TRANSFER Programming Manual

TRANSFER Applications
An Overview of the TRANSFER Delivery System
40970 Tandem Computers Incorporated 1–3
TRANSFER
Applications
The TRANSFER delivery system is suitable for use with many different kinds of
applications that involve information transmittal. The TRANSFER delivery system is
particularly valuable for dealing with two types of communication found in business
transactions: end-to-end communication and extended transaction processing.
End-to-End Communication In end-to-end communication, a correspondent (a person, input/output device, or
process) sends a package to one or more other correspondents. Although the sending
and receiving correspondents might all exist at the same network node, the interaction
often takes place between nodes and involves distributed resources. The TRANSFER
delivery system can send a package to multiple destinations anywhere in the network.
As shown in Figure 1-2, an instance of end-to-end communication occurs when an
operator at a terminal composes a memo and then sends it to a person at another
terminal. A more sophisticated example might involve a manufacturing application
that runs at one site and interacts with a purchasing application at another.
Figure 1-2. End-to-End Communication
Sender's Node Receiver's Node
User B
002
Memo to
User B
User A
Memo
If you develop this type of application without benefit of the TRANSFER delivery
system, you must write software to take care of several contingencies. Without the
TRANSFER delivery system, for example, you must decide what to do if a package is
sent to a node that is unavailable or to a correspondent who is either unavailable or
not ready to receive the package. That software would have to monitor network
availability, queue packages, and manage timing considerations. If you use the
TRANSFER delivery system, however, the delivery system manages these functions.