OSI/FTAM Programming Guide

ISO FTAM Concepts
HP NonStop OSI/FTAM Programming Guide—528612-001
2-28
Document Types
Input Validation
Every entry read from the FTAMCONF is validated for the permissible value of the
parameters and the correlation between the FTAM document type and the Guardian
file type as well as the File code. If any inconsistency is found, an EMS message is
generated. The FILCONF selects the system defaults for the erroneous entry and
continues the FTAMCONF processing.
Security
The FTAMCONF file must be properly secured, so that the entries are not modified by
unauthorized users.
Document Types
As previously mentioned, ISO defines file structures with document types and
constraint sets. Document types simplify the specification of the structure of data in a
file by defining the details about file semantics, abstract syntax, and constraint sets in a
single term. Constraint sets are ISO specifications placing constraints on the FTAM
general hierarchical file structure, described above. A constraint set restricts the range
of structures allowed in a document type and defines how the basic file-access actions
can modify the structure of a file without compromising its general integrity. ISO 8571-2
defines several document types and constraint sets. The National Institute for Science
and Technology (NIST) has also defined some document types and constraint sets.
The contents of a file can be one of many document types. NonStop FTAM supports
four of the possible document types. These four document types are restricted by two
different constraint sets. Table 2-8 shows the document types that NonStop FTAM
supports along with the corresponding constraint sets. The label in the column titled
Entry Number is commonly used to identify the document type.
These FTAM document types are described in greater detail later in this section.
Table 2-8. Document Types and Constraint Sets Supported by NonStop FTAM
Entry Number Document Type Name Constraint Set
FTAM-1 ISO FTAM unstructured text
{1 0 8571 5 1}
FTAM unstructured constraint set
{1 0 8571 4 1}
FTAM-2 ISO FTAM sequential text
{1 0 8571 5 2}
FTAM sequential flat constraint set
{1 0 8571 4 2}
FTAM-3 ISO FTAM unstructured binary
{1 0 8571 5 3}
FTAM unstructured constraint set
{1 0 8571 4 1}
NBS-9 NBS-9 FTAM file directory file
{1 3 14 5 5 9}
FTAM unstructured constraint set
{1 0 8571 4 1}