ENFORM User's Guide

ENFORM Processing Environment
Introduction
1–4 058058 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Figure 1-2 shows the ENFORM processes and the required user-supplied components
of the ENFORM processing environment.
Figure 1-2. ENFORM Processing Environment
Report
Query
Specifications
Query
Compiler
Report
Writer
Dictionary
Query
Processor
Data
Base
The Dictionary The dictionary is a collection of seven files that define the contents of a data base. The
dictionary provides ENFORM with a complete description of the structure of each
record in the data base. Before retrieving any data, ENFORM accesses the dictionary,
obtains information about the record descriptions, and stores this information in the
internal table of the query compiler/report writer. Refer to Section 2 for more
information about the dictionary.
The Data Base The data base consists of the physical files that contain the actual data. By using the
information obtained from the dictionary, ENFORM searches the data base to find the
data you want. After finding the data, ENFORM returns the data to the query
processor. Refer to Section 2 for more information about the components of a
data base.
A Query Specification A query specification (which consists of ENFORM statements, clauses, or commands)
is a detailed description of the information you want to retrieve from the data base.
ENFORM uses the information provided by the query specification to determine the
query environment, the data to be retrieved, and the form in which this data is to be
returned to you.
Refer to Section 3 for more information about using the ENFORM statements, clauses,
and commands to write a query specification.