.Refresh
Result = Res
Next i
FinishTimer
Set obj = Nothing
Result = Res
Screen.MousePointer = 0
Exit Sub
objError:
MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & ": Make sure the ADOMTS package has been correctly
installed in MTS."
Screen.MousePointer = 0
Err.Clear
Exit Sub
ErrorHandler:
Screen.MousePointer = 0
MsgBox Err.Number & "(" & Err.Source & ") :" & Err.Description
Err.Clear
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Load()
DSNName = "MTSTEST"
UIDName = ""
PWDName = ""
Result = ""
nCurTrans = 0
nTrans = 1
MinResp = 0
MaxResp = 0
AvgResp = 0
End Sub
Public Sub StartTimer()
'Start timer
StartTime = GetTickCount()
End Sub
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Sample ODBC application
Public Sub EndTimer()
'Get timing values
Elapsed = GetTickCount - StartTime
If Elapsed < minRespTime Then minRespTime = Elapsed
If Elapsed > maxRespTime Then maxRespTime = Elapsed
AvgResponseTime = AvgResponseTime + Elapsed
End Sub
Public Sub FinishTimer()
'Format timer info
AvgResponseTime = AvgResponseTime / nTrans
AvgResp = Format(AvgResponseTime / 1000, "#0.###")
MinResp = Format(minRespTime / 1000, "#0.###")
MaxResp = Format(maxRespTime / 1000, "#0.###")
Form1.Refresh
End Sub
Public Sub InitTimer()
'Initalize timer
minRespTime = 99999999
maxRespTime = 0
AvgResponseTime = 0
End Sub
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VB TestServices.DLL project sample for MTS
Module - Service Utilities
Option Explicit
'Open a connection
'open the connection each time as connection pooling
'takes care of the details.
Public Function OpenConnection(objContext As ObjectContext, adoconnect As String)
On Error GoTo OpenConnectionError
Dim Connection As ADODB.Connection
'Create a connection and open it
Set Connection = New ADODB.Connection
Connection.Open (adoconnect)
'Return the open connection
Set OpenConnection = Connection
Exit Function
OpenConnectionError:
'Log the error to the event log
App.LogEvent Err.Description & "(" & Err.Number & ")", vbLogEventTypeError
'Indicate that the operation was aborted
objContext.SetAbort
'Pass the error up the line
Err.Raise Err.Number, "ServiceUtilities", Err.Description
End Function
Class – Test Service
Option Explicit
'Object implements the MTS ObjectControl interface
Implements ObjectControl
'Variable to store the MTS context
Private objContext As ObjectContext
'Name of object
Private Const ObjectName = "TestService"
'Called when the object is started under MTS
Private Sub ObjectControl_Activate()
'Assign the MTS object context
Set objContext = GetObjectContext
End Sub
'Called by MTS to indicate whether the object can be pooled
Private Function ObjectControl_CanBePooled() As Boolean
'This object can be pooled
ObjectControl_CanBePooled = True
End Function
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'Called by MTS when the object is shut down
Private Sub ObjectControl_Deactivate()
'Clear the MTS context
Set objContext = Nothing
End Sub
'Fetch a record from the database
Public Sub Fetch(ByVal aQuery As String, ByVal adoconnect As String)
On Error GoTo FetchError
Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
'Get the data
Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset
rs.ActiveConnection = OpenConnection(objContext, adoconnect)
rs.Open aQuery
Do While Not rs.EOF
rs.MoveNext
Loop
'Indicate that the operation is complete
If Not objContext Is Nothing Then objContext.SetComplete
Exit Sub
FetchError:
'Log the error
App.LogEvent Err.Description & "(" & Err.Number & ")", vbLogEventTypeError
If Not objContext Is Nothing Then objContext.SetAbort
'Pass the error on
Err.Raise Err.Number, ObjectName, Err.Description
End Sub
Public Sub Test(ByVal adoconnect As String)
On Error GoTo FetchError
Dim rs As ADODB.Recordset
'Get the data
Set rs = New ADODB.Recordset
rs.ActiveConnection = OpenConnection(objContext, adoconnect)
'Indicate that the operation is complete
If Not objContext Is Nothing Then objContext.SetComplete
Exit Sub
FetchError:
'Log the error
App.LogEvent Err.Description & "(" & Err.Number & ")", vbLogEventTypeError
If Not objContext Is Nothing Then objContext.SetAbort
'Pass the error on
Err.Raise Err.Number, ObjectName, Err.Description
End Sub
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Using Cognos Impromptu
Working with Third-Party Products
Using Cognos Impromptu
Select Catalog, Database, Add. Enter HP 9000-1 as the logical database name, ODBC Gateway as
the Gateway, and the name of your data source, e.g. HP 9000. Enter your user ID and password,
and click OK.
Select Catalog, New. Enter a catalog name and your logical database name. Impromptu
establishes the connection displays the Edit Tables screen.
The left side of the Edit Tables screen is a list of table owners. In ALLBASE/SQL, a
table owner is the owner name assigned by the database administrator. To get a list of all
the tables for a specific owner name, double-click on the owner name.
You can now select the tables you want in your catalog. After you click OK, Impromptu
loads the table definition into the catalog.
To add tables from another database to your catalog, select Catalog, Edit Tables, and
follow the same procedure.
You can now create a report through the File, New command. You are prompted for the
fields to include in your report, and Impromptu generates the report on your screen.
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Using Cognos Impromptu
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Special notes for users of Impromptu
Viewing the SQL generated by Impromptu
Enter a new report and select Report, Query, Profile, View SQL. You can also write your own
SQL and override that generated by Impromptu. Search for help on the topic AWriting your own
SQL.”
Joins
ODBC driver supports two kinds of joins: inner joins, sometimes called natural joins, and left
outer joins. An inner join returns no records if any of the secondary records are not found. A left
outer joins returns the primary record and gives nulls (or zeros) on the secondary table. To add or
modify a join definition, select Catalog, Joins. The following figure illustrates this process by
creating a left outer join from table MEMBERSHIP to table ACCT-HISTORY.
To do left outer joins on the host (as opposed to
Impromptu downloading both tables and doing
the joins locally), modify file COGDMOD.INI
in directory \COGNOS\COGAPPS as follows:
[Exception tables]
Joined=T
Note: Occasionally
Impromptu
generates
incorrect SQL when joining three or more tables
using a left outer join. To correct this, modify the
generated SQL and re-run the report.
Changing the display format
Impromptu has a limited number of display formats. To change the display format, highlight the
column and select Format Data. You cannot specify edit masks; however, you have a choice of
numeric display formats. To add dashes or other constants to your output, build an expression with
SUBSTRING functions. To add a decimal point to a number that is not defined as a decimal, create
a calculated field by dividing the number by 100.
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Using Cognos Impromptu
Creating joins using calculated columns
Impromptu can create a join using a column that is calculated from two or more fields in one or
more tables. To do this, select Catalog, Edit joins. Select your primary table and the table you want
to join in the upper left part of the screen; click AView as Expression@ and enter an equation such
as:
Table3.Column3 = Table1.column1 + Table2.Column2 ....
The left side of this expression is the table you want to join to, and the right side is the expression
to generate the key. An expression can consist of concatenated fields, SUBSTRING statements,
constants, or all of these.
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Using Lotus Approach
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Using Lotus Approach
Select Create a New File Using a Smart Master. Click OK. The following screen is displayed.
From the Create Type Drop Down Window, select ODBC Data Sources. The ODBC Data Sources
is displayed. Select the required data source.
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Using Lotus Approach
The tables associated with the
data source is displayed.
You can now select fields to
include in a query, set criteria,
enter joins, etc. In subsequent
connections, existing files can
be opened.
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Using Microsoft Access
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Using Microsoft Access
To access data using MS Access, open a blank database and click Create, New, Link Table, on the
screens that are presented, and select ODBC Databases from the Afiles of type:@ pull-down list.
The Data Sources Window is displayed.
If the data source you need is not in the
list, click on New and create a new data
source.
Note: You must click on the name of the
data source you want to use even if there
is only one in the list.
Highlight one or more tables and then click
OK. This creates an attached table that you
can later open and modify.
An attached table is treated like a local table
in every way. You can read it, update it,
delete it, import it, or join it to other local or
remote tables.
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Using Microsoft Access
Notes for users of MS Access
Check the SAVE PASSWORD box. This stores the user ID returned by the driver in the Table
Properties field and allows you to connect afterwards with the same user ID. You should get a list
of tables on the HP 9000. When you select a table, it loads the table structure and stores the table in
the database as an attached table. You can examine the table by opening it in Design View.
Once the table is attached, it is treated like a local table in every way, except that you may not
modify it. You can open the table, run reports or queries against it, or link it to other local or
remote tables.
For a table to be updatable in Access, it must have a unique key that Access is aware of. If the
table is defined in ALLBASE/SQL with a unique key, this is reported by ODBC driver (in the
SQLStatistics call that Access makes) and the table becomes updatable.
Note: If Access cannot locate a primary key, it prompts for the column or combination of columns
that make up a unique key. You can ignore this prompt, and the table will not be updatable from
Access, or you can specify one or more columns that make a unique key. If this combination of
columns is not unique (i.e. if there are duplicate records with the same key combination), Access
will not work properly.
When you enter a unique key combination, ensure that it is unique in the table. To see the column
or columns that Access uses as the unique key, look at the table in Design View. The column will
have Akey@ symbol in the left-most column.
•
Access uses a different algorithm to access a table depending on whether a unique key
exists. If it finds a unique key, it downloads the key values and then issues an SQL
statement of the form Aselect...From...Where key=? Or key=?...@. It then displays a
screenful of data and stops. (Note, however, that it may continue to download the keys in
the background so long as the table is open in table view.)
•
If a unique key is not defined, Access does a regular Select statement to read the table. It
displays a screenful of data but continues to read the table in the background. You can
view the SQL that Access (and any ODBC application) generates by turning on logging
in the ODBC Setup Screen.
•
To update a record in Access, highlight the column you want to change, make the change,
and then click on any other record. Access uses an algorithm called AOptimistic
concurrency control@ to verify that a record has not been changed by another user. This
is a less secure method than the SELECT FOR UPDATE used by other applications, but
it minimizes the number of locks held on the database.
•
Optimistic concurrency control works by Access generating an Update statement of the
form AUpdate Table Set column1=?, column2=?,...WHERE column1=? AND
column2=? AND column3=? And ....@. This ensures that the update succeeds if the
record has been changed by another user since the time it was last read in by Access.
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Using Microsoft Access
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•
The default type of join used by Access is the Inner Join. When creating a query with a
join between two tables, you can change this to a left outer join by double-clicking on the
link between the tables. You can also use the edit joins screen to change the default join
between specific tables, to avoid editing the join every time you create a new query.
•
To join a local table to a remote table efficiently in Access, there must be a one-to-one
correspondence between records in the local table and records in the remote table. You
must have all the columns in the local table necessary to form a unique key on the remote
table. If this is not the case, Access attempts to download the remote table to the local
machine.
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Using MS Query
Using MS Query
To Run MS Query from Microsoft Excel, select Data, Get External Data, Create New Query.
The following screen is displayed.
Select the data source you are going
to connect to and press OK. (You
must have previously configured a
data
source
with
ODBC
administrator.)
When connected, a list of the tables on
the server that you have access to is
displayed.
A user ID and password cannot be
configured in MS-Query.
The ability to enter a user ID and
password has been added to the ODBC
driver as part of the data source
specifications. Press ADD.
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Select one or more tables and click OK.
You can join tables by dragging the
column you want to join on from one table
to another in the upper part of the screen.
You can view the data by double-clicking
on any column name or by dragging it
from the upper to the lower part of the
screen.
Note: MS QUERY must be installed during
the installation of Microsoft Excel.
If
necessary, do a custom installation
selecting MS Query as one of the options.
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Using Visual Basic (4.0 or higher)
Using Visual Basic (4.0 or higher)
You can use ODBC driver either with Visual Basic (VB) database controls or with Database and
dynaset variables. In addition, you can call ODBC functions directly from the DLL.
VB database controls
To use VB database controls, define a data control and assign it a Connect property of the form
"DSN=HP 9000;UID=users;PWD=password" and a RecordSource property of the form "SELECT
* FROM TableName".
To create a SnapShot (no update), set the Options property to 64 (SQL_PASSTHROUGH). You
can then place text controls on the screen, set the DataSource property to the name of the data
control, and set the DataField property to the name of the column in the Select statement.
When the application runs, it downloads all records qualified by the Select statement (or all
primary key values, depending on the SQL_PASSTHROUGH option) and displays the first record
on the screen. You can scroll through the records by using the "Up", "Down", "Top", "Bottom"
buttons on the data control.
Large tables may take a long time to load (perhaps hours). You may prefer to use direct calls to
ODBC.DLL like the VBDEMO application. There is no way to tell Visual Basic to stop loading a
table once it has started other than by closing the form.
Dynaset variables
A second option is to use dynaset variables, which gives the application more control, such as for
loading a grid with data. Define a database object, assign it Connect and Options properties as
above, and open it with an OpenDatabase call, as in SET DBVar=OpenDatabase(...). Then define
a dynaset variable (DIM DSVar as DYNASET) and open it with a statement of the form "Set
DSVar=DBVar.OpenDynaset (SQLstatement)."
If SQL Statement is a Select statement, you can read the results from "DSVar.FieldName" and
move to the next record with "DSVar.MoveNext".
If SQLStatement is an Insert or Update statement, no results are returned.
You can update records with the Update method, and get the selection count by calling
SQLRowCount or with a query of the form "Select COUNT(*) From Table Where Conditions". To
update the table, you need a primary key defined and you need to disable the SnapShot only
button.
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Calling ODBC functions directly
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Calling ODBC functions directly
You can call ODBC functions directly. Generally, do an SQLAllocEnv, SQLAllocConnect, and
SQLDriverConnect to open the database, followed by SQLExecDirect, followed by multiple
SQLFetch and SQLGetData calls. To use SQLBindCol to bind fetch results to local variables, use
the following procedure:
A - Declare strings variables as: Dim mystr as String
B - Initialize the string variables before use: mystr=String(255,0)
C - Use the ByVal keyword when passing the variable to the ODBC driver. Do not use the ByVal
keyword in the AlpbBuf@ parameter except for character data because the goal is to pass the
address of the parameter, not the value. Declare SQLBindCol as follows:
Declare Function SQLFindCol Lib Aodbc.dll@ (ByVal hstmt AS long, ByVal col As Integer, By Val
wConvType As Integer, lpdBuf As Any, ByVal dwbuflen As Long, lpcbout As Long) As Integer.
Calling ODBC functions programmatically
Any application that can call a DLL can use ODBC. This includes "C" and Visual Basic. Note
that Visual Basic has built-in ODBC support through database and dataset objects; however, it is
usually faster to call ODBC functions directly.
First acquaint yourself with the ODBC 3.0 specification for information on all ODBC function
calls. The ODBC specification is available from Microsoft Press.
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Connection examples
Connection examples
Connect using SQL API
1. Declare your variables for the connection.
2. Create your connection string.
3. Allocate an environment handle.
4. Allocate a connection handle.
5. Connect to your DSN with SQLDriverConnect.
6. Allocate a statement handle.
7. Query the datasource using SQLExecDirect.
8. Call an error routine if an error occurs. See Sub GetError.
9. Make sure you release any environment that you have created when errors occur (or on exiting).
Connect using SQL API in VB 4.0-6.0
The following example demonstrates how to use SQLAPI in VB 4.0-6.0. It is to be used as a
guideline for creating a project to use SQLAPI.
This example assumes you have the necessary SQL declare functions and constants. etc.
1.
Global sDSNConnect As String 'Connection string
Global henv As Long 'handle to the environment
Global hdbc As Long 'handle to the connection
Global hstmt As Long 'handle to the statement
Global rc As Integer 'Return code
Dim outstr As String * 256
Dim outlen As Integer
Function DBConnect() As Integer
2.
‘Add your connection string to be used
Example “DSN=MEMBER;UID=USERPWD=PASSWORD;”
DSNConnect = “YOUR_DSN_STRING”
3.
'First Allocate an Environment Handle
rc = SQLAllocEnv(henv)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
MsgBox ("SQLAllocEnv failed rc=" + Str(rc))
Exit Function
End If
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4.
'Second allocate a connection handle
rc = SQLAllocConnect(henv, hdbc)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
MsgBox ("SQLAllocConnect failed rc=" + Str(rc))
Call GetError
Call FreeEnv
Exit Function
End If
5.
'Third allocate the connection and pass in the Connection string
rc = SQLDriverConnect(hdbc, Form1.hWnd, sDSNConnect, Len(sDSNConnect),
outstr, 256, outlen, 3)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
If rc = SQL_NO_DATA_FOUND Then
Exit Function 'User cancelled dialog
End If
Call GetError
Call Freeconnect
Call FreeEnv
Exit Function
End If
6.
'After connecting, allocate a statement handle
rc = SQLAllocStmt(hdbc, hstmt)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
Call GetError
Call Disconnect
Exit Function
End If
7.
'Now call an SQL query to select your data
rc = SQLExecDirect("Select * from member.membership")
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
Call GetError
MsgBox "Unable to connect to the Database Environment!", vbCritical
Call Disconnect
Exit Function
End If
End Function
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Connection examples
8.
Sub GetError()
Dim error_str As String * 256
Dim SQLState As String * 20
Dim outlen As Integer
Dim NativeError As Long
Dim msg As String
rc = SQLError(henv, hdbc, SQL_NULL_HSTMT, SQLState, NativeError,
error_str,
256, outlen)sDSNConnect = Space(256)
If rc <> SQL_NO_DATA_FOUND Then
msg = Left(error_str, outlen)
If gl_SQLStatement <> "" Then
msg = msg + " (" + gl_SQLStatement + ")"
End If
MsgBox msg
End If
End Sub
9.
Sub Freeconnect()
rc = SQLFreeConnect(hdbc)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
Call GetError
End If
End Sub
Sub FreeEnv()
rc = SQLFreeEnv(henv)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
Call GetError
End If
End Sub
Sub Freestmt()
rc = SQLFreeStmt(hstmt, SQL_DROP)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
Call GetError
End If
End Sub
Sub Disconnect()
rc = SQLDisconnect(hdbc)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
Call GetError
End If
rc = SQLFreeConnect(hdbc)
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If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
MsgBox ("SQLFreeConnect failed rc=" + Str(rc))
Exit Sub
End If
rc = SQLFreeEnv(henv)
If rc <> SQL_SUCCESS Then
MsgBox ("SQLFreeEnv failed rc=" + Str(rc))
Exit Sub
End If
End Sub
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Connection examples
Connecting with DAOs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Declare your variables for the connection.
Set the DAO workspace.
Set and open the connection to the database.
Set and open the recordset for the table.
Set the recordset information you need and process it accordingly.
Make sure you close any objects that you have created when error occur (or when
exiting).
1.
Dim DAOWS As DAO.Workspace
Dim DAORS As DAO.Recordset
Dim DAODB As DAO.Database
'SET A WORKSPACE ENVIROMENT FOR YOUR CONNECTION
'AND SET THE TYPE TO DBUSEODBC
'Set DAOWS = CreateWorkspace("NewODBCWorkspace", "", "", dbUseODBC)
'OPEN THE CONNECTION PASS IN YOU CONNECTION STRING
'Set DAODB = Workspaces(0).OpenDatabase("", dbDriverComplete, True,
"ODBC;DSN=YOURDSN;UID=YOURUID;PWD=YOURPASSWORD;")
'OPEN THE TABLE AND ENTER THE SQL QUERY
'Set DAORS = DAODB.OpenRecordset("Select * from membership", dbOpenDynaset,
dbSQLPassThrough)
While Not DAORS.EOF
'Insert your query processing code here.
DAORS.MoveNext
Wend
‘Close Resultset
DAORS.Close
'Close Data Base Connection
DAODB.Close
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Connecting with RDOs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Declare your variables for the connection.
Set the RDO environment.
Set and open the connection to the database.
Set and open the recordset for the table.
Use the record set information you need and process it accordingly.
Make sure you close any objects that you have created when errors occur (or when
exiting).
1.
Dim RDOEN As RDO.rdoEnvironment
Dim RDOCN As New RDO.rdoConnection
Dim RDORS As RDO.rdoResultset
Dim RDOCL As RDO.rdoColumn
'Create an RDO Environment and specify the type
'of cursor we want. The Client Side cursor seems
'to give the most accurate results.
Set RDOEN = rdoEngine.rdoEnvironments(0).CursorDriver = rdUseOdbc
'Open a connection to the database
Set RDOCN = RDOEN.OpenConnection(YOURDSN)
(“Select * from Member.Membership”,rdOpenKeyset)
‘Open the table
Set RDORS = RDOCN.OpenResultset
While Not RDORS.EOF
' Insert your query processing code here.
RDORS.MoveNext
Wend
'Close resultset
RDORS.Close
'Close db connection
RDOCN.Close
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Connection examples
Connecting with ADOs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Declare your variables for the connection.
Set the connection string.
Set and open the connection to the database/table.
Set and open the recordset for the table.
Use the recordset information you need and process it accordingly.
Make sure you close and objects that you have created when errors occur (or when exiting).
1
2
3
4
5
6
Dim ADORS As ADODB.Recordset
Dim ADOCN As ADODB.Connection
Dim strConnect As String
StrConnect = "DSN=YOURDSN;UID=YOURUID;PWD=YOURPWD;"
Set ADOCN = New ADODB.Connection
'Set cursor for the client or server end
ADOCN.CursorLocation = adUseClient
'Open Connection
ADOCN.Open strConnect
'Open the Recordset
Set ADORS = New ADODB.Recordset
With ADORS
'Set the cursor type to be used with the recordset
.CursorType = adOpenForwardOnly
.LockType = adLockReadOnly
'Open the recordset with query, connection
.Open "SELECT * FROM TABLE", strConnect
End With
While Not ADORS.EOF
' Insert your query processing code here.
ADORS.MoveNext
Wend
'Close objects and set to nothing
ADORS.Close
ADOCN.Close
Set ADORS = Nothing
Set ADOCN = Nothing
End Sub
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Using FDGEN dictionaries with the Driver
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Using FDGEN dictionaries with the Driver
The default open mode is 5 for TurboImage data bases defined in FDGEN dictionaries. To allow
write access to these data bases, enter the following setvar statement
SETVAR ODBC_IMAGE_OPEN 1
To open all files Read, Share, Lock, set the environment variable ODBC_AOPTIONS to another
value before running the server. For example:
SETVAR ODBC_AOPTIONS 229
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ODBC driver and distributed transactions
Two-Phase Commit
ODBC driver and distributed transactions
Businesses are expected to operate in a changing environment where speed and accuracy of the
information is a distinct business differentiator. At present, computer environments offer a high
degree of connectivity. Any applications running in these environments are expected to provide
transactional control and data integrity. These characteristics are important not just from the
technical point of view, but especially from the business point of view.
This section explains how to use the transactional capabilities of the ODBC driver in conjunction
with the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS-DTC), to coordinate transactions
involving ALLBASE databases on an HP 9000 and SQL*Server databases on a Microsoft NT
platform.
A transaction is an action, or series of actions, that transforms the system from one consistent state
to another. For example, if $1 is transferred from a checking account to a savings account, a
transaction takes place because the balance of each account has changed. Transactions are
characterized by their ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) properties:
Atomicity. Atomicity refers to the all-or-nothing property of a transaction. When a transaction
consists of a series of actions, either all the actions complete successfully or none of them
complete successfully. If a transaction fails before completion, all the work done so far must be
undone (rolled back).
Consistency. The transaction transforms the system from one consistent state to another.
Consistency of the system depends on the business rules and the semantics of the system.
Consistency is enforced by the applications.
Isolation. Even though multiple transactions can be executed concurrently, each transaction runs
as if it were the only transaction on the system. It appears to each transaction that the other
transactions are executed either before or after it. The effects of the transaction are not visible to
the other transactions until the transaction either successfully completes (commits) or fails
(aborts).
Durability. Transactions, once committed, are durable—the effects of the transaction are
permanent, despite system or network failures.
Transactions are the essential building blocks of robust applications. They permit applications to
update data while providing simple failure-recovery semantics. Distributed transactions update
data on two or more network-connected computer systems. Distributed transactions are essential
to successfully update distributed data.
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The development of robust distributed applications is difficult because they are vulnerable to many
failures, including failure of the client, failure of the server, and failure of the network connection
between the client and server. In the absence of distributed transactions, the application is
responsible for all aspects of detection and recovery from these failures. Distributed transactions
eliminate this burden from the application.
A transaction processing system consists of three distinct components:
•
applications
•
transaction manager
•
resource managers
Transaction Processing System with XA-compliant RM
These components may not be confined to independent nodes. Any or all of them can be
distributed across multiple nodes on the network.
Resource managers own the objects affected by the transactions and are responsible for the
persistent storage of resource objects. Resource managers also guarantee the ACID properties of
the transactions within themselves. Examples of resource managers include database systems such
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as Microsoft® SQL Server™ and ORACLE, and file systems such as Object File System in
Windows NT®.
An application can be an independent, self-contained component (with every piece of
functionality, business rules and logic), or it can be a collection of cooperating components.
The Transaction Manager is the manager of transaction objects. It creates transaction objects and
manages their atomicity and durability.
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Two-Phase Commit
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Two-Phase Commit
Guaranteeing the ACID properties of the transaction is relatively straightforward when the actions
of a transaction are confined to a single resource manager. Facilities such as logging and locking
are examples of features provided by resource managers to guarantee the ACID properties.
However, when more than one resource manager is involved, guaranteeing the ACID properties is
more involved and requires an additional Two-phase Commit Protocol. In the absence of a
transaction manager, the application must implement the Two-phase Commit Protocol within
itself.
The Two-phase Commit Protocol has two distinct phases: the prepare phase and the commit phase.
The application chooses a controlling agent — the commit agent. The commit agent can be one of
the participating resource managers or another resource manager.
The application performs the actions on the resource managers. After completing the actions, the
application enters the prepare phase by sending a Prepare message to the resource managers. The
resource managers record the fact that they are in prepare phase and respond to the application
with Prepared messages.
If any of the resource managers are not able to complete the prepare phase, then the application
must abort the transaction. By responding with a Prepared message, a resource manager
guarantees that its part of the transaction can be committed. After receiving Prepared messages
from each of the participating resource managers, the application enters the commit phase, by
sending a Commit message to the commit agent. The commit agent records this fact. The
application must then send the Commit message to each of the participating resource managers.
The Two-phase Commit Protocol is complex. As the number of participating resource managers
increases, the complexity of the Two-phase Commit Protocol increases exponentially. Because of
this, it is very difficult to write good applications that obey the Two-phase Commit Protocol rules
when several resource managers are involved. Having the transaction manager implement the
Two-phase Commit Protocol and handle all the relevant coordination issues speeds up and
simplifies the application development process.
The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator
The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS-DTC) provides one of the foundations for
transaction processing. Some of its key capabilities are:
MS-DTC provides features to create, destroy, manage, and monitor transactions. Transaction
objects represent transactions. Any application following the rules of the MS-DTC programming
model can create transaction objects and perform operations on them.
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Two-Phase Commit
MS-DTC is built within the architectural framework of the Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
Component Object Model. Applications written using the OLE Component Object Model
seamlessly integrate with MS-DTC.
Because MS-DTC can be implemented as OLE objects and interfaces, any programming language
supporting the OLE calling conventions can be used to develop applications.
MS-DTC exposes various OLE interfaces to applications and the resource managers, providing the
ability to interact with MS-DTC.
Application model using the MS-DTC
As object-oriented methods of design and development matured, the concept of the application as
a collection of cooperating objects was born. The maturity of the object model, combined with the
maturity of other technologies such as remote procedure calls, facilitated true distributed
applications.
While the cooperating objects in the application can be distributed across nodes in the network, the
object-oriented model of the application does not confine the application objects to specific tiers. It
is very convenient to classify the application objects into three different categories: user services,
business services, and data services.
The MS-DTC extends the object-oriented model of the application by adding objects needed for
transaction processing. The MS-DTC provides objects to create, destroy, manage, and monitor
transaction objects. The applications and resource managers can, in turn, act on these transaction
objects. The application objects can use the services provided by MS-DTC objects to enable
transaction processing.
Transactions are characterized by their ACID properties. The MS-DTC objects guarantee the
atomicity of the transactions when their actions span multiple resource managers using the Twophase Commit Protocol. The resource managers participating in the transaction guarantee the other
characteristics of the transaction: consistency, isolation, and durability.
Role of the MS-DTC
The role of the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator is to guarantee the atomicity of the
transactions. The transactions must be initiated by a component of the application. The component
initiating the transaction receives a pointer to the transaction. The component cannot pass this
pointer to another component. Therefore, the MS-DTC requires that the transaction be completed
by the same component that initiated it.
Two-tier programming model
The two-tier model refers to the classical client-server model of programming. A client provides
the user interfaces, and optionally data validation routines, for an application and interacts with
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other components on the database/application server. The business rules can be in the client
application, in the database server components such as stored procedures, or in both.
The client application uses application programming interfaces (APIs), such as Database Library
(DBLIB) or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), to communicate with the database server.
While this is not object-oriented, numerous applications exist that were written in this fashion.
When introducing the MS-DTC into this programming model, the transaction can be initiated and
committed in two different places: the client application and, in some cases, from within the
database server stored procedure. Note that this is generally done when the MS-DTC and the
database server are on the same machine. At present, this is not possible with ALLBASE stored
procedures.
The application programmer’s view of transactions
The application programmer's model of transactions is quite simple: applications either succeed or
fail. The application begins a transaction by getting a transaction object. All subsequent work is
associated with that transaction object.
When the application reaches a consistent state, it calls the commit method. If the commit
succeeds, the transaction is durably committed. If the commit fails, the transaction is aborted. If
the application finds that it cannot successfully finish the transaction, it may call the abort method
to undo the transaction's effects. This is a simple way to clean up complex failure cases.
If the application fails before it commits the transaction, the transaction manager will abort the
transaction and tell each enlisted resource manager to undo the transaction's effects. If a computer
or resource manager fails, the transaction will also be aborted.
Once the transaction has been successfully committed, the resource managers and transaction
manager will ensure that the transaction's effects are durable, even if there are subsequent failures.
Application-initiated transactions
Most resource managers can participate in application-initiated transactions. Application-initiated
transactions controlled by the MS-DTC are attractive for three reasons:
•
The application can invoke any OLE Transaction-compliant resource manager it requires.
•
The application can explicitly control the scope and duration of the transaction.
•
The application can be coded in any programming language that supports the OLE
Transaction interfaces for initiating and controlling MS-DTC transactions. This includes
applications developed in C and C++ as well as Visual BASIC 6.0.
An application-initiated transaction works as follows:
•
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The application connects to MS-DTC and obtains a transaction dispenser interface, to
initiate transactions.
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•
The application opens the resource managers it wants to use, such as a connection to
relational databases using ODBC.
•
The application initiates an MS-DTC transaction by calling BeginTransaction and obtains
a transaction object representing the transaction.
•
The application propagates the transaction to each resource manager by invoking the
resource manager’s transaction enlistment interface. For example, the application would
use the ODBC SetSQLConnectOption to propagate the MS-DTC transaction object to
resource managers that support ODBC.
All subsequent work done on the ODBC connection is done under the auspices of the
transaction. When the resource manager first sees the MS-DTC transaction, it enlists in
the transaction with its local MS-DTC transaction manager. This permits the resource
manager to participate in the Two-phase Commit Protocol and to receive transaction
commit or to abort notifications from MS-DTC.
•
The application invokes the standard resource manager functions that update transactionprotected resource manager data. For example, the application might insert, delete, or
update records in a relational database, or it might invoke a database-stored procedure
that modifies the relational database.
•
When the work of the transaction is complete, the application calls Commit. In response
to the Commit call, MS-DTC uses the Two-phase Commit Protocol to coordinate
commitment of the transaction with all of the resource managers enlisted in the
transaction. Alternatively, the application could call Abort to undo the effects of the
transaction. The application can then go on to perform more MS-DTC transactions.
•
When the application is done, it releases the transaction dispenser object and closes the
ODBC connections.
To use MS-DTC, the client application establishes a connection to the MS-DTC service, running
either on the same node as the application or on another node on the network. Once the connection
is established, this instance of MS-DTC becomes the primary MS-DTC for this particular
transaction. Other instances of MS-DTC running on resource managers participating in the
transaction become subordinate MS-DTCs. As the application begins and commits transactions,
the primary and subordinate MS-DTC exchange messages and cooperate to guarantee atomicity.
Opening a connection to the primary in the HOSTCONF program is done using the
DtcGetTransactionManager helper API call. Using this helper API, the application can obtain a
pointer to the ITransactionDispenser interface.
After opening a connection to the primary MS-DTC, the application can then proceed with the
usual API calls to open connections to the resource managers. The application can initiate the
transaction using the BeginTransaction member function in the ITransactionDispenser interface,
obtaining a pointer to the ITransaction interface. The pointer to the ITransaction interface
represents the transaction object.
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The application must enlist the participating resource managers to the transaction object to tie the
transaction object and the resource managers together. The enlistment is done via the function
dbenlisttrans for DBLIB and the SQLSetConnectOption function call for ODBC. Other
proprietary interfaces may have their own enlistment interface. For example, for the RPC
mechanism in the ODBC driver, this is done with an RPCEnlist function call.
After the participating resource managers are enlisted, the application can send commands to the
resource managers for actions within the transaction. When the application is ready to commit the
transaction, it calls the Commit member function of the transaction object or the Abort member
function of the transaction object can be called to roll back or abort the transaction. The transaction
and the transaction dispenser objects can be released at this time.
Application-to-resource manager transaction propagation
The propagation of a transaction between an application and a resource manager occurs when an
application initiates a transaction, tells the resource manager to enlist in the transaction, and directs
the resource manager to do work under the protection of the transaction.
Application Program-to-Resource Manager Transaction Propagation
In this example, ODBC driver is a proxy and a front-end resource manager (RM) for the
ALLBASE RM. The RM Proxy is implemented in the UDALink3.dll.
When the application invokes a resource manager function, the RM Proxy validates the input
parameters, marshals the parameters into a request message, and sends the request message to the
ODBC driver Server (RM front end). When the RM ODBC driver Server receives the request
message, it un-marshals the parameters and calls the Allbase RM to perform the requested
operation.
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When the operation is complete, the ODBC driver Server marshals the output parameters into a
response message, and sends the response message to the RM proxy. The RM Proxy un-marshals
the response message and returns the output parameters to the application.
To the client application or MS-DTC, the UDALink3.dll is the RM. To the ALLBASE RM, the
ODBC driver Server looks like the application (or MS-DTC for the transactional calls).
The resource manager’s view of transactions
A resource manager first declares its presence to the local transaction manager. It then waits for
execution requests from applications. When a request arrives, tagged with a new transaction
object, the resource manager enlists in the transaction by invoking the enlist method on the
transaction object.
By enlisting, the resource manager ensures that it will get callbacks from the transaction manager
when the transaction commits or aborts. The resource manager then performs the transaction's
requests. For example, the transaction might insert, delete, or update records in a relational
database. The resource manager keeps enough information so that it can either undo or redo the
transaction.
When the application commits the transaction, the transaction manager initiates the Two-phase
Commit Protocol. The transaction manager first asks each enlisted resource manager if it is
prepared to commit the transaction. The resource manager must now prepare to commit by making
it ready to either commit or abort the transaction.
Typically, the resource manager records the old and new data in stable storage so that the resource
manager can recover even if the systems fail. If the resource manager cannot prepare successfully,
it informs the transaction manager and the transaction manager aborts the transaction. If the
resource manager can prepare, it does so, tells the transaction manager that it is prepared, and
awaits the transaction manager's decision on whether to commit or abort the transaction.
Once prepared, a resource manager must wait until it gets a commit request or abort request from
the transaction manager. Most transactions commit. Aborts are infrequent. Typically, the entire
prepare and commit Protocol completes in a fraction of a second. If there is a system or
communication failure, the commit or abort notification may not arrive for minutes or even hours.
During this period, the resource manager is uncertain of the outcome of the transaction, not
knowing if the transaction committed or aborted. During this time, it keeps the data modified by
locking the transaction, isolating these changes from any other transactions. Any locking should be
done at the lowest level possible. If there is a failure, higher-level locks could inhibit others from
accessing resources.
The transaction manager’s view of transactions
Applications ask the transaction manager to create a transaction object by calling the transaction
manager's BeginTransaction method. A Method provides information about, and access to, a
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single method on a class or interface. The reflected method can be a class method or an instance
method (including an abstract method).
A Method permits widening conversions to occur when matching the actual parameters to invoke
with the underlying method's formal parameters, but it produces an IllegalArgumentException if a
narrowing conversion would occur.
When a resource manager first participates in a transaction, it calls the transaction manager enlist
method to enlist in the transaction. The transaction manager tracks the resource managers who
enlist in the transaction. Later, the application commits or aborts the transactions, or a resource
manager or a system failure aborts the transaction.
Commit and Abort are additional methods on transaction objects. When asked to commit a
transaction, the transaction manager initiates a Two-phase Commit Protocol. During phase one, it
asks all enlisted resource managers to prepare. Then, during phase two, the transaction manger
tells the resource managers whether the transaction committed or aborted.
The Two-phase Commit Protocol has many optimizations, including the read-only optimization
and the transfer of commit optimization. MS-DTC implements these optimizations, but the
functionality remains the same: atomicity and durability.
The transaction manager keeps a log in safe storage on a disk, recording transaction starts,
enlistments, and commit decisions. The log is a sequential file that records transaction events.
During normal processing, the transaction manager only writes the log. However, if the transaction
manager fails, at restart it reads the log to reconstruct its most recent state. The transaction
manager uses the log to make its state durable.
The transaction manager also provides an operator interface to manage transactions. It maintains
performance counters that can be displayed using the system performance monitor. It also records
important operational events in the system log.
These events can be displayed using the system event viewer. It has a graphical management
interface that is integrated with the SQL Enterprise Manager. The graphical management interface
lets the operator configure the system, view transactions, and abort or commit in-doubt
transactions.
For distributed transactions, each computer has a local transaction manager. When a transaction
does work at multiple computers, the transaction managers track incoming and outgoing
transactions. Each transaction manager performs all the enlist, prepare, commit, and abort calls for
local resource managers (ones on that computer). When committing a transaction distributed
among several computers, the transaction manager sends prepare, commit, and abort messages to
all its outgoing transaction managers.
When a transaction manager is in doubt about a distributed transaction, the transaction manager
queries the incoming transaction manager. The root transaction manager is never in doubt.
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Appropriateness of distributed transactions
Generally, where an application requires transactions to be distributed between physically separate
nodes and ACID properties are to be preserved, the Two-phase Commit distributed transaction is the
preferred method. In other cases, alternate replication strategies have the advantage.
Data replication for decision support
Many customers are establishing data warehouses for their decision support applications. These
customers need to replicate data from their operational database to their decision support database.
MS-DTC is not intended for replicating decision support data. Typically, these database replication
services asynchronously propagate changes from the operational database to the decision support
database. This is more efficient than updating both databases synchronously using MS-DTC.
Using the database replication service may also improve system availability.
Database replication services permit the operational database to be updated when the decision
support database is unavailable. Changes to the operational database are queued and applied to the
decision support database when it becomes available.
When MS-DTC is used for replication, both databases must be available whenever the operational
database is updated. Alternatively, applications that update the operational database must tolerate
decision support database failures. There must also be a way to re-synchronize the two databases
following the failure.
MS-DTC is not appropriate for replicating a database for high availability. The issues described for
data replication for decision support also apply for data replication for high availability. In both
cases, you should use the data replication services provided with your relational database.
MS-DTC is appropriate for building a reliable queue for sending information from one system to
another. An application could implement its own replication scheme using such a reliable queue.
Whenever the application updated the operation database, it would queue an update request for the
decision support database.
A corresponding application on the data warehouses system would remove the update requests
from the queue and update the decision support database. The applications would use MS-DTC
transactions to keep the distributed queue consistent.
Transaction commit and abort
The rules for committing and aborting MS-DTC transactions are as follows:
Transaction commit
Only the party who called BeginTransaction can call Commit. No other participant in the
transaction can commit the transaction.
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An application should not call Commit while a resource manager operation is outstanding for the
given transaction. An application that will invoke asynchronous operations must wait for all
asynchronous operations to complete before committing the transaction. An application that
violates this rule runs the risk of committing the transaction prematurely. MS-DTC does nothing to
prevent transactions from committing prematurely. Resource managers must be capable of
handling premature commit requests. If a resource manager receives a commit request while doing
work on behalf of a transaction, it can either abort the transaction or complete the request before
committing the transaction.
Transaction abort
Any participant in the transaction can abort the transaction. The transaction initiator can abort the
transaction at any time by calling Abort, providing it has not called Commit. Any resource
manager enlisted in the transaction can abort the transaction by calling Abort any time before
responding “prepared” at phase one of the Two-phase Commit Protocol. A resource manager can
also abort the transaction at phase one of the Two-phase Commit Protocol by responding E_FAIL
to the prepare request from the transaction manager.
If a statement that is executed as part of a transaction fails, it does not mean that the Resource
Manager will abort the transaction. In many cases, the application could recover from this type of
failure and still successfully commit the transaction. If the application developer wants the
transaction to abort on the failure of a statement, it should monitor the return status and act
accordingly.
Limitations of the MS-DTC-compliant ODBC Driver
The ODBC driver supports calls to an ALLBASE database to be executed as part of a distributed
transaction.
Explicit or implicit transactions
Some OLE Transaction-compliant resource managers provide facilities for initiating and
committing MS-DTC transactions explicitly, or implicitly, from within the resource manager (e.g.
from stored procedures). Initiation of a transaction in this manner is not supported by the ODBC
driver.
Propagating MS-DTC transactions
Some resource managers can propagate MS-DTC transactions from one OLE Transactioncompliant resource manager to another. This is not supported by the ODBC driver. To update
multiple ALLBASE databases in the same transaction, you must create explicit connections to
each database.
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Calling applications
Some resource managers are capable of calling application code from within the resource manager.
This permits the application programmer to perform operations that the resource manager and its
stored procedure programming language do not directly support. This is not supported by the
ODBC driver.
Transaction coordination
Coordination of the transaction by a transaction monitor on the HP server is not supported by the
ODBC driver.
Concurrent transactions
Multiple concurrent transactions on the same connection are not supported by the ODBC driver.
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RPC Overview
Remote procedure calls
RPC Overview
This chapter is a user-level description of the remote procedure call (RPC) capabilities.
.
Block diagram of RPC mechanism in ODBC driver
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RPC Windows environment
In a Windows Environment, the following are part of, or can interact with, the RPC environment:
•
UDALink3.dll
•
COM Component Builder
•
Transaction Monitor
•
MBF-Console
•
Secure Socket Layer
•
MS-DTC
Each of these will be explained in further detail in this section. In addition, Com Component
Builder and Secure Socket Layer each have an section of this manual dedicated to them.
MBF-Console with Transaction Monitor is contained is a separate manual.
Note: These instructions apply to ODBC driver version 6.02 and up.
UDALink3.dll
The UDALink3.dll consists of a series of functions providing the basic requirements for RPCs.
When developing applications based on COM, these functions are called by a COM component
built by the Component Builder.
These functions can also be called directly by an application. If called by an application, the
attributes of the remote procedure parameters (such as data type and length) have to be known and
adhered to.
The following are the application-callable RPC functions to invoke a remote procedure on an HP
9000 server WITHOUT using the COM Component Builder:
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•
RPCConnect
•
RPCDisconnect
•
RPCInvoke
•
RPCSetParam
•
RPCGetParam
•
RPCNumParams
•
RPCEnlist
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RPC Overview
Function return values
All functions will return one of the following integer values:
•
SUCCESS(0)
•
SUCCESS_WITH_INFO(1)
•
ERROR(-1)
•
INVALID_HANDLE(-2).
RPC server pool
To ensure fast response from the RPC mechanism, the Driver listener creates a pool of RPC
servers when the listener starts. When a connection request is received from the client, the listener
hands the request off to the first available RPC server process in the pool. The RPC Servers are
only created if the Security Catalog has the flag set allowing RPC to be used. The maximum
number of servers is 100.
Configuration
A number of parameters can be set in the listener job file to control the nature of the RPC Server
pool. There are defaults for all parameters. If no parameters are used, a pool with default
characteristics is created.
The following setvars control the characteristics of the pool:
•
RPC_INITIAL_SERVERS - Determines how many processes are initially created in the
pool. The default value is 10. The maximum is 50.
•
RPC_MAXIMUM_SERVERS - Determines the maximum number of servers that the
pool can have. The default is 100. The maximum is 100.
•
RPC_MIN_FREE_SERVERS - Determines the minimum number of free servers
allowed. The default is 2. The minimum is 1. The maximum is half of the number of
initial servers.
•
RPC_MAX_FREE_SERVERS - Determines the maximum number of free servers
allowed (default is number of initial servers + min free servers (Default is 12) if all
defaults are used). The minimum is the number of initial servers.
If the parameters are set beyond acceptable values, the listener changes the value to the allowed
limit.
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Pool expansion
When a connection request is received, the listener determines that the number of free servers has
diminished to the value of RPC_MIN_FREE_SERVERS environment variable. It then hands off
the connection. Next, it creates another server to add to the pool. It only expands the pool one
server at a time.
Pool contraction
If the listener expands the pool significantly, and the number of free RPC servers exceeds the
RPC_MAX_FREE_SERVERS environment variable, the listener removes processes from the
pool, keeping the pool within the prescribed limits. The listener contracts the pool from the end.
The pool does not contract unless the last server in the pool has been freed.
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Com Component Overview
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The COM Component Builder
Com Component Overview
The COM Component Builder is a Utility application used to generate COM components for
calling remote procedures on the HP MPE or UNIX platforms through the ODBC driver. This type
of COM Component supports MFC, MTS, Visual Basic script, Java script and other development
environments.
The COM Component Builder creates an OLE Object to allow applications to access the
procedure. The OLE Object calls RPC functionality in the ODBC driver. The COM Component
Builder also creates a Typelib file that describes the remote procedure.
The COM Component Builder must compile and link files into an executable. For this reason it
must be installed on a PC that has Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
installed.
During the COM Component Builder install process, the system PATH parameter is modified to
include the VC98\Bin and VB98 directories.
If these directories are not set properly, for example if Visual Studio and VB are not installed until
after the COM Component Builder, or if they are un-installed and re-installed, then the PATH may
have to be edited manually. For a standard install, the PATH parameter will contain the following
entries:
•
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin;
•
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98;
After a new COM Component is built with the Component Builder it will be will be put in the
directory C:\MBFosterCOM\<COM_Name>. <COM_Name> represents the name of the COM
Component that was entered from the user interface. On successful completion, the directory will
contain the following files:
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•
<COM_Name>.IDL
•
<COM_Name>.TLB
•
<COM_Name>.DLL
•
<COM_Name>.LIB
•
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The new COM component will be registered in the system registry. This entry will include the path
of the .DLL, .LIB and .TLB files. Any subsequent relocation of the new COM component will
result in an error during the load of the files.
In addition, resource files such as the file that holds the structure descriptors are put into the
Program Files\MB Foster\COM Component Builder\Sft subdirectory. Editing, removing or
relocating these files or directories could also cause an error.
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Running the COM Component Builder
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Running the COM Component Builder
To activate the COM Component Builder, select START - Program Files - MB Foster - MBF COM
Component Builder.
Main Window
The Main Window is displayed when the
COM Component Builder is activated.
The first 3 fields of the Main Window are
mandatory. These include:
• Name of new COM
• Name of lib
• Name of RPC Call
The "Name of New COM" is used to
determine the name of the COM
Component as well as the directory name
under C:\MBFosterCOM where the
resulting files are placed.
When the new COM component is built, the "Name of lib" will be used as the interface name in
IDL, as well as being a parameter sent to the server to determine the location of the shared library.
If the shared library is not in the same directory as the listener, then the full path name of the
library must be entered.
The Name of RPC Call parameter will be used as the method name in the OLE Object. Every
COM Component must have at least one method. Each method corresponds with an RPC. After
you build the first method, and press OK, the COM Component Builder asks if they you to add a
new method. If you are not in the Adding New Method mode, click Cancel to exit from COM
Component Builder.
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Naming requirements
The Name of New COM and the Name of XL Lib cannot be the same.
The COM Component builder will use underscores “_” instead of special characters, i.e. “.” or “/”
in the Name of XL Lib when creating the interface name because those special characters are not
permitted in the IDL name.
If the COM name entered has already been used, the COM Component Builder will force you to
select an alternative name.
Parameter definition
The COM Builder supports up to twenty parameters in one RPC call. In the Definition of
Parameters section, each parameter has three items:
Type (data type)
The data type must be selected from the drop down box. The user can select one of the defined
simple types, or select a previously defined structure type (described below). The first empty type
name field indicates that input is finished. Any items defined after an empty field will be ignored.
IN/OUT/REF (Control Type)
The second item is a control type. It supports IN, OUT, and INREF. INREF denotes an input with
a pointer.
Size
If the parameter is an array, this field should be filled to indicate the number of elements in the
array. Unlike the previous two items, this field can be empty.
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Structure Maker
Enter a name in the Name of New Structure field and press Define to activate a structure definition
window. If the structure name has been used previously, a confirmation window will advise you to
redefine the structure name. Hundreds of structures can be defined on one system. The structure
information is stored in \Sft\SM.mbf. If this file is removed, the COM Component Builder will no
longer be able to see or use the defined structures. The COM Component Builder does not
currently allow users to delete a defined structure.
Similar to the main parameter definition window, each structure parameter also has three elements,
Type, Name and Size of Array. It follows the same rule as the Main Window in that the first empty
type or name field it encounters will terminate input. The "Size of array" field can be empty if the
element is not an array.
The Structure Maker Window, with data
types listed.
The Component Builder supports
following data types in a structure:
the
• RPC_INTEGER - 16-bit integer
• RPC_LONG - 32-bit integer
• RPC_REAL - 32-bit floating point
• RPC_DOUBLE - 64-bit integer
• RPC_CHAR - 8-bit character
• RPC_SMALLINT - 8-bit integer
Each window supports ten entries. If more than ten members exist in the structure, additional
windows will be displayed. There can be a maximum of 100 members in one structure. Click
Cancel to remove all input in the current session.
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Running the COM Component Builder
Add New Method
After the first method is created, if the add option is accepted, the Main Window changes to the
Add New Method mode. In this mode, only the "Name of RPC call" box is not greyed out. Click
Cancel to exit this mode.
In this mode, the last method’s parameter
settings remain in the displayed
windows. This is convenient if you need
to add several similar RPCs. You may
need to blank out some parameters
remaining from the last RPC call. This is
accomplished by selecting the last
"empty" item in the Combo box.
Once a method is added in the COM, it
cannot be modified or deleted. It is
important to check the confirmation
windows carefully. The maximum
number of methods that can be added is
10,000.
When you no longer need to add more
methods, reply NO to the Add New
Method prompt, to exit from this mode.
Providing the methods have been input
properly and confirmed, the COM Component Builder will show a window that indicates the name
of the COM component, the interface name, and the number of methods in the COM Component.
To continue and build this component, click YES.
The creation of the COM Component may take as much as a minute on slower machines. An
audible ding may be heard periodically as the component is being built. If there is a problem with
the build, an indication of the error can normally be determined by looking at the result.txt file in
the C:\MBFoster COM\<COM_name> directory.
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Installing COM Component Builder
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Installing COM Component Builder
Select: Start, Run.
The Run window is displayed. Type:E:\Program_files\combuilder\setup.exe. "E" represents the
drive letter of the CD-ROM which has the MB Foster software CD.
As the Install prepares, the following
screen is displayed.
After the COM Component
Builder
prepares
for
installation, the Welcome
screen is displayed.
Select:NEXT
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The Destination Location
screen is displayed.
This screen enables you to
change the default installation
directory of the COM
Component Builder.
Enter a different location and
press Next.
The next screen
allows you to change
the default program
group for the COM
Component Builder
Icon.
Select a folder and
press Next.
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Installing COM Component Builder
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Setup is ready to install COM Component Builder. If all the information you have entered is
correct, press Next.
The Installation Progress Bar is briefly displayed, followed by the Setup is Complete screen.
Select Finish to complete the Setup.
Note: Occasionally the installation of COM Component Builder will install newer versions of the .dll
files on your PC. If this is the case, you will be prompted to reboot you computer before running
COM Component Builder.
For more information, contact the Technical Support Department at 1-800-ANSWERS or send email to support@mbfoster.com.
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Data types supported by Reporter
Supported Data Types
Data types supported by Reporter
NOTE: A plus sign (+) following numeric data types is optional and, if present, indicates that the
number can contain only positive values.
X
U
9
Z
P
I
J
K
R
F
any ASCII character string
upper case ASCII string
numeric ASCII unsigned numeric
zoned decimal numeric
packed decimal numeric
integer binary numeric
integer binary (for COBOL) numeric
logical binary unsigned numeric
floating point numeric format (HP format)
floating point scientific format (IEEE format)
Special data types are available to identify date formats:
DC
DJ
DP
DY
DM
DD
a day count from January 1, 1900 stored as a one- or two-word integer
a Julian date stored as a one-word integer in the HP date format
a PowerHouse date stored as a one word integer
a character date format of “YYMMDD” or “YYYYMMDD”
a character date format of “MMDDYY” or “MMDDYYYY”
a character date format of “DDMMYY” or “DDMMYYYY”
If a date is stored in a type that does not meet the requirements of the date data types shown above,
enter a “&”. You will be prompted for the physical storage format of the date.
Enter one of the following formats:
YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD
DDMMYY or DDMMYYYY
MMDDYY or MMDDYYYY
YYMM or YYYYMM
MMYY or MMYYYY
YYDDD or YYYYDDD
DDDYY or DDDYYYY
ASK
CYMMDD
year-month-day
day-month-year
month-day-year
year-month
month-year
Julian year-day
Julian day-year
ASK manufacturing date format
HP MPO date format (see below)
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SQLDATE
SQLTIME
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Allbase/SQL DATE and DATETIME
Allbase/SQL TIME
A date subtype can be defined for all field data types that are not date types. The date subtype
indicates the date format of the numeric values stored in the field.
Not all fields will have a date subtype defined. To display the subtype prompt, follow the data type
with a “&”.
The date data type or subtype used in edit field definitions can only be used to describe the actual
storage format for the data. To change the format from one data type to another or to change the
storage order from YYMMDD to DDMMYY, for example, you must create a computational field.
If a date field is input to a computation, the date is converted to a day count (type DC). If a date
field is the result of a computation, the day count is converted to the correct date field format.
For data types DY, DM or DD, you can override the storage length of 6 with a lower number to
obtain a truncated date value; to obtain the century format of the date set the storage length to 8.
The HP MPO date format uses a letter code in the first position of a 6-digit date to indicate dates
beyond 1999/12/31. The letter “A” represents the decade “2000–2009”, the letter “B” the decade
“2010–2019”, the letter “C” the decade “2020–2029” and so on. The date will display with the
letter code unless a date edit mask is added in field modification or report designer. In calculations,
sorts, downloads and output files the date will be treated as if it were an 8-character format.
For example:
A00229 = 2000/02/29
B11231 = 2011/12/31
The SQLDATE and SQLTIME formats are automatically detected by Reporter when an SQL
interface is used. If data is stored in “YYYY-MM-DD” format (including the dashes) this subtype
can be used with other definition sources.
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Field storage length
To determine the field length storage you require:
DATA TYPE
FOR A DISPLAY SIZE OF
ENTER
X
n characters
n*
U
n characters
n*
9
n digits
n*
Z
n digits
n*
P
n digits
(n+1) / 2 *
I
value <32767
value <2 billion
value >2 billion
2
4
6 or 8
J
1 - 4 digits
5 - 9 digits
10 - 14 digits
2
4
8
K
value <65535
value >65534
2
4
R
6 digits of precision
11 digits of precision
4
8
F
7 digits of precision
15 digits of precision
4
8
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Edit masks
Edit masks are combinations of the substitution and insertion characters that affect how a field is
displayed on the output report.
One character from the column is assigned to each substitution character in turn. Insertion
characters (any character not in the following list) are printed as is. The following characters can
be included in a field edit mask:
SUBSTITUTION
CHARACTER
DEFINITION
^
Insert actual data character in this position.
Z
suppress leading zeros.
$
Suppress leading zeros and place a dollar sign ($) before the
left-most digit.
*
Replace all leading zeros with asterisks.
.
Align decimal point with decimal positions defined in the
field.
!
Put a decimal point in this position, regardless of the number
of defined decimals for this field.
mask( )
Format as indicated by the edit mask. If the value is negative,
enclose it in parentheses.
mask-
Format as indicated by the edit mask. If the value is negative,
itwill print with a trailing negative sign.
maskCR
Format as indicated by the edit mask. If the value is negative,
it will print followed by “CR”.
maskDR
Format as indicated by the edit mask. If the value is negative,
it will print followed by “DR”.
Any other character is considered an insertion character, and will be displayed at that position in
the field.
When you specify an edit mask, you must be sure to allow a character for the sign position. For
example, an edit mask of $$$$$$.^^ can hold a maximum value of 9999.99 because one character
is taken up by the $ and another is reserved in case a minus sign is required.
If your edit mask is not large enough to contain the field values, the field will be filled with ###
characters.
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Date formatting
If a field has a date type or subtype, the edit mask will be replaced by a date display format. Enter
one of the choices shown below. Once a valid date format has been entered, a prompt for the
separation character appears.
Valid date formats are:
YYMMDD, YYMMMDD, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMMDD (year-month-day)
MMDDYY, MMMDDYY, MMDDYYYY, or MMMDDYYYY (month-day-year)
DDMMYY, DDMMMYY, DDMMYYYY, or DDMMMYYYY (day-month-year)
YYMM, YYMMM, YYYYMM or YYYYMMM (year-month)
MMYY, MMMYY, MMYYYY or MMMYYYY (month-year)
MMDD or MMMDD (month-day)
DDMM or DDMMM (day-month)
YYDDD or YYYYDDD (year-day)
DDDYY or DDDYYYY (day-year)
Enter a separation character for the date display format if required. Pressing Return indicates you
do not want a separator and the date will print as 951231 (for example). Enter “0” (zero) to cancel
any existing separator.
This prompt only appears if you enter a date display format. To change the date separation
character, re-enter the date display format.
Built-in functions
Date functions
If the system date is Tuesday, November 30, 1999, the time is 2:30 P.M. the following values will
be returned using these functions:
$TODAY -
the system date in the form YYMMDD with a DY data type; example: 991130
$DY[yymmdd] - allows entry of a date literal in the form YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD; example:
$DY[991130] or $DY[19991130]
$DM[mmddyy] - allows entry of a date literal in the form MMDDYY or MMDDYYYY; example:
$DM[113099] or $DM[11301999]
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$DD[ddmmyy] - allows entry of a date literal in the form DDMMYY or DDMMYYYY; example:
$DD[301190] or $DD[31101999]
$TIME -
returns the current time in HHMMAM (12 hour format) example: 0127 PM
$ITIME -
returns the current time in HHMM (24 hour format) example: 1327
$WEEKDAY - returns the current day of the week as a number (1=Sunday...7=Saturday)
$DAYNAME -
returns the current day of the week by name
$MONTHNAME - returns the current month name
The $D[.......] functions perform date validity checks and display an error message if an invalid
date is entered.
String functions
If the system date is Friday, June 1, 2001, the time is 2:30 P.M. , these functions return the values:
$USER -
the logon user ID; for example: MGR
$TIME -
the system time in HHMMPM format (12 hour format); for example: 0230PM
$ITIME -
the system time in HHMM format (24 hour format); for example: 1430
$DAYNAME -
the system day of the week by name; for example: Friday
$MONTHNAME - the system month name; for example: June
Numeric functions
If the system date is Friday, June 1, 2001, the time is 2:30 p.m. these functions return the following
values:
$YEAR -
the system year; for example: 01
$MONTH -
the system month; for example: 06
$DAY -
the system day; for example: 01
$JDAY -
the day of the year for the system date; for example: 152
$CYEAR -
the system year as a four digit “century” year; for example: 2001
$WEEKDAY - the system day of the week, for example: Friday - 6
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Data types supported by ODBC driver
Data types supported by ODBC driver
The following table shows the correspondence between HP data types and ODBC data types.
HP DATA TYPE
ODBC DATA TYPE
DESCRIPTION
CHAR, max length <255
SQL_CHAR
CHAR, max length >=255
SQL_LONGVARCHAR
VARCHAR, max length <255
SQL_VARCHAR
VARCHAR, max length >=255
SQL_LONGVARCHAR
BINARY, length <256
SQL_BINARY
BINARY, length >=256
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
VARBINARY <256
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
VARBINARY >=256
SQL-LONGVARBINARY
LONG BINARY
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
LONG VARBINARY
SQL_LONGVARBINARY
INTEGER (32-bit)
SQL_INTEGER
SMALLINT (16-bit)
SQL_SMALLINT
DECIMAL (Internal
representation is packed decimal)
SQL_DECIMAL
FLOAT(24) or REAL or
SQL_REAL
FLOAT(53) or DOUBLE
PRECISION or
SQL_DOUBLE
DATE
SQL_DATE
6-byte with year, month, day in 2byte binary fields
TIME
SQL_TIME
6-byte with hour, minute, second
in 2-byte binary fields
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DATETIME
SQL_TIMESTAMP
16-byte made up of year(2),
month(2), day (2), hour (2),
minute (2), second (2), fraction
(4)
INTERVAL
SQL_CHAR
Format is Addddddd
hh:mm:ss.fff@
Note: When creating a table using CHAR and Binary data types that are greater than 255
characters, the resulting data types used will be LONGVARCHAR and LONGVARBINARY.
This may not be the data type expected by the application.
Notes on data types
•
Updates to LONGVARCHAR and LONGVARBINARY items are not supported. To
retrieve them, call SQLFetch and SQLGetData in chunks.
•
When a zoned-decimal item is a key item in a dataset and qualifying data according the
value of the item, the DBFIND is done twice, once for the signed value and, if no entries
are found, again for the unsigned value.
•
This won’t work if both signed and unsigned values are present.
Notes on ODBC data types
•
SQL_CHAR can only go up to 255 bytes, so everything longer must go into a
LONGVARCHAR.
•
SQL_DECIMAL is a character-based value, with leading sign and decimal point.
•
SQL_DATE is a 6-byte binary value, with the year in bytes 0-1, the month in bytes 2-3,
and the day in bytes 4-5.
Determining data types
Run MBFUTIL with the user ID and password you are using and do a SHOW <tablename>.
Notes on using BLOBs
When creating an ALLBASE table for storage of BLOBs, use a LONG VARBINARY column.
ALLBASE allocates storage space according to the actual size of the BLOB. For example,
Creating a table with a column defined as LONG VARBINARY (200000000) and writing a 10K
BLOB to it results in only 10K of space being used (not the 2 GB specified when the column was
created).
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Although you can store a BLOB using a LONGBINARY column, this is not recommended
because ALLBASE will allocate storage space according to the specified column size for each
BLOB regardless of the size of the actual data. Creating a table with a column defined as
LONGBINARY(1000000) and writing a 10K BLOB will result in 1000000 bytes of space being
used for each BLOB. You will quickly run out of space in your database.
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User errors
Error messages
Common errors
Three types of errors may be encountered:
•
User errors are user correctable.
•
System errors are usually correctable by system management.
•
Trap errors are not correctable but are not usually fatal.
User errors
The USER error message indicates an error probably caused by some user action but correctable
by the user.
(USER 1) INVALID OPTION NUMBER
Probable Cause: Not a valid choice.
What to Do: Enter a number associated with an option displayed on the menu.
(USER 2) INVALID FILE NAME
Probable Cause: File name does not begin with an alphabetic character, contains characters that are
not alphabetic/numeric, or is longer than 8 characters.
What to Do: Enter a correct file name.
(USER 3) NUMBER NOT WITHIN RANGE OF <range>
Probable Cause: You entered an invalid number.
What to Do: Enter a number within the range.
(USER 4) INVALID RESPONSE - EXPECTING <list>
Probable Cause: You entered an incorrect choice.
What to Do: Enter one of the choices given in the list.
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(USER 5) TRANSFER FILE DOES NOT EXIST
Probable Cause: You tried to access a procedure transfer file that does not exist.
What to Do: Enter the name of an existing file.
(USER 6) NOT A PROCEDURE TRANSFER FILE TYPE
Probable Cause: You tried to access a file that is not a procedure transfer file.
What to Do: Enter the name of a procedure transfer file.
(USER 7) INVALID ARITHMETIC FORMAT FOR FIELD: <name>
Probable Cause: The format of the file being read does not match the format specified in the
procedure. An invalid format for a field of type Z, P, or 9 has been encountered.
What to Do: Recreate the procedure with the proper format. This may require the revision of
Dictionary definitions.
(USER 8) ATTEMPT TO ASSIGN NEGATIVE VALUE TO FIELD: <name>
Probable Cause: A computational field has been defined as accepting positive values only.
What to Do: Recreate the procedure and either change the data type of the computational field or
change the computational expression.
(USER 9) ARITHMETIC OVERFLOW FOR FIELD: <name>
Probable Cause: The value calculated for a computational field is too large to be stored in the field
storage length specified.
What to Do: Recreate the procedure and either increase the field storage length of the
computational field or change the computational expression.
(USER 10) ENTRY CANNOT BE NEGATIVE
Probable Cause: You entered a negative value for a field defined as accepting positive values only.
What to Do: Enter a positive value or change the data type definition for the field.
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User errors
(USER 11) ENTRY MUST BE NUMERIC
Probable Cause: You have entered a character other than a digit.
What to Do: Enter numeric characters only.
(USER 12) INVALID PRECEDING RELATIONAL OPERATOR
Probable Cause: An invalid operator has been entered.
What to Do: Use either LT, LE, GT, GE, NE, or EQ, or the equivalent arithmetic symbols of <,
<=, >, >=, <>, or =.
(USER 13) INVALID LOGICAL CONNECTOR
Probable Cause: You have entered an invalid connector.
What to Do: Use either TO, AND or OR.
(USER 14) INVALID USER NAME
Probable Cause: The user name contains an illegal character or is longer than 8 characters.
What to Do: Enter a correct user name.
(USER 15) EXPECTING AN ENTRY
Probable Cause: No entry has been made to a prompt that requires a value.
What to Do: Enter a value or escape character.
(USER 16) LINKING FILE HAS NOT YET BEEN ACCESSED
Probable Cause: You have entered a file reference number as a linking file specification and this
file is not in the specified access order.
What to Do: Enter a correct file access and linkage order specification.
(USER 17) INPUT FIELD LONGER THAN <length>
Probable Cause: You have entered a field value having more characters than are allowed.
What to Do: Enter the value using no more than the allowed length.
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(USER 18) NUMERIC INTEGER PART LONGER THAN <length>
Probable Cause: You have specified a larger integer than the field is capable of holding.
What to Do: Enter the value using no more than the allowed integer length.
(USER 19) NUMERIC DECIMAL PART LONGER THAN <length>
Probable Cause: You have entered more decimal positions than the field allows.
What to Do: Enter a value using no more than the allowed length.
(USER 20) NO PROCEDURE CURRENTLY EXISTS
Probable Cause: You are trying to SAVE a procedure that does not exist.
What to Do: Select an option of CREATE, REVIEW, MODIFY or RUN to access a procedure.
(USER 21) INVALID HELP CHOICE
Probable Cause: You have entered a number that does not appear on the menu list when you
requested HELP.
What to Do: Enter a single question mark ?, or a double question mark ??, and one of the numbers
on the menu.
(USER 22) ENTRY NOT FOUND IN CATALOG
Probable Cause: Incorrect name entered or incorrect catalog specified.
What to Do: Enter the correct name or catalog specification.
(USER 23) INVALID DATA FIELD TYPE
Probable Cause: You have entered a data type that is not supported.
What to Do: Enter only a type of U, X, 9, I, J, K, Z, P, R, f, DC, DJ, DY, DM, or DD. Numeric
types may be followed by a “+” sign to indicate positive values only and/or a “&” to specify a date
storage format in a following prompt.
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User errors
(USER 24) INVALID NUMBER
Probable Cause: You have entered an invalid number for the prompt.
What to Do: Enter a correct number. Check this manual or the associated help message if you need
assistance.
(USER 25) INVALID FIELD DISPLAY SIZE FOR DATA TYPE
Probable Cause: You have entered an incorrect field display size for the specified data type.
What to Do: Enter a correct value. Check this manual or the associated help message if you need
assistance.
(USER 26) INVALID FIELD STORAGE LENGTH FOR DATA TYPE
Probable Cause: The field storage length you have specified for the field being defined is not valid
for the data type you specified.
What to Do: Enter a correct field storage length. Refer to the appropriate entry in Section 4 (i.e.
“Enter your own file definitions” or “entering computational expressions”). If the problem is really
with the data type, enter “/” until you are reprompted for the data type, then enter the correct data
type.
(USER 27) DATA SET DOES NOT EXIST IN GIVEN DATA BASE
Probable Cause: The data set specified is not part of the database you specified.
What to Do: Enter a set name that is part of the base, or enter Return to be prompted for another
database name.
(USER 28) DUPLICATE TO ITEM NAME: <item name> [(real name)]
Probable Cause: You have entered a field name already in use. If the field has a different menu
name from its real (physical) name, then the duplicate real name is shown in parentheses.
What to Do: Enter a unique name.
(USER 29) INVALID DATA BASE NAME
Probable Cause: The database name you entered contains an illegal character and is longer than 6
characters.
What to Do: Enter a correct database name.
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(USER 30) DATA BASE OPEN: <error message>
Probable Cause: You have entered a password incorrectly, or the password entered does not allow
you to access the base, or your log on USER does not have read access.
What to Do: If you entered the wrong password, enter the correct one. Otherwise, enter a double
slash (“//”) to be taken back to the main menu; then see your System Administrator.
(USER 31) INVALID FIELD NAME
Probable Cause: The field name you entered contains an illegal character or is longer than 20
characters.
What to Do: Enter a correct field name.
(USER 32) EXPRESSION TOO LONG
Probable Cause: You have entered too long a computational expression.
What to Do: Split the expression to form one or more computational fields.
(USER 33) EXPECTING A NUMERIC
Probable Cause: A numeric value is expected here in a computational expression.
What to Do: Enter a correct computational expression.
(USER 34) INVALID NUMERIC OR CHARACTER STRING FORMAT
Probable Cause: You have entered an invalid literal format in a computational expression.
What to Do: Enter a correct computational expression.
(USER 35) INVALID FIELD NUMBER
Probable Cause: You entered a field number which is less than 1 or greater than the largest number
of the menu list.
What to Do: Enter only numbers corresponding to the item numbers of data fields in the menu.
Separate numbers by a comma (“,”) or a slash (“/”).
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User errors
(USER 36) DATA TYPE INCOMPATIBLE WITH DATA TYPE OF PREVIOUS FIELD(S)
Probable Cause: In a computational expression, you have entered a field reference number of a
data type incompatible with the type of expression (arithmetic or string) that has been determined
for the computational expression.
What to Do: Enter a compatible field reference number.
(USER 37) NO CLOSING QUOTATION MARK
Probable Cause: You omitted the beginning or ending quotation mark of a text string.
What to Do: Re-enter the text string with opening and closing quotation marks.
(USER 38) MISMATCHED PARENTHESES
Probable Cause: You have omitted an opening or closing parenthesis in a computational
expression.
What to Do: Enter a correct computational expression.
(USER 39) INVALID SUBFIELD NUMBER
Probable Cause: You have specified an occurrence number less than 1 or greater than the number
of occurrences defined for the field.
What to Do: Enter a valid occurrence number.
(USER 40) INVALID SUBFIELD POSITION OR LENGTH
Probable Cause: You have specified a substring (i.e. position and length) that exceeds the upper
boundary of the field.
What to Do: Enter a valid start position and length.
(USER 41) INVALID FIELD TYPE FOR SUBSTRING SPECIFICATION
Probable Cause: You have specified a substring (i.e. position and length) for a field that is not a
character type (X or U) or a numeric character type (9 or Z).
What to Do: Enter a valid reference. You may have attempted to use a substring reference where a
subfield reference (i.e. occurrence) is expected.
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(USER 42) COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION SYNTAX
Probable Cause: The computational expression is not in the correct form. Perhaps an arithmetic or
string operator is missing or is in the wrong order.
What to Do: Enter a correct computational expression.
(USER 43) INVALID MENU SELECTION NUMBER OR CODE
Probable Cause: You have entered a number that does not correspond to an entry in the menu list,
or a code suffix that is invalid for the given type of menu selection.
What to Do: Enter your selection using only the numbers that appear in the menu list above.
Check the associated help message for valid codes if required.
(USER 44) DUPLICATE MENU SELECTION NUMBER
Probable Cause: You entered a field number twice.
What to Do: Enter a non-duplicating selection.
(USER 45) TOO MANY MENU SELECTION NUMBERS ENTERED
Probable Cause: You entered more numbers than the menu list contains.
What to Do: Enter a correct selection.
(USER 46) INVALID ENTRY NAME
Probable Cause: The catalog entry name you entered contains an illegal character or is longer than
10 characters.
What to Do: Enter a correct entry name.
(USER 47) INVALID FIELD TYPE FOR SPECIFIED FUNCTION
Probable Cause: The specified function can only be performed on a numeric data type.
What to Do: Enter a valid field reference number or change data type to numeric.
(USER 48) Not Used
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User errors
(USER 49) DATA BASE NOT DEFINED IN DICTIONARY
Probable Cause: The definition for the specified database is not in this Dictionary.
What to Do: Check the spelling or try another Dictionary.
(USER 50) TABLE NOT DEFINED IN DICTIONARY
Probable Cause: The definition for the specified table is not in this Dictionary.
What to Do: Check the spelling or try another Dictionary.
(USER 53) NO DATA FIELDS HAVE BEEN SELECTED
Probable Cause: No fields were selected from any of the input files.
What to Do: Redo the procedure creation and specify the data fields to be accessed.
(USER 54) INVALID CHARACTER IN NAME
Probable Cause: The name you entered contains a character that is not valid for this type of name.
What to Do: Re-enter the name. For file names, use only the letters A-Z and numbers 0-9. For
procedure or dataview names use only the letters A-Z, numbers 0-9 and special characters + - * / ‘
# % &. For field names, use only the letters A-Z, the numbers 0-9, and the following special
characters: # & ‘ @ + - ? / * .
(USER 55) NO COMPUTATIONAL FIELDS HAVE BEEN DEFINED
Probable Cause: You specified that the file linkage to a file is a computational field. However, you
have not defined any computational fields for this procedure.
What to Do: Enter an appropriate file access order.
(USER 56) NO DEFINED PATH EXISTS BETWEEN THESE TWO TABLES
Probable Cause: You specified that two tables should be linked using the defined data path,
however no path is defined for these two tables.
What to Do: Enter the file access order and specify that you will not use the defined path for these
two data sets; you will have to manually select the fields to use as the linkage.
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(USER 57) INVALID DELETE INSTRUCTION
Probable Cause: You specified an invalid delete command. Perhaps a character other than “D” in
the delete text string or the delete text string is followed by a character other than “I” (for inserts).
What to Do: Enter a correct delete command string.
(USER 58) FIELD IS NOT NUMERIC TYPE
Probable Cause: You specified a numeric computation on an alphanumeric field.
What to Do: Enter a different field number or enter a computational instruction that applies to
alphanumeric fields.
(USER 59) NOT AN FD FILE TYPE
Probable Cause: The file name you entered is not a File-Definition (FD) file.
What to Do: Enter the name of an FD file.
(USER 60) NOT AN SD FILE TYPE
Probable Cause: The file name you entered is not a Self-Describing (SD) file.
What to Do: Enter the name of an SD file.
(USER 61) INVALID PASSWORD
Probable Cause: The password entered is not valid.
What to Do: Enter the correct password.
(USER 62) FILE ALREADY DEFINED
Probable Cause: A duplicate file name has been entered for a File-Definition (FD) file.
What to Do: Enter a unique name for the file.
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User errors
(USER 63) CANNOT REPLACE/DELETE A CATALOG ENTRY THAT YOU DID NOT CREATE
Probable Cause: You have specified a procedure entry for replacement (after modification) or
deletion that you did not create. Only the creator can replace or delete a catalog entry. A system
administrator can perform this function if they are in the DXSysMgr or DXAdmin group.
What to Do: Enter the name of a catalog entry that you created, or save the modified entry under a
different name.
(USER 64) MUST BE A SORT FIELD
Probable Cause: The field you specified for summary selection is not a sort field.
What to Do: Enter the correct field number or add the desired field to the sort list.
(USER 65) MUST BE AN OUTPUT FILE FIELD
Probable Cause: The field you specified for summary function (such as Average) is not an output
field.
What to Do: Enter the correct field number or add the desired field to the list of fields to be
included in the output file.
(USER 66) DISPLAY OVERFLOW FOR FIELD: <field name>
Probable Cause: When this field is converted to numeric ASCII characters for display, it is longer
than the specified display length for the field.
What to Do: Increase the field display length.
(USER 67) INVALID PAGE PART IDENTIFIER
Probable Cause: Page part specified does not exist.
What to Do: Enter a valid page part identifier (e.g.. A, B, etc.).
(USER 68) FIELD FUNCTION MUST BE THE ONLY ITEM IN EXPRESSION
Probable Cause: This version of the product does not allow a functional value to be used in a
computational expression. The computational field can therefore only take on the computed
functional value.
What to Do: Enter one field reference number followed by function code (i.e. P or R).
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(USER 69) CANNOT DELETE THE FOLLOWING FILE(S) BECAUSE OF FIELD USAGE: <list>
Probable Cause: One or more files are needed in the access order because they contain one or more
fields still used in the procedure.
What to Do: Enter all of the file reference numbers needed, or remove the field(s) from procedure
usage.
(USER 70) FUNCTIONAL FIELD NOT PERMITTED IN THIS TYPE OF SPECIFICATION
Probable Cause: A field defined as having a functional value, such as percentages or ratio, cannot
be used in this selection (for example, as a sort field).
What to Do: Enter a correct field selection list.
(USER 71) USER DOES NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO SPECIFY FIXED SELECTION
Probable Cause: The user or system profile is not set to allow fixed (“F”) selection criteria.
What to Do: Request the System Administrator to change the profile if appropriate or use the predefined (“P”) selection criteria specification.
(USER 72) COMPUTATIONAL EXPRESSION OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: You have created a computational expression that is too long for the internal
buffers.
What to Do: Split the expression to form one or more intermediate computational fields.
(USER 73) NOT A PowerHouse SUBFILE TYPE
Probable Cause: The file name you entered is not a PowerHouse subfile.
What to Do: Enter a valid PowerHouse subfile name.
(USER 74) INVALID DATE FORMAT FOR FIELD: <name>
Probable Cause: An invalid date format has been encountered for the field. The value does not
correspond to permitted value(s) for the particular date type of the field.
What to Do: Correct the field value or date type.
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(USER 75) DATE FORMAT OVERFLOW FOR FIELD: <name>
Probable Cause: A resultant date value from a conversion or computational process will not fit the
available storage space for the field. This typically occurs for the “years” part where century has
been included.
What to Do: Correct the field value or date type.
(USER 76) INVALID DEVICE SPECIFICATION
Probable Cause: Device name or number is not valid for your system.
What to Do: Enter a valid device name or number.
(USER 77) NO FILE ACCESS CAN FOLLOW A MISSING OPTION
Probable Cause: One or more file reference numbers follow a “report if missing” record access
option (negative sign in front of a file reference number).
What to Do: Enter the file access order correctly.
(USER 79) AN UNNAMED PROCEDURE CANNOT BE BATCH PROCESSED
Probable Cause: You have tried to set up a batch run for a new procedure that has not yet been
saved to a procedure catalog.
What to Do: Save the procedure and repeat the batch run setup.
(USER 80) EXPECTING AN ALPHABETIC CHARACTER
Probable Cause: You have specified a non-alphabetic character.
What to Do: Enter an alphabetic character.
(USER 81) INVALID EMULATOR IDENTIFIER
Probable Cause: You have specified an invalid emulator type.
What to Do: Refer to PC interchange parameters.
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(USER 82) ‘OR’ NOT ALLOWED ON THIS FIELD SELECTION
Probable Cause: There is predefined selection on another field in this procedure. An ‘OR’ operator
in this case would override the desired selection.
What to do: Modify the selection criteria using the MODIFY procedure menu or write a new
procedure.
(USER 83) FILE HAS ALREADY BEEN SELECTED
Probable Cause: Duplicate file selection not allowed.
What to Do: Correct the file selection.
(USER 84)
Not used at present
(USER 85) INVALID SYSTEM VARIABLE IDENTIFIER
Probable Cause: Invalid system variable reference of the form ‘$name’ found in a computational
expression.
What to Do: Correct the computational expression.
(USER 86) INVALID DATE LITERAL FORMAT
Probable Cause: A date field to be displayed, output or used in a calculation contains an invalid
date format for the field data type.
What to Do: Check the source data and correct the data or field data type.
(USER 87) INVALID DATE YEAR
Probable Cause: You have entered a date with an invalid year specified.
What to Do: Enter a correct date format.
(USER 88) INVALID DATE MONTH
Probable Cause: You have entered a date with an invalid month specified.
What to Do: Enter a correct date format with a month number between 01 and 12.
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User errors
(USER 89) INVALID DATE DAY
Probable Cause: You have entered a date with an invalid day specified.
What to Do: Enter a correct date format with a day number between 01 and the maximum day for
the given month.
(USER 90) - (USER 97)
Not used as present.
(USER 98) PROCEDURE CATALOG TRANSFER FILE
Probable Cause: You have accessed a procedure catalog transfer file for importing entries to a
catalog that does not contain procedures.
What to Do: Use a correct import file.
(USER 101) APPEND FILE HAS INCOMPATIBLE RECORD LENGTH:
Probable Cause: The existing file has a different record length from the new extract file record
length.
What to Do: select the correct append file.
(USER 104) INVALID CHARACTER IN NUMERIC KEYWORD
Probable Cause: A non-digit character found in a numeric keyword.
What to Do: Enter a correct numeric keyword.
(USER 105) EXPECTING A USER CLASS NAME
Probable Cause: You did not enter a name starting with a $ character.
What to Do: Enter an existing class name (starting with a $).
(USER 106) INVALID DATE TYPE FORMAT
Probable Cause: You have entered an invalid date format.
What to Do: Enter a ‘??’ help request to see a list of valid formats, or consult this manual.
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(USER 107) INVALID DATE DISPLAY FORMAT
Probable Cause: You have entered an invalid date display format.
What to Do: Enter a ‘??’ help request to see a list of valid formats, or consult this manual.
(USER 108) INVALID BIT STRING POSITION OR LENGTH
Probable Cause: You have specified a bit string (i.e.: position and length) that exceeds the upper
boundary of the field.
What to Do: Enter a valid start position and length.
(USER 109) - (USER 111)
Not used at present.
(USER 112) DATE SUBTYPE NOT VALID FOR A DATE TYPE
Probable Cause: You cannot specify a date subtype for an existing date field type.
What to Do: Change the date field type to the equivalent alpha or numeric type then add the date
subtype.
(USER 113) FORMAT EXCEEDS PAGE DEPTH AND WILL BE TRUNCATED
Probable Cause: The report page format designed with ReportDesigner cannot display headings
and the field values for at least one detail record within the specified page depth.
What to Do: Change the format or page depth.
(USER 114) NO SORT FIELDS MAY BE SPECIFIED WITH THE REPORT TOTALS OPTION
Probable Cause: You have entered one or more sort field references in addition to a ‘0’. Entering a
zero on its own will generate a ‘summarize by’ prompt to which an entry of ‘0’ will specify report
level summaries only.
What to Do: Enter ‘0’ for report level totals only or enter one or more sort field reference numbers.
(USER 115) CANNOT DELETE AN OUTPUT FIELD
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field used in the procedure output list.
What to Do: Remove the field from the output list.
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User errors
(USER 116) CANNOT DELETE A SORT FIELD
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field used in the procedure sort list.
What to Do: Remove the field from the sort list.
(USER 117) CANNOT DELETE A SELECTION FIELD
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field used in the procedure selection criteria list.
What to Do: Remove the field from the selection criteria list.
(USER 118) CANNOT DELETE A FIELD USED IN ANOTHER COMPUTATION
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field required by a computed field.
What to Do: Delete the computed field if appropriate.
(USER 119) CANNOT DELETE A FIELD USED AS A FILE LINKAGE KEY
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field needed as a linkage key between two files on the access
path.
What to Do: Change the file access linkage.
(USER 120) CANNOT DELETE A FIELD USED IN THE VIEW
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field used in the View menu list.
What to Do: Remove the field from the menu list.
(USER 121) FILE HAS ALREADY BEEN SELECTED AS A SOURCE FILE
Probable Cause: FD output file name is the same as the definition source input file name.
What to Do: Enter a correct file name.
(USER 122) VALUE TOO LARGE FOR FIELD STORAGE SIZE
Probable Cause: Data value entered is too large to store in field.
What to Do: Enter a smaller correct value.
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User errors
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(USER 123) NOT A MBF-UDALink SUBFILE TYPE
Probable Cause: The file name you entered is not a MBF-UDALink subfile.
What to Do: Enter a valid MBF-UDALink subfile name.
(USER 124) CANNOT ACCEPT PowerHouse SUBFILE FORMAT
Probable Cause: The subfile format ‘number’ is not supported by MBF-UDALink.
What to Do: Generate a subfile of format 0, 3 or 5.
(USER 125) PC FILE DOES NOT EXIST
Probable Cause: The file named for an upload transfer does not exist in the PC file directory.
What to do: Enter the name of an existing PC file.
(USER 126) UNRECOGNIZABLE PC FILE FORMAT FOR CONVERSION
Probable Cause: The PC file format found cannot be converted.
What to do: Use a file whose format can be converted, for example: PRN or WKS.
(USER 127) INVALID FIELD REFERENCE FORMAT
Probable Cause: You have entered an incorrect field reference format in a computational
expression. For example, the field reference number is not within square brackets (`[n]’)
What to do: Correct the computational expression (if necessary, refer to the feature
documentation).
(USER 129) USER DID NOT SUPPLY CORRECT PASSWORD TO OPEN DATA BASE
Probable Cause: User of dictionary database needs a valid password for access.
What to do: Enter a valid password or cancel the operation.
(USER 130) COLUMN NUMBER NOT WITHIN RANGE OF: <range>
Probable Cause: The field number specified in the report heading is no longer a display field.
What to do: Use the DEFAULT function key under the MOVE function to return the field to the
display line.
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User errors
(USER 131) CANNOT DELETE A FIELD USED FOR SELECTION VALUES
Probable Cause: You cannot delete a field used in the procedure to supply selection values for
another field.
What to do: Remove the field as a selection value target, if appropriate.
(USER 132) FOLLOWING SQL COLUMNS ARE NOT SELECTABLE: <NUMBERS>
Probable Cause: Not all SQL data types are supported. Columns whose names are surrounded by
[....] are not supported.
What to do: Enter “n?” to display the data type of the column not selected. The columns indicated
were ignored in the procedure.
(USER 133) INVALID FILE REFERENCE FORMAT
Probable Cause: The file name was not a valid file name enclosed in square brackets ([filename]).
What to do: Re-enter the file name enclosed in square brackets.
(USER 134) SQL TABLES MUST BE ACCESSED AND LINKED BEFORE ANY OTHER FILES
Probable Cause: You have specified a table/file access order that is not currently supported.
What to do: You must specify all SQL tables before any other type of file in the access order.
(USER 135) NO DEFAULT ORACLE SID EXISTS
Probable Cause: The environment variable ORACLE_SID is missing.
What to do: Add the appropriate SETVAR to your session startup routine or contact your
ORACLE database administrator.
(USER 136) NO CATALOG EXISTS
Probable Cause: The location specified was correct but no MBF-UDALink catalog was found.
What to do: Verify the location of the catalog and re-enter the location
(USER 137) INVALID CATALOG LOCATION
Probable Cause: The directory name specified does not exist.
What to do: Enter a valid directory name.
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System errors
The SYSTEM error messages indicate a system resource problem that normally needs the System
Administrator to correct it. (In some organizations this may be the same person.) This section refers to
the utility program MBFMAINT. If you get one of these error messages, or if the System Administrator
is unable to solve the problem, contact MB Foster Technical Support.
(SYSTEM 1) CATALOG FILE RENAME FAILURE
Probable Cause: File system error occurred during the update of a catalog.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 2) INCOMPATIBLE PROCEDURE VERSION: <version>
Probable Cause: You attempted to access a procedure created by an earlier version of the program,
and the earlier file format cannot be interpreted by the current version.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 3) CANNOT OPEN PRINT FILE
Probable Cause: File system error in opening the DXLIST print file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 4) TEMPORARY FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing a temporary file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 5) SORT INITIALIZATION: INSUFFICIENT WORKSPACE
Probable Cause: Not enough workspace is available for the sorting buffers.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator use MBFMAINT to increase the “Maximum
Workspace Buffer Size”.
(SYSTEM 6) SORT FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in writing to the DXSORT sort file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 7) SORT OUTPUT: SORT FILE ERROR
Probable Cause: File system error during sorting.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 8) SORT END
Probable Cause: SORTEND system intrinsic error.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 9) OLD CATALOG, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error on input catalog during a catalog conversion process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 10) DXOUT FILE ACCESS
Probable Cause: File system error in writing to the DXOUT (terminal output) file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 11) CATALOG , <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing a catalog.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 12) PROCEDURE ROLL FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing a temporary file used to save a procedure during
certain maintenance functions.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 13) MESSAGE CATALOG, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing the DX0XCAT or DX0YCAT message catalog.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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(SYSTEM 14) CATALOG (TEMPORARY), <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing a temporary file created during the update of a
catalog.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 16) OUTPUT FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing the output (extract) file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 17) LISTING FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing the DXLIST listing file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 18) DATA BASE ROOT FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing an Eloquence root file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 19) FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing a general file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 20) SELECT TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many items have been encountered to fit in the item list part of a menu
display. This will only occur while creating a procedure. It indicates that the maximum number
configured for databases, or files, or fields has been exceeded.
What to Do: Depending on the menu where the error occurred, request that your System
Administrator increase:
the “Maximum Number of Data Bases” for data base names;
the “Maximum Number of Data Files” for file names;
the “Maximum Number of Data Fields” for data field names.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 21) FIELD TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many fields have been specified for the working set of the procedure.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Number of Data
Fields”.
(SYSTEM 22) BASE TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many databases have been specified for the procedure.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Number of Data
Bases”.
(SYSTEM 23) FILE TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many files have been specified for the procedure.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Number of Files”.
(SYSTEM 24) LINK TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many file-field linkages have been specified for the procedure.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Number of Field
Links”.
(SYSTEM 25) MENU TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many files or fields are defined to fit into a fixed size menu.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator reduce the “Maximum Number of Files” or
the “Maximum Number of Data Fields”.
(SYSTEM 26) MISSING BASE IN DICTIONARY
Probable Cause: The Dictionary being accessed is corrupted.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 27) MISSING SET IN DICTIONARY
Probable Cause: The Dictionary being accessed is corrupted.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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(SYSTEM 28) MISSING ELEMENT IN DICTIONARY
Probable Cause: The Dictionary being accessed is corrupted.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 29) MISSING KEY IN DICTIONARY
Probable Cause: The Dictionary being accessed is corrupted.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 30) INVALID TEST MODE PARAMETER
Probable Cause: You are in an internal test mode and have entered an incorrect command word.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator or MBFoster Technical Support if this mode has
been made available to your copy of the MBF-UDALink.
(SYSTEM 31) WORKSPACE ENTRIES OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The maximum number of entries that can be written to the Workspace Buffer has
been exceeded.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Number of
Workspace Entries”.
(SYSTEM 32) WORKSPACE BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The size of the workspace buffer, which holds data for runtime temporary
variables such as keys, arguments, and match criteria, has overflowed.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Workspace Buffer
Size”.
(SYSTEM 33) INTEGER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: An integer overflow has occurred during a computational process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 36) DATA BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The data buffer, which holds all fields retrieved from data sets and files, has
overflowed.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Data Buffer Size”.
(SYSTEM 37) NEW CATALOG: <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error on output catalog during a catalog conversion process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 38) INSUFFICIENT STACK FOR FUNCTION: <number1(number2)>
Probable Cause: Cumulative table sizes exceed data stack available: “number1" is the stack size
requested; ”number2" is the increase in stack requested (if zero then a decrease was requested).
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator reduce the size of one or more of the tables.
(SYSTEM 39) DECIMAL OVERFLOW: <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 40) DECIMAL DIVIDE BY ZERO <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: No action is required: this is a warning message.
(SYSTEM 41) EXTENDED PRECISION DIVIDE BY ZERO <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: No action is required: this is a warning message.
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(SYSTEM 42) EXTENDED PRECISION UNDERFLOW <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 43) EXTENDED PRECISION OVERFLOW <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 44) FLOATING POINT OVERFLOW <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 45) FLOATING POINT UNDERFLOW <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 46) INTEGER DIVIDE BY ZERO <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: No action is required: this is a warning message.
(SYSTEM 47) FLOATING POINT DIVIDE BY ZERO: <name>
Probable Cause: A packed decimal overflow has occurred for the given field during a
computational process.
What to Do: No action is required: this is a warning message.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 48) INTERNAL-TO-ASCII FORMAT CONVERSION FOR FIELD: <name>
Probable Cause: The format of a field read from a file does not match the format specified when
the procedure was created. For example: a field may have been defined as type Z+ in the
Dictionary, but negative zoned decimal values were found in the file.
What to Do: Recreate the procedure with the proper field definitions. This may imply revisions of
the Dictionary definitions.
(SYSTEM 49) ASCII-TO-EBCDIC TRANSLATION
Probable Cause: CTRANSLATE system intrinsic error.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 50) INVALID ARITHMETIC FORMAT: <name>
Probable Cause: An invalid value format has been found for the given field. This may be caused
by a data error or the incorrect field mapping of the data record.
What to Do: Correct the input file data or definition.
(SYSTEM 51) TABLE ENTRIES OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The table buffer, which holds all fields specified in the “working set” for a
procedure, has too many entries.
What to Do: Request that your system manager increase the “Maximum Number of Table Entries”.
(SYSTEM 52) TABLE BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The table buffer, which holds all fields specified in the “working set” for a
procedure, has overflowed.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Table Buffer Size”.
(SYSTEM 53) PCODE BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The pcode buffer, which holds the transaction logic of a procedure, has
overflowed.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator increase the “Maximum Pcode Buffer Size”.
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(SYSTEM 54) INVALID COMMAND: <command>
Probable Cause: You are in an internal test mode and have entered an incorrect command.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator or MBFoster Technical Support if this mode has
been made available to your copy of MBF-UDALink.
(SYSTEM 55) TERMINAL STATUS TIMEOUT
Probable Cause: Your HP terminal has a hardware or software fault, or your HP terminal emulator
program is not properly transmitting a reply to a status request, or the timeout in MBFMAINT has
been set too low.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator use MBFMAINT to increase the “Terminal
Status Timeout”. If using a terminal emulator program try running without XON/XOFF. If the
error persists contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 56) INVALID DOWNLOAD STATUS RESPONSE: <error code>
Probable Cause: Your HP terminal has a hardware or software fault, or your HP terminal emulator
program is not transmitting a valid reply (“error code”) to a status request.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 57) DOWNLOAD WRITE: <error message>
Probable Cause: This occurs only when downloading to a terminal emulator that can automatically
store the file to a disk. The error is caused by a failure of the emulator to return a successful
completion code to MBF-UDALink and a timeout has occurred. This may happen for several
reasons.
If this happened on the first record sent (causing the terminal emulator to prompt for the name of
the local file to open), you may have exceeded the time interval while entering the file name. Or
the emulator may have been unable to reply to the request because (a) some error in the emulator
occurred while writing to the local file, or (b) the DC1 trigger for the completion code may have
been lost during transmission.
The terminal emulator may have replied that the saving of the data was unsuccessful: this will
usually be preceded by a local error message generated by the terminal emulator. Reasons for this
include (a) attempting to write to a write-protected file or disk, (b) a file or disk that is full, or (c)
the target disk is not properly online.
What to Do: Redo the download. If the probable cause was a timeout on receiving the first record,
try opening the file before indicating that you are ready to receive the data. If this error persists
contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 68) CATALOG IS FULL
Probable Cause: Too many entries have been saved into the catalog currently being accessed.
What to Do: Request that your System Administrator remove any deleted entries from the catalog
(compact the catalog) or increase the “Maximum Catalog Size”.
(SYSTEM 69) OUTPUT BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The output buffer, which holds the output file record, has overflowed.
What to Do: If the procedure cannot be created using a smaller output record, request that your
System Administrator increase the “Maximum Output Buffer Size”.
((SYSTEM 71) NO USER PROFILE CATALOG EXISTS
Probable Cause: User profiles have been enabled in the system parameters and no user profiles
have been created for the account you are logged on to.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator to create a user profile for your user ID.
(SYSTEM 72) USER CATALOG, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing the user profile catalog DX0UCAT.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 73) RELEASE FILE COMMAND FAILED: <number>
Probable Cause: System error in issuing a “release” command for a catalog.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 74) INVALID COMMAND IN DXIN FILE: <command>
Probable Cause: Invalid command record using tutorial/demo mode.
What to Do: Correct the DXIN file.
(SYSTEM 75) READ ERROR ON DXIN FILE
Probable Cause: File system error in reading from a DXIN (input) file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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(SYSTEM 76) FORCED TERMINATION: BAD DATA RECORD IN DXIN FILE
Probable Cause: Error encountered during a batch mode run.
What to Do: Correct the DXIN file.
(SYSTEM 77) USER PROFILE ALREADY EXISTS IN CATALOG
Probable Cause: You are attempting to create a user profile for a user for whom a user profile has
already been created.
What to Do: If needed, use “Change an existing user profile” to customize the existing user profile.
(SYSTEM 79) USER DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS CAPABILITY TO THIS PROGRAM
Probable Cause: You are attempting to run a MBF-UDALink program for which access permission
must be granted in your user profile.
What to Do: Request your System Administrator to grant access if appropriate.
(SYSTEM 80) MAINTENANCE CATALOG, <error message>
Probable Cause: File System error in accessing the maintenance message catalog.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 85) NO ACCESSIBLE DATA SETS IN THIS DATA BASE
Probable Cause: Inappropriate data base password has been used for accessing an Eloquence root
file.
What to Do: Enter a password that allows read access to all data sets required for this procedure.
(SYSTEM 86) NO ACCESSIBLE DATA FIELDS IN THIS DATA SET
Probable Cause: Inappropriate data base password has been used for accessing an IMAGE root
file.
What to Do: Enter a password that allows read access to all data fields required for this procedure.
(SYSTEM 89) PROCEDURE ACCESSES MORE FILES THAN USER IS PERMITTED
Probable Cause: A procedure has been selected that exceeds user capabilities.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator for changes to your access capabilities.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 90) INVALID SD LABEL VERSION
Probable Cause: Incompatible SD file version or file system error.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator
(SYSTEM 91) PROCEDURE NAME OWNED BY ANOTHER USER (custom feature message)
Probable Cause: User is not permitted functional access to this procedure because it was created by
another user.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator or the creator of the procedure.
(SYSTEM 92) PROCEDURE NOT ACCESSIBLE BY USER (custom feature message)
Probable Cause: User is not permitted to run this procedure.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 93) USER DOES NOT HAVE VALID CLASS TO RUN PROGRAM (custom feature
message)
Probable Cause: User needs class 0, 1, 2 or 3 to run MBFMAINT program.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 94) CANNOT ACCESS A PROFILE WITH HIGHER OR EQUAL CLASS (custom
feature message)
Probable Cause: You have tried to access a user profile on the same, or a higher level than your
own; you may only access User Profiles that are on a lower level.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 95) MISSING PROFILE FOR CLASS: <number> (custom feature message)
Probable Cause: No user profile has been defined for the specified class.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator if necessary.
(SYSTEM 96) PROFILE NOT ACCESSIBLE BY USER (custom feature message)
Probable Cause: You do not own the user profile you specified.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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(SYSTEM 97) INCOMPATIBLE MESSAGE CATALOG VERSION: <number>
Probable Cause: Message catalog has not yet been upgraded by the MBFMERGE utility that is
supplied with each new release.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator and have the MBFMERGE program run.
(SYSTEM 98) INCOMPATIBLE USER PROFILE VERSION: <number>
Probable Cause: User profile catalog has not yet been upgraded by the MBFMERGE utility that is
supplied with each new release.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator and have the MBFMERGE program run.
(SYSTEM 99) CATALOG SAVED AS SESSION TEMPORARY FILE: <name>
Probable Cause: System error occurred during a catalog update operation and the new catalog
could only be saved as a temporary file under the specified name.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator immediately and DO NOTHING until this
problem is handled. If the catalog file is not saved into the permanent domain before you log off,
the catalog will be lost.
Correct the problem indicated by the previous error message but DO NOT SIGN OFF this
account. Issue the following commands:
SAVE <name>
The System Administrator should then copy this file into the group and account where the MBFUDALink programs and catalog normally reside. The System Administrator must then issue the
following command:
RELEASE <name>/{lockword}
(SYSTEM 100) CATALOG FILE IS FULL
Probable Cause: A catalog has overflowed during the saving of an entry, and an automatic file
expansion process could not be invoked.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator to compact the catalog using MBFMAINT.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 101) SPECIFIED FORMAT IS NOT INSTALLED
Probable Cause: You are trying to run a procedure with an output file format not supported in this
version of MBF-UDALink.
What to Do: Contact MBFoster Technical Support about the required version.
(SYSTEM 105) ACTIVE CATALOG COUNT EXCEEDS MAXIMUM: <number>
Probable Cause: Attempt to compact a catalog where the remaining entry count exceeds maximum
specified (the maximum has likely been recently reduced).
What to Do: Use MBFMAINT to increase the maximum value for entries in given catalog type.
(SYSTEM 106) MISSING COMPLETION CODE - CHECK REFLECTION CONFIGURATION
Probable Cause: MBF-UDALink has not received a “success” completion code on the last
operation with the terminal emulator.
What to Do: Check the configuration and operation of the terminal emulator.
(SYSTEM 107) CATALOG ENTRY IS IN MAINTENANCE BUSY MODE
Probable Cause: Attempt to access or update an entry that is currently being changed or audited.
What to Do: Try again later or contact the System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 108) ARITHMETIC OVERFLOW: <name>
Probable Cause: Arithmetic overflow occurred for the given field during a computation.
What to Do: Change the definition to allow larger numbers or correct the input value(s).
(SYSTEM 109) ARITHMETIC NEGATIVE VALUE: <name>
Probable Cause: Attempt to assign a negative value to a field defined as having positive values
only.
What to Do: Change the field definition or correct the input value(s).
(SYSTEM 110) EXTERNAL PRINTER OPERATION FAILED: <code>
Probable Cause: A system or terminal printer returned an error condition of “code”. If code is an
“E” then this is followed by a system file error number (fser)
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What to Do: Check the printer and, if necessary, contact the System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 111) JOB FAILED: <error message>
Probable Cause: An interactive batch job could not be launched by MBF-UDALink.
What to Do: Check the batch stream status and, if necessary, contact the System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 112) FD FILE: <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing an FD file.
What to Do: Contact the System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 113) INVALID CATALOG FILE CODE
Probable Cause: Catalog file being accessed is not a valid catalog file type.
What to Do: Contact the System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 115) CREATE FILE TRANSFER PROCESS FAILED: ERROR = <number>
Probable Cause: The CREATEPROCESS intrinsic returned the given error number and could not
create the file transfer process.
What to Do: Consult the error descriptions under the CREATEPROCESS intrinsic in the
appropriate HP manual.
(SYSTEM 116) FORCED TERMINATION: INPUT ERROR IN BATCH MODE
Probable Cause: An error occurred on one of the input commands to a batch run.
What to Do: Check the job stream file (or DXIN input file, if used).
(SYSTEM 117) A CATALOG MUST BE CREATED BY THE MBF-UDALink SYSTEM
MANAGER
Probable Cause: The MBF-UDALink catalog must be created by the System Administrator
(automatic creation is not possible).
What to Do: Contact the System Administrator and request that the particular catalog be created.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 118) CATALOG MUST BE COMPACTED BY THE MBF-UDALink SYSTEM
MANAGER
Probable Cause: The catalog being accessed is full and must be compacted by the System
Administrator before any more entries can be saved.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator and request that the particular catalog be
compacted with MBFMAINT.
(SYSTEM 119) CATALOG SAVED AS FILE: <name>
Probable Cause: A system file error has occurred and the existing catalog has been saved under the
name shown.
What to Do: Rename the file to the correct catalog name.
(SYSTEM 120) USER SECURITY BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: User security expression for a given field exceeds buffer space available.
What to Do: Correct the expression and/or contact MBFoster Technical Support.
(SYSTEM 121) SECURED FIELD ALREADY EXISTS FOR THIS USER
Probable Cause: A security definition already exists for this user’s access to this field.
What to Do: Delete the existing definition, if appropriate.
(SYSTEM 122) SECURED FIELD NOT FOUND FOR THIS USER
Probable Cause: No security definition currently exists for this user’s access to this field.
What to Do: Enter a correct field or user name.
(SYSTEM 123) DXMSGIN FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error occurred in using an input message file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 124) DXMSGOUT FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error occurred in using an output message file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator
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System errors
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(SYSTEM 125) CREATE SPOOL PROCESS FAILED, ERROR= <number>
Probable Cause: The CREATEPROCESS intrinsic returned the given error number and could not
create a SPOOK process.
What to Do: Consult the error descriptions under the CREATEPROCESS intrinsic in the
appropriate HP manual.
(SYSTEM 126) ‘DX0NEWS’ NEWS FILE NOT FOUND
Probable Cause: The DX0NEWS file could not be opened.
What to Do: Restore the DX0NEWS file from the MBF-UDALink installation tape.
(SYSTEM 128) PAGE FORMAT BUFFER OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: Too many characters have been put on a report page.
What to Do: Reduce the page character width or the number of lines per page.
(SYSTEM 136) FORCED TERMINATION: FATAL ERROR OCCURRED
Probable Cause: An unrecoverable error has been encountered.
What to Do: See the previous error message for your session.
(SYSTEM 138) PROFILE NOT FOUND FOR YOUR USER NAME
Probable Cause: A profile does not exist for your user name or for a valid default name.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 139) CANNOT DELETE, USER CLASS HAS ATTACHED PROFILES= <number>
Probable Cause: “number” of user profiles are attached to this user class
What to Do: Delete all the user profiles in order to delete the user class.
(SYSTEM 140) SORT INPUT
Probable Cause: An error occurred during the sort file preparation.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 141) NO ACCESSIBLE KEY FIELD EXISTS IN DATA SET: <name>
Probable Cause: No key field can be found for the given data set during file linkage.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 142) PROFILE NOT FOUND FOR YOUR PROCESS USER NAME
Probable Cause: A profile does not exist for the user name supplied in the ‘INFO’ parameter of the
RUN statement.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 143) DOWNLOAD STATUS READ: <error message>
Probable Cause: File system error during file transfer to a PC.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 146) SQL, message
Probable Cause: File system error in accessing an SQL database or table.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 147) Allbase/SQL INTERFACE IS NOT ACTIVE
Probable Cause: The SQL server did not respond to an access request.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 148) NO DATA FIELDS ARE DEFINED IN SQL DBE: <name>
Probable Cause: No table columns have yet been defined in this SQL database environment.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 149) NO ACCESSIBLE TABLES IN THIS DATABASE ENVIRONMENT
Probable Cause: You have not been granted the authority to access any tables in this SQL database
environment.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
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(SYSTEM 150) NO ACCESSIBLE DATA FIELDS (COLUMNS) IN THIS TABLE
Probable Cause: You have not been granted the authority to access any columns in this SQL table.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 151) Allbase/SQL INTERFACE IS NOT INSTALLED
Probable Cause: A procedure has requested access to an SQL table and the SQL interface has not
been installed in your version of MBF-UDALink.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 152) MENU ADDRESS TABLE OVERFLOW
Probable Cause: The menu address table, used in displaying files defined in an HP Dictionary, has
overflowed.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 153) AUTO PASSWORD FAILED
Probable Cause: Generation of passwords for a batch job submission has failed.
What to Do: Enter them manually or contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 154) DICTIONARY INFORMATION FOR FILE NOT AVAILABLE
Probable Cause: A dictionary source for the given file cannot be found — modification of this file
in the procedure or dataview cannot be permitted.
What to Do: If available, enter the name of the dictionary source file during the modify, save the
entry in a catalog and then enter modify again.
(SYSTEM 155) THIS PROGRAM REQUIRES Microsoft Windows
Probable Cause: You are trying to use the MBF-UDALink server as a program.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 156) FILE NOT FOUND IN DICTIONARY: <name>
Probable Cause: In accessing a dictionary during the modification of a procedure or dataview, a
file definition is no longer present in the dictionary.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator to find if the file definition has been moved to
another dictionary or needs to be re-entered in this dictionary.
(SYSTEM 157) USER NOT AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS USER CLASS NAMES
Probable Cause: You cannot access a user class ($name) profile from your logon account.
What to Do: You must run MBFMAINT from the account in which it resides in order to access a
user class profile.
(SYSTEM 158) SYNTAX NOT SUPPORTED IN THIS PRODUCT EDITION
Probable Cause: You are trying to use a feature or option that is not available in your version of
MBF-UDALink.
What to Do: Enter the correct syntax for your version.
(SYSTEM 159) DUPLICATE PHYSICAL FILE NAME FOUND IN DICTIONARY: <name>
Probable Cause: In accessing a dictionary during modification of a procedure or dataview, a file
could not be verified because of duplicate physical name entries.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 161) TRANSFER FAILED, Reflection ERROR CODE= <number>
Probable Cause: A file download has failed and the Reflection terminal emulator has reported an
error.
What to do: Use the Reflection Reference Manual to look up the meaning of the given error code.
(SYSTEM 162) HOST FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: A file system occurred in accessing a host (HP 9000) file for a transfer to or from
a PC.
What to do: Take action on the given error message or contact your System Administrator.
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System errors
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(SYSTEM 163) UPLOAD FILE IS EMPTY
Probable Cause: File uploaded from a PC is empty.
What to do: Use another PC file or correct the current one.
(SYSTEM 164) TEXT OVERFLOW: <fieldname>
Probable Cause: Receiving field has overflowed in converting a numeric field into a textual
representation using the $TEXT function
What to do: make the receiving field larger.
(SYSTEM 165) DX0TRAN FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: A file system error occurred in accessing a translation/conversion file.
What to do: Take action on the given error message or contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 166) MISSING PROCESS FILE: <filename>
Probable Cause: Given program does not exist and is required as a process by MBF-UDALink.
What to do: Investigate why the program file is not in the same file group as the MBF-UDALink
program you are running. It may be in a different group, may not have been correctly installed or
may not have been purchased by your company. If you are unsure then contact your System
Administrator.
(SYSTEM 168) DXREPORT FILE, <message>
Probable Cause: File system error during the building of a report SD file.
What to do: Contact your System Administrator.
((SYSTEM 171) ACCESS NOT PERMITTED TO DATA BASE: <file name>
Probable Cause: You are using an edition of MBF-UDALink that is restricted to certain databases.
What to do: Choose a database that is permitted or contact your System Administrator for further
information.
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System errors
(SYSTEM 174) CANNOT GET EXTRA DATA SEGMENT
Probable Cause: MBF-UDALink could not get an extra data segment.
What to do: Contact your system manager.
(SYSTEM 175) EXTRA DATA SEGMENT DATA TRANSFER
Probable Cause: An error was encountered transferring data between data segments.
What to do: Contact your system manager.
(SYSTEM 176) INVALID CATALOG TYPE SPECIFIED
Probable Cause: You have specified an invalid catalog type for processing or conversion.
What to do: Check the reference manual for valid catalog type names or codes.
(SYSTEM 177) SORT INITIALIZATION: SORTLIB <number>: <error message>
Probable Cause: An error has occurred in the sortlib system.
What to do: Check the error message for the probable cause.
(SYSTEM 178) SQL SERVER NOT FOUND
Probable Cause: The SQL Server required for the specified SQL database access cannot be found.
What to do: Check with your System Administrator to try and locate or replace the server program
file.
(SYSTEM 180) PC COMMAND: <text>
Probable Cause: The specified PC command generated by MBF-UDALink failed.
What to do: Check your PC for possible causes (such as missing command file).
(SYSTEM 181) HELP MESSAGES NOT AVAILABLE FOR THIS MENU
Probable Cause: This menu does not have any help text available for the numbered items.
What to do: Do not ask for help for this menu.
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System errors
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(SYSTEM 184) FIELD LIST OVERFLOW
Probable cause: Insufficient field table space was specified for this user for procedure CREATE/
MODIFY.
What to do: Increase the MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DATA FIELDS for this user with
MBFMAINT.
(SYSTEM 185) Oracle/SQL interface is not active
Probable cause: The SQL server did not respond to an access request.
What to do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 186) Informix/SQL interface is not active
Probable cause: The SQL server did not respond to an access request.
What to do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 187) Sybase/SQL interface is not active
Probable cause: The SQL server did not respond to an access request.
What to do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 188) Ingres/SQL interface is not active
Probable cause: The SQL server did not respond to an access request.
What to do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 189) SQL DATA BASE CANNOT BE OPENED: <sqlerr>
Probable cause: The SQL interface encountered a problem opening the database.
What to do: Refer to the error message manual for the SQL database.
(SYSTEM 191) DATA SET OR FILE RECORD LENGTH (fd=nn/db=mm)
Probable cause: All bytes in an Eloquence data set must be accounted for in a file definition. The
password used must have access to all fields in the data set. The value ‘nn’ is the length of the
record defined in the FD file. The value ‘mm’ is the actual length of the record in the data base.
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System errors
What to do: Correct the FD file and recompile it. Use FILL commands to mask areas of the record
that are not required or that are to be inaccessible to users.
(SYSTEM 192) GETHEAP PROCESS FAILED
Probable Cause: You have run out of virtual memory for the program.
What to do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 193) SOURCE FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: A file system error occurred while opening or accessing an input file to this
utility.
What to Do: Verify the correct name for the input (source) file. Otherwise, contact your System
Administrator.
(SYSTEM 194) INVALID SYNTAX OR CONTENT IN LIBRARY RECORD
Probable Cause: The change library contains an invalid entry record.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 195) DXSTREAM FILE, <error message>
Probable Cause: A file system error occurred while opening or accessing the stream (batch) file.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
(SYSTEM 196) DXSTREAM ACCESS MODE CHANGE ERROR=<number>
Probable Cause: The access modes for the stream (batch) file could not be changed for the batch
management facility. (Unix only)
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator and/or look up the error number in the
appropriate manual.
(SYSTEM 197) BATCH PROCESS FAILED, ERROR=<number>
Probable Cause: The batch job could not be launched. (Unix system only)
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator and/or look up the error number in the
appropriate manual.
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System errors
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(SYSTEM 198) VERSION NOT SUPPORTED: <version>
Probable Cause: The version of the dictionary or data file is not supported by this version of the
program or utility.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
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Trap errors
Trap errors
The TRAP error message indicates that an internal error has occurred and that the System Administrator
and/or MBFoster Technical Support should be informed.
(DXTRAP 1)
KEY FIELD NOT FOUND IN LIST
(DXTRAP 2)
NO PRIMARY ACCESS FILE
(DXTRAP 3)
INSUFFICIENT STACK FOR WORKSPACE RELOAD
(DXTRAP 4)
BROKEN WORKSPACE CHAIN
(DXTRAP 5)
INVALID PROMPT RECORD: <message-number>
(DXTRAP 6)
FIELD NOT FOUND IN LIST: <name>
(DXTRAP 8)
PARENT ITEM NOT FOUND IN LIST FOR: <name>
(DXTRAP 9)
LIST IS EMPTY
(DXTRAP 10)
FIELD NOT INITIALIZED: <name>
(DXTRAP 11)
EMPTY FIELD TABLE
(DXTRAP 12)
INVALID DATA TYPE FOR FIELD: <name>
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Trap errors
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(DXTRAP 13)
MATCH FIELD LINK PROCESSING ERROR
(DXTRAP 14)
ARITHMETIC CONVERSION FOR TABLE LITERAL
(DXTRAP 15)
SEARCH IN FIELD OR FILE TABLE
(DXTRAP 16)
FILE BUFFER NOT ON WORD BOUNDARY
(DXTRAP 17)
COMPUTED FIELD LINK PROCESSING ERROR <number:name>
(DXTRAP 18)
INVALID CUC INDEX: <number>
(DXTRAP 19)
REPORT FORMAT IS CORRUPTED AND CANNOT BE USED
(DXTRAP 20)
not used at present
(DXTRAP 21)
CATALOG ITEM SELECTION OVERFLOW
(DXTRAP 22)
FIELD EXTENDS BEYOND DATA BUFFER:<fieldname>
(DXTRAP 23)
EXCEEDED MAXIMUM PERFORMS
(DXTRAP 24)
FATAL PROCESSING ERROR : <number>
(DXTRAP 25)
SORT KEY NOT IN SORT FILE: <name>
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Trap errors
(DXTRAP 26)
PARENT OF SORT KEY NOT IN SORT FILE FOR: <name>
(DXTRAP 27)
UNIMPLEMENTED CODE/OPERAND ENCOUNTERED
(DXTRAP 28)
DATA BASE BUFFER NOT ON WORD BOUNDARY
(DXTRAP 29)
SORT BUFFER NOT ON WORD BOUNDARY
(DXTRAP 30)
INVALID/MISSING IMAGE KEY
(DXTRAP 31)
INVALID/MISSING KSAM KEY
(DXTRAP 32)
WORKSPACE UNDERFLOW FOR KEY VALUE
(DXTRAP 33)
SUB-FIELD EXTENDS BEYOND DATA BUFFER
(DXTRAP 34)
KEY REGISTER IS EMPTY
(DXTRAP 35)
ARGUMENT REGISTER OVERFLOW
(DXTRAP 36)
SUB-FIELD NOT ALLOWED IN LIST: <name>
(DXTRAP 37)
INVALID RETURN OPERATION
(DXTRAP 38)
OUT-OF-RANGE PCODE ADDRESS
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Trap errors
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(DXTRAP 39)
ARITHMETIC CONVERSION FOR FIELD: <name>
(DXTRAP 40)
ARITHMETIC TRAP
(DXTRAP 41)
UNEXPECTED ARITHMETIC (DXTRAP) IN COMPUTATION: <number>
(DXTRAP 42)
FILE SYSTEM FAILURE - CATALOG HAS BEEN LOST
(DXTRAP 43)
FILE SYSTEM FAILURE - CATALOG HAS BEEN CORRUPTED
(DXTRAP 44)
FIELD LIST OVERFLOW
(DXTRAP 45)
DATE CONVERSION PARAMETER FOR FIELD: <name>
(DXTRAP 46)
INVALID PAGE FORMAT BUFFER LINE NUMBER: <number>
(DXTRAP 50)
SYSTEM BOUNDS TRAP
(DXTRAP 51)
INVALID FIELD REFERENCE NUMBER
(DXTRAP 52)
INVALID PARENT FIELD REFERENCE FOR FIELD: <fieldname>
(DXTRAP 53)
FATAL CODE TRAP: <number>
(DXTRAP 54)
SEARCH IN PDL TABLE
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Trap errors
(DXTRAP 55)
UNEXPECTED CATALOG ERROR: <number>
(DXTRAP 56)
MISSING SOURCE FILE FOR INPUT FIELD VALUE: <filename>
(DXTRAP 57)
SQL SERVER FATAL ERROR
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Warning messages
MBF-UDALink
Warning messages
A Warning message is usually just informative and serves as a reminder that a situation has
occurred. Where necessary, the appropriate user action is indicated.
WARNING: ARITHMETIC TRAP NOT ENABLED, USER REQUEST
Probable Cause: You have run the program with PARM=6 to suppress the enabling of arithmetic
traps.
WARNING: ARITHMETIC TRAP NOT ENABLED, XARITRAP FAILURE
Probable Cause: The arithmetic trap has not been enabled by the system.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator, if appropriate.
WARNING: AUTOMATIC SUMMARIZATION WILL OCCUR ON ALL NUMERIC FIELDS
Probable Cause: You have requested “suppressed details” and have not specified the summary
record content for the lowest sort level.
What to Do: Specify the summary record content for the lowest level sort field if you do not want
all numeric fields summarized (for example, phone numbers and unit prices would not normally be
summarized so they would not be included in the summary record).
WARNING: CATALOG AUDIT ERROR FOUND, CALL SUPPORT IMMEDIATELY
Probable Cause: A non-fatal problem has been found during a catalog audit process.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator.
WARNING: CATALOG IS COMPLETELY FULL
Probable Cause: The catalog is full and no deleted entries exist to provide compaction space.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator to enlarge the catalog or delete any unnecessary
catalog entries.
WARNING: CATALOG IS NEARLY FULL
Probable Cause: This catalog is almost full.
What to Do: Advise your System Administrator.
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Warning messages
WARNING: CATALOG NEEDS TO BE COMPACTED
Probable Cause: The catalog is full.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator to compact the catalog to allow more entries to be
made.
WARNING: CONTACT YOUR MBF-UDALink SYSTEM MANAGER IMMEDIATELY
Probable Cause: A serious or fatal error has occurred.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator immediately.
WARNING: CONTROL(Y) NOT ENABLED, XCONTRAP FAILURE
Probable Cause: The Control/Y and STOP functions have not been enabled by the system.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator, if appropriate.
WARNING: ERROR OCCURRED DURING PROCEDURE EXECUTION
Probable Cause: An unrecoverable error occurred during procedure execution.
What to Do: Correct the error or contact your System Administrator.
WARNING: NO EXTRACT FILE HAS BEEN GENERATED
Probable Cause: An error occurred that prevented the extract file from being generated.
What to Do: Correct the error or contact your System Administrator.
WARNING: NO RECORDS HAVE BEEN SELECTED
Probable Cause: No records met the selection criteria or there are no records in the input file(s).
What to Do: Enter a different set of selection values, if appropriate.
WARNING: PROCEDURE REPORT FORMAT WILL BE UPDATED BY SPECIFICATION
CHANGES
Probable Cause: You have modified one or more properties of a procedure that affect a report
format.
What to Do: Verify new output format to be sure it is suitable, or contact your System
Administrator.
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Warning messages
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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMPUTATIONAL ERRORS HAVE OCCURRED:
Probable Cause: Computational errors have occurred during procedure execution and are
summarized below this message.
What to Do: See if a serious error occurred (for example, a divide by zero can normally be
ignored), and take appropriate action.
WARNING: USER MAXIMUM FOR DIF FILE COLUMNS IS EXCEEDED
Probable Cause: You have exceeded the maximum DIF file columns (fields).
What to Do: Change the limit set in the SET configuration menu.
WARNING: USER MAXIMUM FOR DIF FILE ROWS HAS BEEN REACHED
Probable Cause: You have exceeded the maximum DIF file rows (records).
What to Do: Change the limit set in the SET configuration menu.
WARNING: USER MAXIMUM FOR FILES ACCESSED IN A PROCEDURE RUN IS
EXCEEDED
Probable Cause: This procedure accessed more files than permitted.
What to Do: Contact your System Administrator to raise the limit.
WARNING: USER MAXIMUM FOR OUTPUT FILE RECORDS HAS BEEN REACHED
Probable Cause: You have reached the maximum output record count permitted.
What to Do: Use the extract file prepared to this point or contact your System Administrator to
raise the limit.
WARNING: USER MAXIMUM FOR RECORDS READ HAS BEEN REACHED
Probable Cause: You have reached the maximum record read count permitted.
What to Do: Use the extract file prepared to this point or contact your System Administrator to
raise the limit.
362
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
MBF-UDALink
Index
A
Add additional computational fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -99
Adding files for selection - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -87
Adjust Field - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -133
Align Field - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -132
ALLBASE
Detection of keys on Allbase/SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Allbase SQL interface - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -76
ALLBASE/SQL - Unsupported statements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -223
ALLBASE/SQL LongVarBinary items
reading or writing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -218
ALLBASE/SQL restrictions on ODBC grammar - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -221
ALLBASE/SQL statements replaced by client functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -224
Alternate Names For Selection Fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -71
Alternate names for selection fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -55
ANSI character set - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -222
AOPTIONS
ODBC_IMAGE_OPEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -272
Application model using the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator - - - - - - - - - - - - -277
Application program-to-resource manager transaction propagation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -280
AutoCommit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -210
Automatic masters in TurboIMAGE not reported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
B
Basic Driver Architecture - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -167
BLOBs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 213, 308
Built-in functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -305
C
Calculated columns - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -255
Calling applications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -285
Change logon - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -233
CHANGE output file format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -103
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
363
MBF-UDALink
CHANGE output file specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -102
CHANGE procedure specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -98
Changing the display format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Character expressions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -228
Character set conversion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
CIUPDATE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Client environment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -202
Client requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Cognos Impromptu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -253
COM Component Builder - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10
com.mbf.jdbc.ssl - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -185
Command timeouts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Communication driver - Native - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Communications port - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 232, 237
Complementary products - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -12
Computational Expressions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
Computational expressions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -107
Concurrent transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -285
Conditional expressions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -111
Connect using SQL API - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -265
Connect using SQLAPI in VB 4.0-6.0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -265
Connecting link - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -202
Connecting with ADOs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -271
Connecting with DAOs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -269
Connecting with RDOs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -270
Connection
closing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 161, 177
Connection Parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -173
optional - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -161
required - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -161
Connection Pooling
using - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -181
Connections
example with pooling - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -181
example without pooling - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -181
Conversion functions - User-defined - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -228
CONVERSION/MAPPING - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 101, 114
Convert dollar values to words - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -116
Create a Special Output Format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -73
364
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
MBF-UDALink
Create a special output format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -57
Creating a DBEnvironment on the HP 9000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -225
Creating a procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -43
Creating computational fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -112
Creating group headers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -149
Creating joins using calculated columns - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -255
Creating procedures from SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -75
Critical Item Update - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Customizable system profile - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
D
Data replication for decision support - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -283
Data Sources
calling - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -180
connecting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -179
Data sources - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -231
properties - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -182
Data types - Notes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 212, 308
Data Types - ODBC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -308
Data types - ODBC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -212
Data types supported By ODBC Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -307
Data types supported by ODBC Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -211
Databases supported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Date formatting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -305
Date support - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Debug logging on client - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -239
Debug logging on host - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -239
Default PD file directory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
Defining Computational Fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -63
Delete an existing procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -88
DELETE Existing Procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -105
Designing a report - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -118
DIF FILE QUOTATION MARK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -25
Display format - Change - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Display formats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -143
DISPLAY Procedure Catalog - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -32
Distributed transaction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -283
Downloading the output file - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -39
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
365
MBF-UDALink
Driver - Supported data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -307
Driver - Supported functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -205
Dynaset variables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
E
Edit field definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -87
Edit mask - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -304
Edit masks - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -140
EDIT names and attributes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -94
Edit Names/Locations Of Data Bases And Files - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -72
Edit names/locations of databases and files - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -55
Editing Field Definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -62
EJB - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -169
Embedded SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -224
Enter Designer mode - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -119
ENTER file definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -81
Entering field definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -82
Environment Variable
ODBC_AOPTIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -272
ODBC_CONCATENATE_SUBFIELDS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
ODBC_DEBUG - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
ODBC_IMAGE_OPEN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -272
ODBC_SHOW_AUTOMATIC_MASTERS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
environment variables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -175
Error - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -311
Error messages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -311
European Currency Symbol - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -215
EUROPEAN DECIMAL FORMAT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -25
Executing a Query - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -177
Explicit transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -284
Extended features of ODBC Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
F
Field edit keys - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -151
FIELD names and definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -96
Field storage length - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -303
Field types supported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -204
366
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
MBF-UDALink
FILE definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -81
Format parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -24
Fully supported SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
Function keys - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -18
G
Global format specifications - Enter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -122
Group Edit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -134
H
Host server name - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -232
HostConf password - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -237
HostConf user ID - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -237
HP 9000 server requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
HP Eloquence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
HP Eloquence character fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
HP Eloquence Details - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
HP Eloquence subfielded fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
I
Implementation Notes
Multiple connections - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -219
TurboIMAGE character fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Implicit transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -284
Impromptu - Special notes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Input Specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5
Installation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -172
IP address - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -232
Isolation levels - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -214
J
J2EE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -168
Java
environment variables - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -158
Java Requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 157, 172
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
367
MBF-UDALink
Java Socket Extension (JSSE) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -183
JDBC 2 extensions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -171
JDBC driver architecture - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
JDBC Level 2 Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
JDBC1 Connection
opening - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -159
JDBC1 driver
loading - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -159
JDBC1 Driver - Using - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
JDBC1 Installation and Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -157
JDBC1 Samples - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -163
JDBC2 Background - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -167
JDBCLink-UX
examples - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -187
transaction support - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -191
JNDI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -170
Joins - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Joins - Requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -228
JTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -170
Justification - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -138
L
Limitations of MS-DTC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -284
Linking Files - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -69
Lotus Approach - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -256
M
MAINTAIN an existing procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -88
Maximum number of statements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -218
Maximum statements per connection - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -235
MBF-UDALink Overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
MBF-UDALink Product Features - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
Menu parts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -14
Menu types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -15
Microsoft Access - Notes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -259
Microsoft Access - Using - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -258
Modem Init string - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -237
368
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
MBF-UDALink
Modify procedure definition - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -88
MODIFY procedure definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -92
Move Field - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -132
MS-Query - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -261
Multiple connections - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -219
Multiple line formats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -145
N
Naming Service - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -169
Native communication driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Navigational commands - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -27
Networks supported - Client - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Networks supported - Server - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
New SQLGetInfo types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -219
Numeric functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -306
O
ODBC - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -201
ODBC - Calling functions programmatically - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -264
ODBC 3.5 Compliant Driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
ODBC compliancy level - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -201
ODBC Driver
overview - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -201
ODBC Driver - Extended features - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
ODBC Driver - Using with ODBC applications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -241
ODBC Driver client configuration - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -231
ODBC Driver requirements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
ODBC transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -273
ODBC Translator - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -215
Online help - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 7
Opening a Connection - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -176
Operating systems required - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Operating systems supported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Optional Parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -173
Output file characteristics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -25
Output specifications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -86
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
369
MBF-UDALink
P
Packages
importing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -179
Page parts and multiple line formats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -145
Partially supported SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
PC DRIVE - Default - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
PC FILE DOWNLOAD DELAY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
PC FILE TERMINATION CODE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
PC interchange parameters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
Percent and ratio operators - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -109
Performance considerations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -209
Platform required - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Port number on host - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -233
Port speed - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -237
PowerHouse interface for MPE-IX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11
Primary key name returned by SQLStatistics - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
Procedure Catalog - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -33
PROCEDURE PREPARATION PHASE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 54, 71
Profiles - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
Prompts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -17
Propagating MS-DTC transactions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -284
Q
query
executing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -160
R
Remote procedure calls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10
ReportDesigner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11
ReportDesigner option - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -117
Reporter - Using - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -13
Resource manager - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -281
Result Set
closing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 160, 177
processing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 160, 177
returning - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -177
370
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
MBF-UDALink
REVIEW procedure definition - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -89
Review procedure definitions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -88
Review reports - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -28
Role of the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -277
RPC pool contraction - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -290
RPC server configuration - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -289
RPC server pool - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -289
RPC server pool expansion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -290
Runtime decision on output file format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -37
S
Saving a modified procedure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -103
Saving the file definition - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -84
Saving the output file - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -41
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9
Sending a file to the host - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -218
Server environment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -202
Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -172
Socket ID - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -233
Software provided - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -203
Sort timeouts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Specify Output File Format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -73
Specify output file format - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -57
SQL - Fully supported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
SQL - Partially supported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
SQL - Unsupported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -227
SQL commands supported - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -204
SQL interface - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11
SQL interfaces - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -75
SQLGetDataCol - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLPutData - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SQLSetCursorName - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -220
SSL mode connections
using - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -183
Statement object
creating - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -159
String functions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -306
Substring and subfield manipulation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -110
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
371
MBF-UDALink
Supported SQL syntax - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -226
System errors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -330
T
TERMINAL EMULATOR - Default - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -26
The application programmer - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -278
The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -276
Timeouts - Sort - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Timeouts command - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -236
Transaction abort - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -284
Transaction ACID rules - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -273
Transaction commit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -283
Transaction coordination - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -285
Transaction manager - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -281
Transactions
control - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -191
example - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -197
handling - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -191
interface support - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -194
tech tips - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -192
Translator - Roman9 to PC-ANSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -215
Trap errors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -355
TurboIMAGE character fields - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 216, 217
TurboIMAGE locking strategy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
TurboIMAGE query - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Two-Phase Commit Protocol - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -276
Two-phase Commit Protocol - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -10
Two-tier programming model - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -277
U
UDALink3.dll - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -288
Unsupported data types - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217
Unsupported SQL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -227
Updating data - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -241
Updating search and sort items - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
URL Syntax - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 162, 174
User - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -311
372
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
MBF-UDALink
User ID - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -237
Using a connection URL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -176
Using Cognos Impromptu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -253
Using Lotus Approach - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -256
Using MS-Query - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -261
Using ODBC Driver with ODBC applications - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -241
Using Reporter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -13
Using stored procedures - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -210
Using the JDBC1 driver - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -158
Using Visual Basic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
V
Viewing the SQL generated by Impromptu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -254
Views - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
Visual Basic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
Visual Basic database controls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -263
W
Warning messages - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -360
What is a JavaBean? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -168
What is JDBC? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
What is JDBCLink-UX? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -167
What is Reporter? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -13
What is the JDBC1 Driver? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155
Y
Year 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -216
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004
373
MBF-UDALink
374
MBF-UDALink User Reference (Unix)
©M.B. Foster Associates Limited 1995-2004