HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Chapter 5 DATABASE
System Dictionary/XL
by Betty Hoo--Information Networks Division
With HP System Dictionary/XL version A.00.02, System Dictionary
applications created on MPE V-based systems can be "migrated" to MPE
XL-based systems. The applications can be moved with a minimum of
changes. Two things are migrated:
* The HP System Dictionary database (SYSDIC) and associated files
(SYSDIC@).
* Programs using the HP System Dictionary intrinsics.
On MPE V-based systems, the HP System Dictionary database can be in IMAGE
or TurboIMAGE format. On MPE XL-based systems, the HP System Dictionary
database must be in TurboIMAGE format. Data in the System Dictionary
database does not need to be converted.
System Dictionary applications written for the HP 3000, Series 37 through
70, will run without changes on the HP 3000 Series 900 in Compatibility
Mode. Some source code changes may be required to compile and run in
Native Mode. Programs can, however, access the same dictionary since
data in the dictionary is independent of the mode of the program that
created it.
The intrinsics have both Compatibility Mode and Native Mode versions. An
additional Native Mode function allows the processing of floating point
data in both the HP 3000 and IEEE formats. There are three differences
between the Compatibility Mode and Native Mode versions of the
intrinsics.
ATTRIBUTE VALUE ALIGNMENT
Attribute alignment on input and output is slightly different between
Compatibility Mode and Native Mode. Alignment in the Native Mode
intrinsics conforms with the Pascal/XL alignment rules while alignment in
the Compatibility Mode conforms with the Pascal/3000 alignment rules.
FLOATING POINT CONSIDERATIONS
Formatting of floating point attribute data is different between
Compatibility Mode and Native Mode. The Compatibility Mode intrinsics
process floating point data in HP 3000 format while the Native Mode
intrinsics process the data in IEEE format.
DICTIONARY CONTROL
The SDSetControl intrinsic, used for setting dictionary control
functions, has a new option for the ItemNumber parameter. This new value
allows a Native Mode program to specify that alignment and floating point
formats are to be processed by the same rules as the Compatibility Mode
version.
For additional information on these differences, refer to the HP System
Dictionary/XL Intrinsics Reference Manual (P/N 32256-90001) Appendix C,
Dictionary Migration.