OSI/FTAM Programming Reference Manual

Introduction to NonStop OSI/FTAM
HP NonStop OSI/FTAM Programming Reference Manual—528611-001
1-3
Programming Capabilities
systems. The information consists of details on the transactions that have taken
place with the other banks, such as credits, checks cleared, debits, and so on.
FTAM provides the necessary file-handling function among the different systems
on the network.
The OSI/FTAM Programming Guide also describes an FTAM application scenario.
Programming Capabilities
This manual focuses on the programmatic interface you use to develop applications.
To develop an application using the ISO FTAM protocol, use the NonStop FTAM
procedures to initiate file-handling tasks across an OSI network, and Guardian
procedure calls to perform local file handling. The FTAM programming capabilities
apply only to the initiator. There is no programmatic interface to the responder, and this
manual does not describe the responder process in detail. For detailed information on
the responder, refer to the OSI/FTAM Responder Manual.
ISO FTAM protocol defines a common model of the file system (the virtual filestore),
which allows all computer systems on an open network to share the same file handling
conventions. Since each FTAM responder implementation manages its own local file
system, you do not need to learn how to program file handling for each unique system
on your network. Programmers writing FTAM applications use the standard FTAM file
handling conventions to perform remote file-handling tasks. To handle local files in the
Guardian file system, a programmer developing FTAM applications on a NonStop
system uses Guardian file-system procedures.
Programmatic Interface
The NonStop FTAM application programmatic interface (API) is a set of procedures
that interact with the initiator process. Your application accesses the initiator by way of
the FTAM API. The initiator in turn sends requests to perform file-handling services to
remote responders.
The FTAM programmatic interface consists of the following types of procedures,
described in greater detail in Section 3, NonStop FTAM Initiator
: FTAM protocol
procedures, general-support procedures, and module file management procedures.
Section 4, FTM Procedures
includes reference information about FTAM protocol
procedures. The OSI/FTAM Programming Guide describes how to use FTAM API
procedures to perform basic FTAM programming tasks.
NonStop FTAM procedures are designed to easily integrate into application programs
written in either the C or TAL programming languages. Appendix G, NonStop FTAM
Programming Examples provides FTAM programming examples in both of these
languages. Each FTAM service, or file operation, can require that multiple FTAM
protocol procedures be called to complete the service. For example, to open a file, an
FTAM application must first call the initialize-request procedure and then a file-select-
request and a file-open-request procedure to send the requests to the responding
system in the communication. The responding system receives the requests as
indications and sends responses back to the requesting system. The requesting