HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Applications and Versions HP ALLBASE/4GL supports two types of end-user applications, referred to as base applications and versions. A base application is an application that is complete in itself and contains all the necessary logic. A version is an additional set of parameters that operates in conjunction with an application to modify it to suit the needs of a particular user, or group of users. A version is not complete in itself. HP ALLBASE/4GL only stores the parts of the application that have been modified with the version. This allows a developer to create a version of an application without copying the entire application. In addition, HP ALLBASE/4GL automatically implements changes made to items in the base application (with some exceptions) in the version unless a copy of the item exists in the version. You cannot define a version unless the base application exists, and you cannot run a version unless the base application exists on the same HP ALLBASE/4GL system. The HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Reference Manual contains more details about applications and versions. Defining Applications and Versions Before a developer can develop an application or version, you must complete the application or version definition, and include the developer's name in the user list for the application. You can optionally define a development security code for the application or version. To allow an end user to run an application, you must include the user's name or group name in the list of users for the application. You can also define passwords for applications or versions. End users cannot run the application unless they enter the correct password when they sign on to HP ALLBASE/4GL. Within an application or version, you can use the menu item security system to restrict certain menu items to selected end users, or groups of end users. If an application will access an HP ALLBASE/SQL or HP TurboIMAGE/iX database, you must specify that the application may access the database. Before an HP ALLBASE/SQL database can be accessed by an application, the database name, and an SQL owner group (if necessary), must be specified on the application definition screen. HP TurboIMAGE/iX databases can be defined on the database definition screen, and then associated with an application using the parameters for database access screen. Application and Version Names Application and version names must be valid MPE/iX file names. A name can use the characters A to Z, and 0 to 9. HP ALLBASE/4GL uses the application or version name as the name for the application definition file that is created during the application unloading process and the database module file that is created during application generation. HP ALLBASE/4GL is case sensitive with respect to application names, even though MPE/iX file names are not case sensitive. This means that you must be careful about the application and version names that you use. For example, HP ALLBASE/4GL would regard the two names accounts and ACCOUNTS as being distinct. However, the application definition file and the database module file for both applications would have the name ACCOUNTS. You cannot use reserved application names for other applications or versions. The names developr and administ are reserved for the HP ALLBASE/4GL developer and administrator applications. HPLIBnnn and ULIBnnn (where nnn is the three-digit language identifier) are reserved for storing developr module builder templates. HPlogo and hpqm are also reserved application names. Development Security Codes Development security codes provide application developers with a means of preventing unauthorized modifications to applications. When HP ALLBASE/4GL runs an application, some of the information that defines the application (in effect, the application source code) must be available at run-time. A site that has access to the HP ALLBASE/4GL developr can potentially change this information, possibly causing the application to operate incorrectly. The application unload facility in the administrator utilities menu gives you the option of deleting the source code that is not required at run time from the application when you unload it for transport to another site. However, the source information for some application components must still be present. These components can be protected by a development security code. If you define a development security code for an application or version, the original developer can set a secured flag on items in the application to prevent unauthorized modification. These items can then only be modified by a developer who has signed on to the application under the correct development security code. Other developers can examine the items, but can't change them. The following items can be secured: * Field specifications. * Record layouts. * Validation ranges. * Validation tables. * Scratch-pad field name declarations. * Screens. * Reports. * Decision tables. Other application components such as functions and processes only need to be available at the run-time site in generated form. These components are automatically protected if the application is supplied with source information deleted.