ITP/SDK AS/400 |
The ITP/SDK AS/400 is native OS/400 software for the development of ITP database descriptions, which describe DB2/400 database files.
The definitions in these descriptions link the data fields in your model documents to the actual data retrieval implementations. An implementation can be in the form of:
- Business objects
- Direct database access
- SQL statements
- External programs (locally on the client or remote on a server/host)
The ITP/SDK AS/400 has -by nature of the iSeries system- a built-in wizard to automatically generate database definitions based on any existing database file.
The ITP/SDK AS/400 also includes wizards to generate RPG or COBOL program sources to handle the actual database access. To allow an unlimited freedom in retrieving information from the database, developers can modify these program sources.
Database Interface Definition
The SDK generates a Database Interface Definition (DID) – which describes the database model and the way the data can be retrieved.
This abstraction has several benefits:
- A uniform approach to database access from automated documents
- Abstraction from implementation details (the actual database access)
- Simplicity for the user defining automated documents
- An unlimited number of tables or files can be accessed by a single automated document
- Relations between sets of data can be defined even if they don't exist in the actual database.
- A kind of virtual database model can be defined specific for automated documents without having to change the actual database
- Extensibility
