Introduction to ENFORM

Summary of ENFORM Features
Overview of ENFORM
1–8 058051 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Summary of ENFORM
Features
ENFORM features include:
Shared access to the database through a centralized dictionary.
Database searching based on its own set of search algorithms.
Support of use through a host language interface.
The flexibility to specify new relationships between data.
Access to files distributed over an EXPAND network.
These features are described, briefly, in the following pages and, in more detail, in the
remaining sections of this publication and in the ENFORM Reference Manual.
Shared Access Before using ENFORM, the database administrator must use DDL to build a
dictionary that describes the database. The data dictionary is a centralized set of files
that form a permanent record of the database description. Each file in the database is
represented by a record in the dictionary (Figure 1-6). Because the dictionary
describes the structure of all files, their records, and the relationships between the files,
ENFORM uses the dictionary as a source of information about file structures and
locations.
Figure 1-6. Data Dictionary
price
8000.00
14500.00
location
K87
K45
Dictionary
Database Files
Parts
Fromsup
KEY IS partnum.
KEY "pn" IS partname.
END
RECORD parts.
FILE IS "$mkt.sample.parts" KEYSEQUENCED.
TYPE *.
PIC "X(18)".
"999S".
PIC "XXX".
PIC "999999V99".
02 partnum;
02 partname;
02 inventory;
02 location;
02 price;
partnum
4102
4103
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
partname
DISC10MB
DISC50MB
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
14
9
inventory
. .
. .
Parts
DDL