Introduction to Data Management

Developing Applications With PATHWAY
15873 Tandem Computers Incorporated 6-7
Support for Dedicated and Nondedicated Devices
The devices and processes that your screen programs control allow users to interact
directly or programmatically with your application. Often, the devices are terminals
through which the users enter and retrieve transaction data. However, the devices
might also be intelligent devices such as personal computers, workstations, point-of-
sale devices, or automatic teller machines (ATMs). Alternatively, your screen
programs might control GUARDIAN 90 processes that provide transaction input from
a file or other batch medium.
With PATHWAY, you can configure I/O devices and processes so that they are
either:
Dedicated to running your PATHWAY application exclusively, and unable to
access any other software
Able to access other software like the GUARDIAN 90 operating system, the File
Utility Program (FUP), or an editor, as well as your PATHWAY application
This flexibility allows you to decide precisely how much access to the overall
computer system you want the users of your application to have.
Interactive and Programmatic Interfaces
PATHWAY furnishes two convenient tools for configuring and controlling the TCPs,
servers, devices, and other objects in your PATHWAY system.
The PATHCOM command interpreter—an interactive interface that lets you enter
commands through an online terminal (called the PATHWAY command terminal)
or from an EDIT file on disk
The PATHWAY programmatic interface—a set of programmatic commands for
writing management application programs that automate configuration, control,
and inquiry tasks
Both tools communicate directly with PATHMON, the PATHWAY process that
monitors your PATHWAY system and directs its activities. These tools are
alternatives to one another: they both provide the same set of functions, but give you
a choice of interfaces for selecting those functions.
Relationship to Other
Products
In addition to the SCREEN COBOL compiler, PATHAID, and SCUP, all provided as
part of PATHWAY, you will typically use the following products in developing and
testing your application:
PATHMAKER, for generating the requesters and major portions of servers for
your applications
TMF, for managing transactions requested by screen programs to ensure
application database consistency, durability, and integrity
COBOL85, COBOL 74, or other compilers and interpreters, for developing server
programs