Chapter 1-6: Customizing Your Application

Predefined Processes

APPX provides a number of standard processes that you can invoke, or are automatically invoked, at appropriate points in your applications. For example, APPX contains a standard DISPOSITION input process that allows users to specify certain print-related information that controls how, when, and where a report is to print. This DISPOSITION process resides as a predefined process in the runtime application. To invoke this process as a child in an application, you identify the application ID as “---”, the process type as INPUT, and the process name as DISPOSITION.

You cannot modify any of the predefined processes, although you can, for example, develop your own version of a DISPOSITION process by defining an input process in your own application. Then, instead of executing the DISPOSITION input process from the “---” application, you invoke the DISPOSITION input process from your own application. It is recommended that you define all these types of processes in a separate application so that they can be referenced easily for system-wide use.

The following is a list and brief description of the predefined processes that are available in APPX:

·     APPX MENU, which allows a user to select a new database and provides access to system administration, application design, and database management.

·     BEGIN LIVE OPERATIONS, which transfers the run phase from initial setup or recovery processing to live operations.

·     CHECK GUI CLIENT, which determines if the current engine is connected to a GUI-enabled client.

·     DISPOSITION, which allows a user to provide information that controls how and where a report is to print.

·     ENTER BILLING CODE, which allows a user to enter a value into the predefined field BILLING CODE.

·     GET CMD LINE PARM, which checks for the existence of a parameter on the command line used to invoke the current engine.

·     GET ENV VAR, which retrieves the contents of an environment variable.

·     GET FILE FROM CLIENT, which retrieves a file from the client system and stores it on the server.

·     PROCESS QUERY RECORD, which potentially adds a PCF record to the result set of a query.

·     SELECT DATABASE, which allows a user to select the appropriate database.

·     SEND FILE TO CLIENT, which retrieves a file from the server and stores it on the client system.

See Chapter 4-7: Predefined Fields and Processes for details on the predefined processes.

APPX Application Design Manual (01/13/03)

© 2003 by APPX Software, Inc. All rights reserved