Introduction to Pathmaker

Overview of Pathmaker
Introduction to Pathmaker and Pathway
1–2 067867 Tandem Computers Incorporated
How Pathmaker is Used Application developers enter information about the application through the
Pathmaker full screen interface, which provides a series of screen-based entry forms.
(Information about the application can also be entered using the Pathmaker
Application Definition Language (PMADL), which is a syntax-based interface.)
The Pathmaker product stores the information and later uses it to generate code for the
application. In some cases, the Pathmaker product generates all of the code, and in
other cases (depending upon the type of application) it only generates part of the code.
As part of this code generation process, the Pathmaker product automatically creates a
screen for the end user. (This screen can be easily modified to fit individual needs.)
Using the simulation feature of the Pathmaker product, application screens and the
navigation from one application screen to another can be previewed before a single
line of code is written. This feature allows application designers and developers to
simulate a proposed application for the end user and to obtain feedback and approval
before investing a large amount of time developing the application.
In addition to simplifying the creation of Pathway applications, the Pathmaker
product also provides support for the development of large applications by
development teams that consist of many people. The product can be used to
customize the Pathmaker development environment for a particular development
effort. For example, it is possible to:
Create shared code for the development team using the Pathmaker macro
language.
Print reports that provide vital information about components of the application
being created.
Modify the files (called skeletons) that are used by the Pathmaker product to
generate the requester and server source code.