HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Information Access Enhancements
by Guy Randazzo
Data Management Systems Division
Information Access services of HP NewWave Office allow users to select a
range of data sources on their HP 3000s and HP 9000s (Series 600 & 800)
or PCs, and output the data to PC applications of their choice. Within
the cooperative computing environment, these services consist of an
easy-to-use client interface on the user's PC and a data server on the HP
3000 or HP 9000. With Information Access, decision makers spend less
time gathering data and more time analyzing and solving business
problems.
NEW PRODUCTS
Information Access Server, a component product of HP NewWave Office, has
been available since 1985 and allows you to retrieve data from TurboIMAGE
databases and MPE files on MPE V/E and MPE XL systems.
Two new component products have been added to HP NewWave Office that
enable PCs to connect to and retrieve information from HP ALLBASE/SQL and
ORACLE databases on HP 3000s and HP 9000s (Series 600 & 800). Both of
these products, Information Access SQL/XL and Information Access SQL/UX
use Information Access PC, the same easy-to-use, interactive,
query-by-example interface used by Information Access Server.
HP ALLBASE/SQL and ORACLE provide administrative functions as an integral
part of their database management system that allow the database
administrator to control access to the data sources and create view
tables that PC users can access. Therefore, unlike Information Access
Server, Information Access SQL/XL and Information Access SQL/UX do not
need separate database administrator tools. These products take full
advantage of the data dictionary that is part of every ALLBASE/SQL
environment and every ORACLE database. This makes it far easier to
implement and maintain Information Access SQL than Information Access
Server.
Other product structure changes that have been made to Information Access
are:
* Previously, access to IMAGE and MPE files on networked HP 3000s one
node away from the host could be accessed only if a separate product,
Information Access Remote 3000 Link, was purchased. The
functionality available with the Remote 3000 Link product is now
bundled in with Information Access Server for free.
* The Information Access CullinetØ2 Link product is now obsolete. This
product allowed Information Access Server to access data in the
Cullinet Information Center Management SystemØ2 . This link product
is no longer sold nor supported.
* The HP150 personal computer is no longer supported. Only Vectra or
IBMØ4 compatibles are supported.
The rest of this article focuses on the new enhancements that have been
added to Information Access Server (Access Server) and Information Access
PC (Access PC), version A.05.
ACCESS SERVER ENHANCEMENTS
The following enhancements have been added to Access Server, version
A.05. Unless otherwise noted, these enhancements are included in Access
Server/V (A.05.00) and Access Server/XL (A.05.10).
* IMSAM is now supported on MPE XL. Information Access will take
advantage of IMSAMØ1 keyed reads on TurboIMAGE databases that have
been enhanced by the OMNIDEXØ1 Information Management System.
Previous to the A.05 release, OMNIDEXØ1 was supported only on MPE V/E
and not on MPE XL.
* Major enhancements have been made in the area of joining tables.
Access Server can now join up to 16 tables together. These joins can
be any number of chained joins, sorted joins (where neither of the
two join items is an IMAGE, KSAM or IMSAMØ1 key items), or left outer
joins.
* A new left outer join is now supported. When a left outer join is
performed, all records from the primary table are included, even if a
match is not found in the secondary table. Items in the secondary
table are filled-in with user-defined default values. The primary
table may be a configured table, a saved table or the result of other
join operations.
* DBAs configure the editor of their choice to create and edit view
tables. The DBA can use editors such as HPEDIT, TDP and QEDITØ3 to
manipulate view tables instead of the standard V/3000 screen. This
will allow copy and paste, search and replace, easier alignment, and
the ability to copy view tables from one HP 3000 to another. The
size of each view table clause has also been increased.
* HDPBATCH can output to an ALLBASE/SQL table (MPE XL only).
* 10 Group By items are now allowed, up from 4 in previous relea
* Full view table functionality via an SQL command is available via the
Host Batch Facility or Access PC Batch. This new SQL command greatly
simplifies table manipulation and provides all the power of
Administrator Utility view tables (for example the SUB function,
concatenation, CASE statements, left outer joins and so on) plus
aggregate functions that are not available through Administrator
Utility view tables.
* The Host Batch Facility now has a prompting capability. New commands
that are similar to the Access PC batch commands SECUREINPUT, INPUT
and ASSIGN are now available through the Host Batch Facility.
* Reserved words (like CASE, MATCH and DIV) can now be configured as
item or table names. Previous to the A.05 release, the DBA was not
allowed to configure item and table names that were also Access
Server reserved words. Reserved words require an exclamation point
prefix (!) so that Access Server can differentiate true reserved
words from these names.
* 16 Sort Items are now allowed, up from 8 in previous releases.
* Records that have been retrieved before the user cancels the
operation in the Host Batch Facility or Access PC will be kept. This
feature is very useful as a way of obtaining a more comprehensive
list of sample values.
* Miscellaneous enhancements have been added to the Administrator
Utility| including 1) allowing a list of tables by access group, 2)
secondary DBAs can now configure access groups and users, 3) a "*" in
the Item Clause of a view table means include all items and, 4) table
security is much easier to administer, including the ability to
configure default table security.
ACCESS PC ENHANCEMENTS
The following enhancements have been added to Information Access PC,
version A.05.00.
* Full view table functionality via an SQL command is available via PC
Batch (remote tables only, no local table support). This new SQL
command greatly simplifies table manipulation and provides all the
power of Administrator Utility view tables (for example the SUB
function, concatenation, CASE statements, left outer joins and so on)
plus aggregate functions that are not available through Administrator
Utility view tables.
* Access PC screen flow has been greatly enhanced. In previous
releases of Access PC, the flow between Access PC screens was
restrictive. With the A.05 release, the user can reach just about
any screen from any other screen with a single function key step. A
few benefits of this new screen flow are: 1) a Report Writer layout
can be edited without loading the table, 2) unwanted columns can be
eliminated after a query, 3) Access PC is easier to use, and 4) you
get better server performance because the load is delayed until all
table manipulation has been specified.
* Access PC supports 16 sort items and 16 table joins with remote
Access Server tables, up from 8 sort items and 4 join tables in
previous releases.
* A new output type "Labeled DIF" is included as an output option which
includes column names in the DIF file.
* Records that have been retrieved before the user cancels the
operation in Access PC will be kept. This feature is very useful as
a way of obtaining a more comprehensive list of sample values.
* PC8 characters are now supported in table and column names (local
table support only).
* The Summary Table screen of Access PC now allows up to 10 Group Items
when manipulating remote tables. Local tables still only support 1
Group By item.
* Access PC now supports COM3 and COM4 when using a serial connection
* The Access PC manual set has been vastly improved.
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY
Information Access Server/V will be on the sub-system tape. However, the
following components 1) Access PC manuals, 2) Access PC floppy disks, and
3) Access Server Manuals may arrive at a different time than the MIT
tapes. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not install XL Release
2.1 until these manuals arrive. If, however, you have already installed
XL Release 2.1, do not worry. The A.04 version of Access PC is 100%
compatible with the A.05 version of Access Server and you can use the
help facilities of the host Batch Facility and the Administrator Utility
until the Access Server Manuals arrive.
1 IMSAMØ and OMNIDEXØ are trademarks of Dynamic Information Systems
Corporation.
2 CullinetØ, Information Center Management SystemØ are trademarks of
Cullinet Software, Inc.
3 QEDITØ is a trademark of Robelle Consulting Ltd.
4 IBMØ is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.