The Folder Dialog and Folder entities
You use these entities to describe a set of elementary data aggregates that are represented by Logical Views, and the functional relationships between them. These sets constitute a complex information concept that includes access and processing services. The dependencies between the Logical Views and data integrity are managed in standard through the Folders.
For example, if an order makes sense only if it is linked to a customer, the dependency between both concepts of information is defined in a Folder. Each concept constitutes a consistent set of data that can be managed through various graphic representations.
The functional relationships define the behavior of the instances that are contained in two
linked data aggregates. There are two types of relationships:
- The hierarchical relationships, where an instance of a child aggregate depends on only one instance of the parent aggregate.
- The reference relationships, where an instance of a referencing aggregate references only one referenced aggregate instance or does not reference any aggregate instance.
Each aggregate in a Folder is called a node. A node corresponds to a Logical View that is managed
by a Business Component. There are three types of nodes:
- The root node is unique in a Folder. It is the parent of all the dependent nodes. This aggregate does not depend on any other aggregate.
- A dependent node is linked to a root node or a dependent node by a hierarchical relationship.
- A reference node is linked to a root node or a dependent node by a reference relationship.
The Folder entity involves two types of generation:
- The COBOL generation in a .cbl file. All the service requests of the Folder are interpreted and formatted, and the appropriate Business Components is called. Each service is processed by a Business Component that can, in turn, call another Business Component. The corresponding user buffer, if any, can be sent to the called Business Component. The buffer is specified in the Definition tab of the Folder Dialog.
- The Folder proxy generation in a .txt file. This proxy must then be managed in the Client graphic development tool. It will be used by the Client to remotely activate the services of the Business Components that are gathered in the Folder.
To limit the description scope of a Folder, you can create a Folder View, which constitutes a partial view of the Folder.