Pathway/XM System Management Manual

Managing a Pathway/XM Environment
Compaq NonStop™ Pathway/XM System Management Manual—426761-001
7-3
TERM and PROGRAM Objects
TERM and PROGRAM Objects
TERM objects represent tasks controlling the input-output devices and processes that
allow users to interact directly or programmatically with a Pathway application. Each
task runs as a thread within a TCP; a TCP can handle many such threads concurrently.
There are two types of these objects: configured TERM objects and temporary TERM
objects.
Configured TERM objects are explicitly defined and added in the PXMCFG source file.
Temporary TERM objects are not configured, but are created for you (and automatically
deleted) at run time in response to a PXMCOM RUN PROGRAM command, based on
attributes configured in the PROGRAM object.
A PROGRAM object is a template configured to identify a particular SCREEN COBOL
program. It provides the associated TCP with a mechanism for creating temporary
TERM objects as they are needed.
In the Pathway/XM environment, TERM objects are automatically assigned to particular
TCPs as part of the requester load-balancing mechanism. (For configured TERM
objects, this assignment is made by PXMCFG; for temporary TERM objects, the
assignment occurs when they are created through a RUN PROGRAM command.)
Therefore, PXMCOM commands directed to individual TCPs specify a terminal name
rather than a TCP name.
TELL Objects
A TELL object represents a message sent by an operator to a terminal user. TELL
objects are not configured, but are created and deleted at run time through PXMCOM
commands.
SERVER Objects
A SERVER object represents a server class, which is a set of duplicate copies of a single
server process. All server processes in a server class use the same object program. The
TYPE attribute of a server class determines whether it is managed as a distributed,
direct, or replicated server class.
LINKMON Objects
A LINKMON process is a multitasking process that handles the interface between
Pathsend requesters and Pathway server classes. LINKMON processes are not
configured or managed by PXMCFG or PXMCOM. However, you can obtain status
information about LINKMON processes through PXMCOM.
Using the PXMCOM Utility
Before you start a Pathway/XM environment, you start PXMCOM, the interactive
interface that enables you to communicate with the SuperCTL file. PXMCOM provides