ENFORM User's Guide

ENFORM Processing Environment
Introduction
1–6 058058 Tandem Computers Incorporated
After producing the target records, the query processor does one of the following:
Returns the target records to the compiler/report writer if the query specifications
contained a LIST statement. The query processor returns the target records as a
unit in the target file if they required sorting or if more than one data base record
was accessed. If the target records do not require sorting and only one data base
record is accessed, the query processor returns the target records directly.
Renames the target file as a FIND file (with an unstructured file type) when the
query specifications include a FIND statement. The dictionary must contain a
description of the FIND file.
Transmits the target records one by one to a host language program.
Host Language Interface Figure 1-3 shows the role of a host language program in the ENFORM processing
environment.
Figure 1-3. Host Language Program in the ENFORM Processing Environment
Query
Specifications
Query
Compiler
Report
Writer
Dictionary
Query
Processor
Data
Base
Executing
Host Language
Program
Stored
Compiled
Query File
A host language program allows you to use ENFORM to retrieve data from a data
base and then perform operations on the data that are not possible when ENFORM is
used alone. Before a host language program executes, the query compiler must
compile and save your query specifications (containing a FIND statement) in a
compiled query file. By including a series of ENFORM procedures, the host language
program supplies the query processor with the name of the compiled query file and
the value of any included parameters. The query processor retrieves the information
specified and returns the information to the host language program, one target record
at a time.
Refer to Section 6 for more information about the host language interface.