Pathmaker Programming Guide

Designing a Pathmaker Application
Preparing for Pathmaker Application Development
2–10 067868 Tandem Computers Incorporated
As you plan the screens, you should consider whether you want to restrict access to a
screen to a subset of end users. The security hierarchy best suited for the organization
should be determined while you are designing the application. You are responsible
for adding code that enforces the security hierarchy you design.
Note A maximum of 120 to 150 data fields can be displayed on a Pathmaker screen at one time. Pathmaker
screen in this context means the paging area plus the base screen.
Choosing Requester Type
When designing a Pathmaker application, you need to choose the types of requesters
for the application. The Pathmaker product provides four types of requesters:
DB Or database requesters, provide access to a predefined set of standard
services for performing basic operations on a database.
MENU Or menu requesters, present a selection of other requesters to which end
users can navigate.
REG Or registered requesters, allow application developers to incorporate
requesters created and compiled outside of the Pathmaker environment into
a Pathmaker application.
TRNS Or transaction requesters, provide access to custom services for performing
more complex operations on a database.
Refer to Section 3, “Pathmaker Application Development Overview,” for more
information about DB requester applications and custom applications and the
components of each.
End User Terminal Type
Pathmaker applications can be created for several different types of end user terminal.
These terminals include :
Tandem 6520 and 6530 terminals (or a PC emulating a 6530)
3270-type terminals
For end users using the Kanji character set, JET6530 terminals, PCs running PCT-J,
Fujitsu F9450 type devices, and the IBM family of 5550 terminals
Note Because of the manner in which the IBM family of 5550 terminals handle separating ASCII text from Kanji
text, there are special considerations when designing a screen for this type of terminal. Refer to Section
5, “Creating Requesters,” for additional information about requesters for Kanji.
A Pathmaker application for use on a 6520, 6530, or JET6530 terminal, can be designed
to use up to 32 function keys (F1 through F16 and shifted F1 through shifted F16) on
each requester screen.