gtpa2m08Application Programming

Introduction to TPF

The TPF operating system is a high performance, high availability, real-time, message-driven communications system. TPF applications typically support the functions of a business where the system is in direct contact with the user's customer. That customer may have direct access to the operating system (such as through the 3614 Customer Transaction Facility), or may be serviced by a business agent, such as a bank teller or reservation agent. In either case, one of the mandates for high performance is implied: the customer is waiting.

The second mandate is the volume of message processing required. TPF applications are generally straightforward, such as credit card verification, depositing or withdrawing money on a bank account, or reserving an airline seat. However, those functions must be performed from one to several hundred times per day at each terminal, and a typical TPF system might support thousands of terminals (although some systems of only a few hundred terminals exist).