SirXref
"
The single most important DBA tool is the
data dictionary. A comprehensive dictionary will include cross-reference
information, showing, for instance, which programs use which pieces
of data. It should be clear that the dictionary is a vital component
of the system, provided, of course, that it is kept up to date
at all times. In particular, it is crucial to the DBA in the task
of maintaining overall control of the system. For example, the
effects of any proposed change in the system can be quickly determined
by means of a query to the dictionary."
-CJ Date
An organization committed to Model 204 has made a
substantial and critical decision about its information resources
the management of those resources require careful planning and
consideration. Managing a complex Model 204 database environment
is an extremely challenging task that requires the right expertise
with the right tools in order to make that system runs correctly.
As Date says, the most important of these functions is the ability
to query database and procedures information.
If you share the responsibility for maintaining Model
204 in your organization you may want to consider the following
questions.
- Can you issue queries to quickly find the
answers to questions such as which procedures use a field?
- Are your User Language procedures cross referenced?
- Can you quickly estimate the impact of a change
in an application or operating environment?
- Is the information available to the application
developers and maintenance programmers in an easy-to-use, online
format?
- Does your data dictionary contain current
cross reference information?
- Can cross reference information be loaded
into the dictionary automatically as you are updating procedures?
SirXref allows you to quickly cross reference your
User Language procedures and, if you wish, automatically updates
your data dictionary. This Cross Reference Database is loaded
with referenced data about each procedure's usage of files, groups,
fields, procedures, global variables, commands, and $functions.
After it is loaded, anyone with proper privileges can retrieve
information about the procedure-entity relationships.
This Panel allows the user to identify the procedure(s)
that use a specified entity
Your staff can query on procedures in which specific
entities are used, or on entities used by specific procedures.
Access to this information is valuable to the organization. Managers
can use it to assess the impact of proposed changes to applications
or data. This helps in determining the time and costs involved
in making such changes. Programmers can quickly locate and edit
procedures that affect the entities in question. In large applications
this reduces the time to research problems from days to minutes.
This panel allows the user to identify the entities
used by a specific procedure
To provide a highly effective user interface that
requires no training, Sirius Software has replicated IBM's ISPF
within SirXref. Critical functionality has been implemented in
a highly specialized library of $functions that brings a degree
of power, comprehension, and performance unobtainable with user
developed utilities.
One example of such a function is the SirXref list-sort
function. It allows a user to instantly sort lists of procedures
by name. date, or userid by pressing a function key.
Beyond the user interface, good performance is a
necessity for enhancing productivity. SirXref is highly optimized.
In addition to the performance gains achieved through the $function
library, SirXref requires a small server size (285K bytes). The
code has been carefully optimized to provide the fastest response
time possible. An incremental cross reference feature determines
which procedures have been modified since the last cross reference
and only submits those procedures for cross referencing.
For an example of the value of SirXref, consider
the series of problems faced by shops converting from R9.O of
Model 204 to Version 2. New compiler restrictions required the
format of some older User Language procedures to be modified.
A user of one Model 204 shop estimated that it would take several
days to locate and change all the occurrences of the $CHKTAG function
in all of the procedures. With SirXref they did this in a matter
of hours.
SirXref offers several clear advantages over other
means of cross referencing your Model 204 databases and procedures.
- It is available for on-line query. The queries
span multiple procedure files.
- It automatically loads the dictionary.
- It allows you to trace procedure pathing,
procedure structures, and global variable control
- Its interface to the procedure editor makes
program modification easy.
SirXref runs under both the MVS and VM operating
systems. It provides background request processing capability
with a comprehensive job monitoring and control system. For MVS
users this has the advantage of eliminating the need to write
batch JCL and eliminating job failures as a result of threads
being tied up.
SirXref is an important investment for every Model
204 shop. It increases productivity, provides improved control
of the programming and database environment, and reduces the chance
of errors when implementing changes to applications or database
files.
