Relate™
Resources
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Product Overview
RELATE™ is a server-based product that provides intelligent
comparison and maintenance functions on all types of Enscribe files on HP's NonStop
systems.
RELATE's use of an application's existing data definitions ensures that
field-level changes to files can be made or identified in the quickest and most reliable
manner possible, without the development of any custom code.
RELATE is of significant assistance to software developers and testers,
with the building and testing of new and old applications. It is also of major benefit to
those working in technical support roles, who may want to make rapid global changes to
files.
Product Background
RELATE was developed in direct response to requests from
customers of Ascert's simulation products. These products allowed intelligent
field-level comparison of messages; our customers wanted to perform similar functions on
their application files, since they were unable to use regular comparison programs due to
their limitations:
- They only compare complete files
- They only compare records sequentially
- They know nothing about the record structure
- They compare whole records -they cannot ignore parts of the record
Consider the situation where a test has been executed, and the test
plan calls for the database contents to be verified to ensure that it was updated
correctly. This can be achieved by comparing a subset of records in a base-line database
against the records produced in the latest test-run. Since it is quite normal for
applications to timestamp the latest modification to a record, comparing whole records
will always result in a mismatch.
What is needed is to be able to ignore fields that are known to be
different; in this case the timestamp field. Where differences between records are
detected the fields containing the difference should be displayed, rather than expecting
the test operator to spot the differences or run a separate reporting program against the
records.
On other platforms there are a plethora of tools available for
addressing this and other maintenance and migration functions, such as the File-Aid
product for IBM mainframes. Developers on NonStop systems have never had the luxury of such a depth of
tools, and have either developed their own, or 'made-do' with tools not designed for the
purpose. This approach is costly, inefficient and error-prone. For example:
- When widespread changes are required to be made to a database, staff are forced to
write custom one-off programs, or use products such as DBAccess and Enable which only
allow the interactive updating of single records. A more efficient and less error-prone
solution is to enter a single command that will update in one pass all the required
records.
- When changes to the database are to be compared against a baseline database,
either custom code must be written, or the files must be transferred to another platform
for comparison. Both methods are costly, and in the last case subject to errors being
introduced as the data is transferred between platforms.
RELATE provides a reliable and cost-effective solution to these
requirements.
Product Description
RELATE is an intelligent file manipulation program capable of
operating on all ENSCRIBE files at both the record and field level.
RELATE uses either the application’s DDL dictionary or COBOL
copybook sections to determine automatically the format of files to be processed. Its
command set includes commands that enable the user to specify additional information about
the record contents, such as:
- Which fields are to be ignored during a comparison.
- The format of a date and time value stored within a field.
- Which fields are to be displayed as a group item rather than their individual
components.
- When to use a specific redefinition of an item, thus allowing RELATE to handle
variable format messages automatically.
RELATE operations are performed on a specified set of records
within a file, determined using a record selection clause similar to SQL's 'WHERE' clause,
as demonstrated in the example below. Operations provided in RELATE include the following:
- The ability to compare the record selection in one file against that in the other file,
optionally ignoring certain fields. Different comparison strategies can be employed to
cater for different type of files and data.
- The ability to copy a record selection to another file.
- The ability to globally update specified fields in all records in a selection
- The ability to globally delete all selected records
- The ability to insert new records into a file.
RELATE exists as a standalone program. It is run directly from the TACL
command line. Users can enter RELATE commands on the command line interactively in
response to RELATE prompts, embed RELATE commands within a command file, or place RELATE
under the programmatic control of a TACL macro, perhaps within a managed test environment
such as that provided by the TEST PILOT™ product from Ascert.
Product Usage
RELATE has relevance across all industries, and throughout both
development and technical support departments, for example:
- In development, RELATE can be used to perform a reliable load of data into a test
database, and can analyze the differences made to the file during a test run.
- Where large test databases are being used, RELATE can update only the portions
of the database being modified, thus avoiding the large delays associated with resetting a
test database.
- In the technical support area, RELATE can be used to selectively display file
contents, and to automatically update files that may previously have required custom
programs, or that may have required laborious interactive processing using products such
as DBAccess.
Example Comparison of Key-Sequenced Files
Example
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RELATE FILE COMPARISON
Current File: .REL8ISV.EGFKS
Baseline File: .REL8ISV.EGFKSB
Time of Comparison: 18-OCT-1997, 13:14:20.250
===================================================== Mismatched Record =
PKEY: Join-year = 92, Seq-num = 1, Company-code
= 99
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Baseline Version)-
Diff: Dept = "
", Hours-per-week = 0
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + (Current Version) +
Diff: Dept = "ADMIN ", Hours-per-week
= 10
=========================================================================
Comparison Results:-
Current File:..........................REL8ISV.EGFKS
Baseline File:.........................REL8ISV.EGFKSB
Synchronization:......................KEY
Records compared from Baseline file...2
Records compared from Current file....2
Extra records in Current file.........0
Records missing from Current file.....0
Mismatched records....................1
Total records differing ..............1
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System Requirements
RELATE requires an HP NonStop system running a D-series or
later operating system.
Relate - Requirements / Features / Benefits
Relate provides a solution for...
- Field, Record or File comparison
- Change control and verification
- Application certification
- Regression testing
- Database auditing
- Software release reconciliation
- Database failure recovery
- Application development
- Database conversions
Relate has the following features...
- Understands DDL dictionary specification of records
- Reads COBOL record specifications
- Compares fields with differing formats
- Allows SQLCI-like Update / Insert / Delete / Copy functions on Enscribe
files
- Performs intelligent, field-level comparison of records
- Supports variable format records
- Ignores specified fields during comparisons
- Supports context-sensitive redefinitions
- Supports all Enscribe file types
- Server-based
Relate provides the following benefits...
- Removes need for manual file comparison where some data always changes
- Speeds up development of test data sets
- Improves the QA of new software
- Removes the need to develop custom one-off file maintenance applications
- Enables rapid fixing of application files
- Enables file changes to be audited and detected
Relate is available in a number of packages to suit your data processing needs:
Relate
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Relate24
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To request further information on this product, please click here.
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