Introduction to Data Management

Developing Applications With PATHMAKER
5-2 15873 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Unified Development
Environment
PATHMAKER offers a unified environment for developing new PATHWAY
applications, and for modifying existing applications previously created by
PATHMAKER. PATHMAKER provides this unity by presenting an integrated
interface to the Tandem products normally used for creating PATHWAY applications:
the relational database management system (NonStop SQL), the standard data
definition language (DDL), the requester development language (SCREEN COBOL),
the server programming language (COBOL85), the transaction processing system
(PATHWAY), and the transaction monitoring facility (TMF). A convenient
PATHMAKER menu allows quick access to any of these products.
Automatic Code Generation PATHMAKER uses the information you supply on its screens to generate all the
required components of a PATHWAY application: requesters, servers, and the
configuration file necessary for running the application. On your behalf,
PATHMAKER can generate a complete requester program in the SCREEN COBOL
source language and major portions of a server program (everything but the Working-
Storage Section of the Data Division, and the Procedure Division) in the COBOL85
source language.
The basic elements of a PATHWAY application are explained in detail in Section 6.
Application Simulation At any point during application development, PATHMAKER allows you to
demonstrate your application to concerned managers and potential end users by
simulating its operation. You can even do this early in the development process,
before specifying the database structure or producing a single line of code.
During simulation, you display sequences of screens that provide a preview of your
application in its finished form. You navigate through the screens using the function
keys on your keyboard. These prototype screens give the end user a clear
understanding of your application. As a result, the end user can give you better
feedback—which you receive much faster than in a standard application development
environment. Then, you can make any suggested changes immediately, for the end
user’s approval.
NonStop SQL and
ENSCRIBE Support
PATHMAKER fully supports databases that contain either NonStop SQL tables or
ENSCRIBE records, giving you the choice of using either database management
system for defining your data. By selecting the appropriate entry from the
PATHMAKER main menu, you can invoke the Tandem standard DDL compiler to
produce ENSCRIBE data structures or you can register existing NonStop SQL tables to
associate them with your application.