Introduction to Pathmaker

Tandem Databases and TMF
Introduction to Pathmaker and Pathway
1–36 067867 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Updating the Enscribe DDL Dictionary. Another use of Enscribe DDL is to update the DDL
dictionary. The DDL dictionary is an actual database that contains the formal
description of the data in accordance with the data definitions in a schema.
The DDL dictionary contains detailed information about:
Data in a database
Other screen fields that an application might need
When the Pathmaker product is used to prepare an application development
environment, one of the things the product does is to create a DDL dictionary. This
DDL dictionary is an integral part of the Pathmaker catalog. The Pathmaker catalog
contains the application information that application developers enter on Pathmaker
screens in addition to the descriptions of the data in the DDL dictionary files.
Several Tandem products, including the Pathmaker product, recognize the format of
these dictionary files. These products use the information contained in the DDL
dictionary to perform various tasks, such as reporting, program generation, and the
creation of SQL commands for table creation.
Keep in mind that a DDL dictionary is not actively integrated with the database files or
source code it describes. Therefore, if a definition in the dictionary is changed, DDL
does not automatically change the associated database or any source code.
Conversely, if the database or the source code is directly changed, the associated
dictionary is not affected unless someone directly implements the change.
Note For applications being developed with the Pathmaker product, DDL must always be accessed through the
Pathmaker full screen interface. This version of DDL might differ from the version that can be accessed
outside of the Pathmaker full screen interface.