Pathmaker Programming Guide

Designing a Pathmaker Application
Preparing for Pathmaker Application Development
2–4 067868 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Requester Information
The description of the requesters for an application should include:
Chart of the application screen hierarchy
Type of terminal where the application will be run (6520, 6530, 3270, or terminals
that accept Kanji characters)
Description of requester, including requester type, requester name, picture of the
screen layout, including function keys, and name of the service or requester a
function key accesses
Name of a master requester to copy (if applicable)
Name of modified requester skeleton to use (if applicable)
For a DB requester application, a very brief design specification is usually sufficient;
however, for a custom Pathmaker application, the design specification should also
include the items listed in the next subsection.
Custom Service and Server Information
The description of the services and servers for a custom application should include:
Programming language to be used (COBOL85 or C)
Whether TMF is to be used for all services
Descriptions of services, including service name, its function, IPC message content,
and names of files and tables accessed
Name of master service to copy (if applicable)
Name of modified C service skeleton to use (if applicable)
Name of modified server skeleton to use (if applicable)
Description of servers, including server name, which services to include, and
related server class name
Whether the Pathmaker product is to be used be used to generate SQL statements
Creating Application
Prototypes
The Screen Painter and simulation features of the Pathmaker product are very effective
tools for previewing the screens of a proposed application, but end users might also
want to preview some of the functionality of an application being designed. One of
the best ways you can demonstrate application functionality is to create a prototype of
a proposed application. A prototype is a simplified working model on which a custom
application will be based. A prototype is not intended for use in production.
Using Pathmaker DB requesters and the standard services and servers provided with
the product, you can quickly create a working prototype that demonstrates basic
application functionality such as adding, updating, and deleting information in a
database.