DIGITAL Software Product Description ___________________________________________________________________ PRODUCT NAME: Digital Application Generator Version 3.0 SPD 56.32.01 VB Development for Windows DESCRIPTION Summary The Digital Application Generator, formerly known as DECADMIRE[TM], is an application development environment that generates high-performance commercial applications. Rapid application development methodologies (prototyping, code templates, screen and code generation) are used to build reliable, production applications. The Application Generator is developed and licensed to Digital, by Mirus Data AB, Sweden. Digital Application Generator gives application developers access to a rich development environment based on the Windows NT[TM] or Windows 95[R] operating system. In this environment, developers can create large- scale, portable, Visual Basic client/server applications for a range of computing platforms. By extending the easy-to-use features of Mi- crosoft[R] Visual Basic[R] (VB), the Application Generator allows de- velopers in large workgroups and enterprise-wide development environ- ments to design, define, prototype, generate, and test two-tier and three-tier client/server and Transaction Processing (TP) applications cost-effectively and efficiently. Product Overview Below are some of the key features of this release. July 1996 AE-QY8EB-TE Rapid Application Development The Application Generator provides a comprehensive Rapid Application Development (RAD) framework designed specifically to offer a devel- opment environment capable of building VB client/server applications that manage business-critical data. In addition to prototyping two- tier (ODBC) applications, the Application Generator automatically builds Business Objects as remote OLE servers for three-tier VB4 client/server applications. The Application Generator also builds three-tier TP ap- plications with Digital's ACMSxp or ACMS TP software for the highest performance business solution. Partitioned Applications The generated applications support a three-tiered logical application architecture, and deploy flexibly through encapsulated, shared and reusable components. This Logical Services Model, where a service is a collec- tion of selected features that respond to requests for specific ac- tivities, will automatically partition your application into User Ser- vices, Business Services and Data Services. Partitioned applications gives you a number of advantages, enhancing the application's reusabil- ity, flexibility, manageability and maintainability. OLE Automation Servers The Application Generator creates OLE Automation Servers with remote automation capabilities. These business objects: o Can provide consistent implementation of widely used business rules. o Are available for users of tools that support OLE Automation, such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project. 2 Component Details There are five major components of the Application Generator frame- work: 1. Builder The Builder provides a framework for application prototyping. This frame- work includes forms, icons, and modifiable code templates. In conjunc- tion with Microsoft Visual Basic, this environment allows you to de- fine and prototype your application. One or many projects can be set up to complete development. The Builder allows the application developer to interactively deter- mine the application structure, and the appearance of the forms as- sociated with the application. This logical application definition is stored in a shared database regardless of the type of application to be generated. The developer may choose from several database options depending on the operating system. The developer can also simulate how the application works, including database operations against the server without having to generate all of the executable code. Visual Basic is utilized to prototype the ap- plication in a Windows environment. 2. Utilities The utilities assist with the creation and setup of your Application Generator environment, and with the import or creation of your Appli- cation Generator design database, including the creation of the dataset, definition of developers who are authorized to use the environment, application messages, and reserved words. Existing data definitions can be imported or cloned into the Appli- cation Generator to be used as an application design base, and can be exported for transfer to a new design base on a new platform. 3. Online Information System The online information system provides a tutorial for the Application Generator, HELP, online manuals, and Job Aids to help you learn and complete the application development process. 3 The Tutorial provides practice on application development tasks. Help provides comprehensive information about the options, menus, and screens in the development environment. Online documentation may be easily browsed on screen while working with the tool, and may be printed if desired. The Job Aids provide step-by-step instructions to perform specific tasks in the Application Generator. Job aids can be printed out for easy ref- erence. 4. VB Generator The generator allows you to generate Visual Basic, ODBC, and OLE code for complete client/server solutions using VB applications and an ODBC database connection. Once your code is designed, the VB Generator will allow you generate, test, and customize the code. The generator creates the application code for the appropriate plat- form and environment paradigms that you choose. The VB form, basic code, and the make files are generated before prototyping is completed us- ing Visual Basic. The same generator process is utilized to generate all variations of applications. The source code for the application is produced by the generator. This code can be modified enabling additional features or customizations to be added to the application. The code contains markers which de- limit portions of the code that will be updated during regeneration from changes made in the builder. Code modifications placed outside of these markers are not changed. The latest version of the source code can be used for regeneration, capturing all customizations. 5. TP Generators One of the features of the Digital Application Generator is that de- velopers may scale the application for a large number of users by gen- erating their design as a transaction processing application. 4 To give our customers the most flexibility, released the PC-based de- velopment kit as a self-contained environment. The transaction pro- cessing generation kits are available as "add-on" features to the prod- uct. These add-on options enable developers to choose only the deploy- ment features that they require. There are three TP generators now available as add-on options to the product: o ACMSxp server for Windows NT o ACMSxp server for OpenVMS o ACMS server for OpenVMS When you create a new Project in the Application Generator, you can select either ODBC or Transaction Processing for deployment. You should select only ODBC at this time. Although the Transaction Processing op- tion is active, it will not function properly without an "add-on" gen- erator for TP. Middleware Options For Deployment ODBC o Provides database independent data access interface. o Minimizes network traffic with the use of Extended Fetch o Executes faster with prepared execution of statements OLE o Provides interaction with other OLE-compliant applications. o Data validation on OLE Server reduces network traffic 5 ACMSxp o Provides portable, standards-based Transaction Processing o Minimizes network traffic with the use of optimized ASCII workspaces o Transaction handling is possible in a separate software tier o Data access through embedded SQL in compiled 3GL procedures ACMS o Traditional OpenVMS-based Transaction Processing environment pro- vides investment protection for legacy sites o PC-based GUI may be incorporated into new applications o Data access through embedded SQL in compiled 3GL procedures Development Environment Highlights o Repository-Driven RAD Framework A repository holds information and business rules for the Business and Data Services, as well as user interface and appearance issues for the User Services. This environment-independent information is stored in an ODBC-compliant Design Database and is used when building your ap- plication. o Application Objects Application Objects are high-level software building blocks, contain- ing both User Services and Business Services with built-in business logic and a rich set of predefined functionality. An instance of an Application Object is called a Design Module and a working applica- tion consists of a collection of Design Modules connected together to provide the required functionality. The Design Modules are automat- ically separated into OLE clients and OLE servers. o Multi-user Development Support 6 By adopting the VB project style, enhanced with Application Objects, the Project Leader can easily have several people working with dif- ferent parts of a large project. All Design Modules are stored in the common repository and, therefore, are available to everyone, even if they are working with a subset of the overall project. Developer pref- erences can be customized to provide tool tips, one, two, or zero tool bars, a menu bar, colors, and default startup configurations. o Code Generator All necessary VB code, such as forms, class modules and standard mod- ules are automatically generated based on your design. o Template-driven Application Design The scope and extent of the built-in functionality in the Application Objects is defined in templates. A predefined template project serves as the foundation for every Design Module in your application that is used by the code generator. If you alter the Template Project to suit your needs regarding functionality and look and feel, the Application Objects will automatically inherit these alterations and all created Design Modules will function and appear as defined in the Template Project. The templates supplied by Digital are subject to change in order to accommodate enhancements to the product and new features. The devel- oper is responsible for merging their custom template changes into fu- ture templates supplied by Digital. o Import Database Facilities The developer can import the database structure from an existing ODBC- compliant database into the Design Database, automatically populat- ing the repository with Data Services information. In addition, the Copy Database facility enables you to copy a complete Design Database from one physical ODBC-compliant database to another, such as from MS Access to MS SQL[TM] Server. o Generate Native SQL Scripts 7 The Data Services information stored in the Repository can be gener- ated into native SQL script files for a number of different target databases. Deployment Environment Highlights o Partitioned Applications By using the three-tiered logical application architecture, your ap- plication is software partitioned into User Services, Business Ser- vices and Data Services. You have multiple deployment options regard- ing physical hardware considerations, such as In Process OLE Servers, Out of Process OLE servers, and Remote OLE servers. o Middleware Independence Visual Basic based applications can be generated using ODBC or OLE. The VB form and logic remains the same regardless of the middleware or type of application selected. The interface for the generated business objects is completely inde- pendent of the actual middleware used for communicating with the data source. A user of the business object is unaware of what mechanism is used when requesting database services. o Dictionary Object The Dictionary Object is a software partition containing business in- formation needed both on the client and the server. The main reasons for creating a separate partition are improved consistency, perfor- mance and maintenance. The dictionary object contains information about tables and columns in the repository and will normally result in an In Process OLE server (.DLL file). The dictionary object will be ref- erenced for generic requests, relevant for both clients and servers such as field-level validations. o High Performance The generated application is extensively addressing performance is- sues. For example: 8 o OLE servers Usage of early binding. Requiring minimal amount of calls to the OLE server, using techniques such as passing parameters. o ODBC Implementation of the ODBC API for best server resource usage and re- mote database access performance. Minimizing network traffic with the use of SQLExtendedFetch. Usage of prepared execution of statements. o Built-in VB Features Your application will benefit from a rich set of built-in Visual Ba- sic features without requiring extensive manual coding: o MDI Environment Support. o Predefined Menus, Popup Menus, ToolBar and StatusBar. o Support for Tabs (TabStrip Control). o Drag and Drop Support. o Field-level Validations Support. o Built-In Event Handling (record browsing, editing and database actions and so on). o Support for multiple instances of forms. o Support for connections between Design Modules. o Advanced error handling, trapping all errors and displaying the call tree. o Utilization of VB4 language enhancements, such as Collections, Property Procedures, With...End With and For Each...Next. o Separation of form and function. 9 Internationalization Features The Application Generator allows for localization of messages and lo- calized language input for 1 byte character sets as supported by VB. Sample Applications Sample applications are included with the product. Documentation The Application Generator information set is available online with the Application Generator VB Development kit and TP Server kits. A hard- copy documentation set is included in the TP Server kits, and docu- mentation kits are available for separate purchase. The user information set consists of: o Read Before Installing (hardcopy only) o Resource Roadmap (hardcopy only) o Computer-Based Tutorial o Getting Started Step-by-Step o Help System o User's Guide o Application Code Reference o Software Product Description (hardcopy only) STANDARDS SUPPORTED 10 Industry Specifications When used with ACMSxp, the Application Generator creates Standard Task Definition Language (STDL) code in accordance with: o Multivendor Integration Architecture (MIA) standard version 1.3 o X/Open o Open Software Foundation (OSF) Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) Industry Practice The Digital Application Generator is compatible with the following in- dustry practices: Utilizes Microsoft Visual Basic, the de facto industry standard user interface development tool. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS Processors Supported For Application Development PC with Intel[TM] 80486/33 Mhz or greater processor, 30 MB available disk space or greater, 16 MB RAM or greater, with a Windows 95 or Win- dows NT version 3.51 operating system. The server kits provide additional TP code generation functionality to the Digital Application Generator VB Development for Windows kit, and are designed to be installed on a server machine running either ACMSxp or ACMS. Processors Supported For Application Deployment An Alpha or Intel PC with Windows 3.1, Windows 95 or Windows NT Ver- sion 3.51 operating system is supported for application deployment. Alpha, VAX, MicroVAX, VAXstation, and VAXserver processors are sup- ported for application deployment with the exceptions noted below. 11 Processors Not Supported MicroVAX I, VAXstation I, VAX-11/725, VAX-11/782, VAX-11/730, VAXstation 8000 Other Hardware Requirements o A CD-ROM or a 3.5 inch floppy drive is required for installation of the VB Development for Windows kit. o A CD-ROM drive is required for the installation of the Application Generator server add-ons for OpenVMS Alpha. A CD-ROM or TK50 is re- quired for the installation of the Application Generator server add- ons for OpenVMS VAX. o Any device required by the prerequisite or optional software. Disk Space Requirements Digital_Application_Generator_Kits_________________________________ Space During Kit_Type____________Install______Space_After_Install_______________ VB Development 23 MB 23 MB for Windows ACMSxp Server 10,000 10,000 for OpenVMS Alpha ACMSxp Server 6 MB 6 MB for Windows NT ACMS Server for 10,000 10,000 OpenVMS Alpha 12 ____________________Space__________________________________________ During Kit_Type____________Install______Space_After_Install_______________ ACMS Server for 20,000 20,000 OpenVMS_VAX________________________________________________________ These counts refer to the disk space in blocks required on the des- tination disk, unless indicated. The sizes are approximate; actual sizes may vary depending on the user's system environment, configuration and software options (one block = 512 bytes). OPTIONAL HARDWARE Any device supported by the prerequisite or optional software. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS For Application Development o Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation V3.51. o Visual Basic version 4.0 Professional Edition. o One of the following databases (appropriate for the destination op- erating system) is required for storage of the Application Gener- ator application design. This database can either be installed on the PC for standalone development, or on a server for workgroup de- velopment: Oracle Rdb[TM] for OpenVMS version 6.0 or higher, Mi- crosoft Access 95[R], Microsoft SQL Server[TM] version 6, Oracle7[TM]. o ODBC driver for selected database. 13 For Transaction Processing Generation The following charts show the required software for generating com- plete source code for Transaction Processing solutions for ACMSxp or ACMS. Where several compiler options are shown, only one compiler is required. Requirements_for_ACMSxp_Generation_________________________________ Windows Software____________NT___________OpenVMS_Alpha_____________________ Operating System V3.5.1 V6.2 ACMSxp V1.0 V2.0 ACMS Desktop V1.0 V2.2 DECdce Applica- V1.1 V1.3B tion Developer's Kit DECdce Runtime V1.1 V1.3B Services DECdce Cell V1.1 V1.3B Directory Server DECdce Cell V1.1 V1.3B Security Server DEC TCP/IP - V3.2 Services for OpenVMS DEC MMS - V2.7 14 ____________________Windows________________________________________ Software____________NT___________OpenVMS_Alpha_____________________ RMS Journaling - V6.2 License One of the following: DEC COBOL - V1.1-V2.0 Microsoft Visual V2.0 - C++ ___________________________________________________________________ Requirements_for_ACMS_Generation___________________________________ OpenVMS Software____________VAX__________OpenVMS_Alpha_____________________ ACMS V4.0-V4.1 V4.1 ACMS Desktop V2.0, V2.0, 2.2 V2.2 Oracle Rdb V6.0-V6.1 V6.0-V6.1 Oracle V5.3-V6.1 V5.3-V6.0 CDD/Repository[R] Operating System V5.5-2- V6.1-V6.2 V6.2 DEC_COBOL___________V1.1-V2.0____V1.1-V2.0_________________________ Refer to the following Software Product Descriptions for additional details: ACMSxp for OpenVMS (SPD 50.53.xx), ACMSxp for Windows NT (SPD 60.52.xx), ACMS (SPD 25.50.xx), ACMS Desktop (SPD 34.81.xx). 15 SOFTWARE LICENSING This software is furnished only under a license. For more information about Digital's licensing terms and policies, contact your local Dig- ital office. The VB Development for Windows component of this product offers a Con- current Use license. Each Concurrent Use license allows any one in- dividual at a time to use the product. Run-Time Environment No Application Generator run-time license is required. License Management Facility Support (LMF) The OpenVMS components of this product support License Management Fa- cility. License units for the OpenVMS-based TP servers for this product are allocated on a Unlimited Use basis: o The Unlimited Use License is an umbrella term used to describe the set of capacity style license offerings. License types included un- der this umbrella are Traditional and Cluster-wide. For more information on the License Management Facility, refer to the OpenVMS Operating Systems Software Product Descriptions (SPD 25.01.xx), or the License Management Facility manual of the OpenVMS Operating Sys- tem documentation set. For more information about Digital's licensing terms and policies, con- tact your local Digital office. 16 OPENVMS TAILORING For OpenVMS V5.x systems, the following OpenVMS classes are required for full functionality of this layered product: o VMS Required Saveset o Programming Support o Utilities For more information on OpenVMS classes and tailoring, refer to the OpenVMS Operating System Software Product Description (SPD 25.01.xx). OPTIONAL SOFTWARE Optional Software for PC o Visual Basic Enterprise Edition is required for advanced workgroup development features. o If workgroup (server) file sharing is desired, a file sharing tool is required. Optional Software for OpenVMS ___________________________________________________________________ OpenVMS Software____________VAX__________OpenVMS_Alpha_____________________ DEC LSE V4.2-V4.3 V4.2 DECset Release V11.2- V12.0 V12.0 Oracle_Trace[TM]____V2.2_________V2.2______________________________ 17 GROWTH CONSIDERATIONS The minimum hardware/software requirements for any future version of this product may be different from the requirements for the current version. DISTRIBUTION MEDIA The VB Development kit contains both CD-ROM and RX23 diskettes for in- stallation on Windows 95 or Windows NT. The server add-on software is available on individual CD-ROM for Open- VMS Alpha and Windows NT, or on TK50 for OpenVMS VAX. This product is also available as part of the OpenVMS Consolidated Software Distri- bution on CD-ROM. Portions of the software documentation for this product are also avail- able as part of the OpenVMS On-line Documentation Library on CD-ROM. ORDERING INFORMATION Digital Application Generator VB Development for Windows NT and Windows 95 ___________________________________________________________________ License_Type_________________Part_Number___________________________ 1 License/CD-ROM/Diskette QB-3QUAA-SA package 5 License/CD-ROM/Diskette QB-3QUAA-SB packages___________________________________________________________ 18 Upgrade kit for owners of DECADMIRE for Visual Basic Version 2.1 PC Client ___________________________________________________________________ License_Type_________________Part_Number___________________________ 1 License/CD-ROM/Diskette QB-3QUAA-MA package____________________________________________________________ Application Generator TP Servers These kits require the Application Generator VB Development kit in or- der to generate source-code for TP solutions. TP Server for Windows NT ___________________________________________________________________ License_Type_________________Part_Number___________________________ ACMSxp Server for Windows QB-57RAA-SA NT (Unlimited User Lic. /CD-ROM/Doc._package)______________________________________________ TP Servers for OpenVMS ___________________________________________________________________ License_Type_________________Part_Number___________________________ ACMSxp Server for OpenVMS QL-5AFA9-AA Alpha (Unlimited User Lic./Doc. package) Software Media (CD-ROM) QA-5AFAA-H8 ACMS Server for OpenVMS QL-5AHA9-AA Alpha 19 ___________________________________________________________________ (Unlimited User Lic./Doc. package) Software Media (CD-ROM) QA-5AHAA-H8 ACMS Server for OpenVMS QL-5AGA9-AA VAX (Unlimited User Lic./Doc. package) Software_Media_(TK50)________QA-5AGAA-H5___________________________ Documentation On-line documentation is provided with the Digital Application Gen- erator products. As an added value, the server license kits listed above include one set of hardcopy software documentation. Additional sets are available by ordering the documentation kit below. ___________________________________________________________________ Kit_Type_____________________Part_Number___________________________ Software_Documentation_______QA-3QUAA-GZ___________________________ The above information is valid at time of release. Please contact your local Digital office for the most up-to-date information. SOFTWARE PRODUCT SERVICES A variety of service options are available from Digital. For produc- tion Transaction Processing applications, we recommend Mission Crit- ical Support services. For more information, contact your local Dig- ital office. 20 SOFTWARE WARRANTY The specific warranty for Windows NT and Windows 95 software kits is contained on the license agreement included within the kit. Warranty for OpenVMS-based software is provided by Digital with the purchase of a license for the product as defined in the Software War- ranty Addendum to this SPD. TRADEMARK INFORMATION [R] Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. [R] PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. [R] Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Access, Windows 95, and Visual Basic are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. [R] Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. [R] UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd. [TM] Oracle7, Oracle CDD Repository, Oracle Rdb, and Oracle TRACE are trademarks of Oracle Corporation. [TM] Windows NT is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. [TM] SQL Server is a trademark of Sybase, Inc. [TM] ACMS, ACMSxp, ACMS Desktop, DECADMIRE, DEC C, DEC Fortran, DECforms, DECset, Digital eXcursion, LN03, MicroVAX, OpenVMS, PATHWORKS, Reliable Transaction Router, TK, VAX, VAX COBOL, VAXft, VAX Pascal, VAXserver, VAXstation, VMS, VT100, VT220, VT320, VT340, VT420, and the DIGITAL logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. While Digital believes the information include in this document is cor- rect as of the date produced, it is subject to change without notice. Printed in U.S.A. © 1996 Digital Equipment Corporation. All rights re- served. 21