HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
HP ALLBASE/4GL Enhancements
by Anita Giddings
Australian Software Operation
This article describes in detail the enhancements to this version of HP
ALLBASE/4GL (B.02.01).
INSTALLATION CHANGES
Before you install the XL Release 2.1, which contains the B.02.01 version
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 HP TurboIMAGE/XL Interface
The new HP TurboIMAGE/XL interface allows developers using HP
TurboIMAGE/XL to use all the features in HP ALLBASE/4GL to manage their
data.
In addition to the current HP ALLBASE/4GL functionality, the following
features are available as part of the HP TurboIMAGE/XL interface:
* You can define automatic master data sets, manual master data sets,
and detail data sets, using HP ALLBASE/4GL field specifications and
record layouts.
* You can set attributes for field specifications that are specific to
HP TurboIMAGE/XL, such as type designator and sub-item details.
* You can upload HP TurboIMAGE/XL schema file details into an HP
ALLBASE/4GL application as field specifications, record layouts, data
set definitions, and database definitions.
* You can use new logic commands to open, close, and lock HP
TurboIMAGE/XL databases. You can also set the database access mode
using HP ALLBASE/4GL logic.
* You can gain information about HP TurboIMAGE/XL library procedures
from status array information contained in new communication area
fields.
* You can define HP TurboIMAGE/XL databases using the HP ALLBASE/4GL
administrator application, and give applications access to the
databases. You also specify which user class password is used by the
application to open the database.
* You can use HP ALLBASE/4GL function keys to access HP TurboIMAGE/XL
utilities such as HP QUERY/XL.
With HP ALLBASE/4GL, it is simple to transfer data from one data manager
to another. You can write an application that reads the information from
one type of file to another. For example, a logic block to read data
from a KSAM file and write it to an HP TurboIMAGE/XL database could be as
follows:
1 MODE *READ ksam_file
2 MODE *WRITE image_dset
3 DM IMAGE *MODE *MODEXCL
4 FILE *NEXT ksam_file; EXIT
5 MOVE R-ksam_file R-image_dset
6 FILE *INSERT image_dset
7 ENTER 4
Pull-Down Menus
All menus in the HP ALLBASE/4GL developer and administrator applications
have been replaced with pull-down menus. The pull-down menus are
operated in the same way as menus in previous releases of HP ALLBASE/4GL.
Binary Data Types
Binary data types have been provided in this release. This enhancement
allows you to specify the storage type of any field specification. The
data types offered are as follows:
* Character
* Four byte, IEEE floating point
* Eight byte, IEEE floating point
* Two byte 2's complement (integer)
* Four byte 2's complement (integer)
* Packed decimal (binary coded decimal)
New Internal Routines
There are two new internal routines, I-TAB and I-BACKTAB, that allow you
to provide function keys with the behavior of the Tab key or Backtab key,
respectively. When using the Backtab key, the user must press the Return
key before the appropriate action occurs. (The advantage of using the
I-BACKTAB internal routine is that the user only presses one key.)
Also included are new internal routines to allow developers and users to
access HP TurboIMAGE/XL utilities from within HP ALLBASE/4GL.
Catalog of User Documentation
All the existing HP ALLBASE/4GL manuals are replaced by the manuals
supplied with this release. The manuals and their part numbers are
listed below.
* HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Administration Manual (P/N 30601-64001)
* HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Self-Paced Training Guide (P/N 30601-64003)
* HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Reference Manual, (P/N 30601-64005), 2
volumes
* HP ALLBASE/4GL Run-Time Administration Manual (P/N 30602-64001)
* HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Manual Kit (P/N 30601K), includes all
manuals