Introduction to Data Management

5 Developing Applications
With PATHMAKER
15873 Tandem Computers Incorporated 5-1
Today, programmers writing OLTP applications are concentrating more and more on
the idea of productivity. They want to produce quality software while shortening their
development and maintenance timetables. To help them realize this goal, Tandem
offers the PATHMAKER online application code generator.
PATHMAKER streamlines programming work by guiding you through the
development and maintenance processes with a series of menus and data-entry
screens. PATHMAKER provides a single, integrated interface to the various other
Tandem products needed to create and run an application. With its friendly screens,
powerful functional capabilities, and structure for application management,
PATHMAKER greatly simplifies development tasks and enhances programming
productivity.
PATHMAKER allows you to generate many portions of an application automatically,
without having to code high-level programming statements. PATHMAKER produces
applications that are consistent, easy to modify, and able to make full use of the power
of the Tandem NonStop system. PATHMAKER tailors these applications to run
under control of the PATHWAY transaction processing system, discussed in Section 6.
Features PATHMAKER offers a development system for PATHWAY applications interacting
with Tandem 6530 or IBM 3270 terminals. PATHMAKER displays screens that
correspond to the various stages of application development. Based upon the
information that you supply by filling in blanks on these screens, PATHMAKER
automatically generates complete SCREEN COBOL requesters, and partial COBOL
servers that you complete by adding specific procedural code. The many benefits of
PATHMAKER are summarized as follows.
Simplified Application
Development
The PATHMAKER menus and screens provide a simple and concise way to work on
applications. They lead you through all stages of application development and
maintenance, from producing requesters and servers to installing the application for
testing. Through this guidance, PATHMAKER encourages you to plan your
application according to the basic guidelines for effective PATHWAY application
design.
With PATHMAKER, both new and experienced PATHWAY programmers can learn
to develop applications quickly and easily. The PATHMAKER screens are simple,
uncluttered, and easy to understand. Each screen uses a similar display to help you
perform the different tasks required at each step in the development process.