To use the binary data handler, you must create or modify business object definitions so that they contain the metadata that the data handler requires and so that they include the fields that correspond to those in the COBOL record. This section provides the information you need to create business object definitions to work with the binary host data handler. In particular, it provides the following information:
The binary host data handler is comprised of a manager that manages several components, each of which is capable of interpreting specific datatypes. These datatypes, Pure DBCS, Packed Decimal or EBCDIC, are described in Binary host components.
The user is expected to develop the BO Definition according to the copybook that corresponds to the event file record structure. See Processing COBOL records and business objects for more information about the COBOL copybook format.
As a part of the application specific information (ASI) of the attributes, the user needs to specify certain parameters, the details and applicable values for which can be obtained from Table 70:
Table 70. ASBO definitions for COBOL records
Attribute Name | Description | Valid Values |
---|---|---|
Datatype | Specifies the data type category of the data. Has been included because the PIC clause alone is not enough for deciding the datatypes. This ASI is required and has to be specified for all the attributes. | DBCS ; PackedDecimal ; EBCDIC |
PICClause | Specifies the PIC clause exactly as specified in the COBOL copybook, along with the length. This ASI is required and has to be specified for all the attributes. | X(5); G(8); |
COMPClause | Specifies the COMP clause of a field, if exists. The packed decimal fields generally have a COMP-3 associated with them. This ASI is optional and not required for non-numeric data. | COMP-1, COMP-3 |
The binary host data handler interprets binary data based on the value of these parameters in the application specific information.
This section describes how to manually create business object definitions to represent COBOL records. The business object definitions are based on COBOL copybooks , which provide data definitions for the COBOL records. Since there are not specific object discovery agents (ODAs) for converting COBOL copybooks to business object definitions, you must use the Business Object Designer to create the business object definitions. The Business Object Designer lets you add or delete attributes from business object definitions, as well as edit attribute properties, as needed.
To define a business object based on a COBOL copybook:
You can also select File -> New... -> Business Object Name and leave the ASI blank.