HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
HP ALLBASE/4GL Enhancements
by Anita Giddings
Australian Software Operation
Release B.01 of HP ALLBASE/4GL is now available with XL Release 2.0.
This article discusses the changes to HP`ALLBASE/4GL and any important
information you need to know about the release.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT INSTALLATION
Before you install the MPE XL 2.0 release, which contains the B.01
release of HP ALLBASE/4GL, you should unload any existing HP ALLBASE/4GL
applications that you have on your current system.
Unloading is an administrative task, and the HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer
Administration Manual (P/N 30601-64001) provides step by step
instructions for unloading an application.
If you are using HP ALLBASE/4GL in a run-time environment, you will not
be able to unload your applications. If you have copies of your
applications on the original source media supplied by your application
developer, you can load these applications again from the source media.
If you do not have any original source media, back up your applications
before updating your system.
PRODUCT ENHANCEMENTS
This release introduces the following enhancements to the HP ALLBASE/4GL
developer system.
The Module Builder
The module builder is a new feature that provides an easy and fast way
for you to produce facilities for end users to add, delete, modify, or
view the records within a file. Using a standard set of templates, the
module builder creates the necessary logic and a data screen.
To build a module for a file, you need only specify the name of the file
or SQL table, press a function key, and let HP ALLBASE/4GL complete the
module. There are additional options that you may choose to use in
module building, such as validating user input against fields from other
files.
The standard templates used by the module builder can be customized to
suit your needs. Individual items automatically created by HP
ALLBASE/4GL can also be altered.
Remote Database Access
Full remote database access support for remote HP ALLBASE/SQL databases
is now available within HP ALLBASE/4GL. This allows you to use HP
ALLBASE/4GL to maintain any of the HP ALLBASE/SQL databases you have on
other computers in your computer network. To provide this, HP
ALLBASE/4GL has used the capabilities of HP ALLBASE/NET. This extra
functionality does not change the way you use HP ALLBASE/4GL.
New Utilities
With this release, two fully supported utilities, HP4STOA and HP4ATOS,
have been provided to assist you in ensuring that applications are
consistent.
The HP4STOA (S-files to ASCII) utility extracts clean source code from an
application's S-files and writes the source information to an ASCII text
file.
The HP4ATOS (ASCII to S-files) utility reverses this process, and loads
the source code from the ASCII text file into a set of S-files.
Access to HP ALLBASE/QUERY
It is now possible for end users to access HP ALLBASE/QUERY directly from
within HP ALLBASE/4GL. HP ALLBASE/QUERY can be used to perform ad hoc
queries and reports on data in HP ALLBASE/SQL databases.
End users can access HP ALLBASE/QUERY via function key, or by signing on
to HP ALLBASE/4GL with a user name of "hpqm".
FUNCTION KEY ACCESS. The I-hpqm_call internal routine suspends HP
ALLBASE/4GL and uses HP ALLBASE/QUERY to connect to the application's
database, bypassing the HP ALLBASE/QUERY welcome screen. When the user
exits HP ALLBASE/QUERY, normal HP ALLBASE/4GL processing resumes. This
internal routine can be linked to a function key.
SPECIAL USER. A new user name, "hpqm", has been created. Using this user
name and a default application name of "hpqm", users may access HP
ALLBASE/QUERY directly from the HP ALLBASE/4GL sign-on screen.
The Enhanced FIELD Logic Command
Two new extensions to the FIELD command options, *ECHO and *NOECHO, allow
you to specify whether user input is echoed to the screen.
*NOECHO is particularly useful for password fields, ensuring that the
password is not visible when being entered.
The New *KEYS Communication Area Field
This communication area field contains the name of the current function
key set.
The New *DBENAME Communication Area Field
This communication area field contains the external name of the DBECon
file for the current application's HP ALLBASE/SQL database.
External Appearance
This release of HP ALLBASE/4GL also includes some user interface
alterations to bring HP ALLBASE/4GL in line with the HP ALLBASE family of
products. These alterations include:
* New function key placement. The most significant change is that the
[System Keys] function key and the [Help] function key have reversed
places. This change appears on all HP ALLBASE/4GL screens.
* New default highlighting to indicate menu item selection. Items are
now half-bright when the cursor is positioned on the field, and are
fullbright when the items are selected. This default highlighting
may be altered by the system administrator.