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Beswar · Beginner Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 33 Topics: 15

Hi

I need help to get some information regarding Total/Supra Database. Could you please let me know where I get some information on how to use in the COBOL to call Total/Supra Database.

Thanks
Eswar

kolusu · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 11:09 am Post subject:

Beswar,

Supra is a product from CINCON. Try their support site

http://supportweb.cincom.com/index.asp

Hope this helps...

Cheers

kolusu
_________________
Kolusu
www.linkedin.com/in/kolusu

hari_uss · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:04 am Post subject:

About 2 years back, I was part of a TOTAL to DB2 conversion project team. I remember some of the characteristics of the TOTAL database like Master files, variable files, calls like OPEN, READM, READV, READR, CLOSE etc. However I moved out from that company later. So it is not possible for me to see those programs again to refresh my memory. Let me know what you are looking for, if it is on top of my mind, I may be able to help you.

Beswar · Beginner Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 33 Topics: 15

Hari,

Thanks for the information. I was looking predominatly on how to write calls using Total/supra database in COBOL programs. Also i would like to know whether it is a network database or not?

Thanks for your help

Thanks
Eswar

hari_uss · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:45 pm Post subject:

Eswar,
To be frank I forgot the syntax of the CALL statement. All I remember is, it was having some interface program which we have to call from COBOL with suitable parameters like operation, I-O area, status variable and all. Something like
CALL XXXXX READM, MREF-AREA, MREF-STAT where XXXX is the interface program (Again, I am not cent percent sure about this, I will try to search in my mail/doc repository and will let you know if I could find something).

It was neither network nor hirearchical, but somewhere in between. The concept was of master files and variable files. One master can have more than one variable file, I suppose. For each record in the master file, there could be one or more variable records. I.e., to read a master record and its corresponding variables, you will have to
1. open master file (command OPENM)
2. open variable file (OPENV)
3. read master (READM)
4. read variable (READV) in a loop till you get a rec-not-found condition.
It was funny to look at the variable files. If you browse them, you can see some unreadable characters at the start of each record and lot of unused blank lines between each record. It is not necessary that the records in the variable files to be stored in order. It can be in any order but the link is via the first 8 charaters (I think it was 8) at the start of each record. It had two parts, first part will tell you which is the previous record linked with it and the second part shows which is the next record. Because of this, it was possible to read in backward direction (READR was the command for it, I think). And it was difficult to implement this functionality in DB2 since we were in V5.0 (with out the cursor read previous facility).

Sorry, but I seldom keeps in syntax in mind since I always think it is written in the book and I can refer it always..

Beswar · Beginner Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 33 Topics: 15

Hari,

Thank you very much for your information. I was able to get a brief overview of the Supra database. Is master is file similar to the root segement/(like IMS) and other variable files are child segments

Thanks
Eswar

hari_uss · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 5:55 am Post subject:

In a way, yes, you can compare like that with IMS. But as I mentioned in the last post, each of the variable record will have a pointer to the next record in chain and the previous record in chain. In that sense, you can compare it with a network database.
Another thing worth mentioning is, the blank lines in the variable file will get used up when you insert new records in to the database. It does not matter where it is getting inserted since all the chaining is happening via the pointers at the start of the record. When a new file is created, it should be defined with sufficient amount of storage - otherwise after so many inserts, all the space in the database will be used up and there won't be any more blank lines!
What kind of project you are doing? Is it maintanence or a conversion from TOTAL to something else?

Beswar · Beginner Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 33 Topics: 15

hari,

thanks for your valuable info. our project is a data migration of supra database to db2 database. I am in the process of preparing a cook book for this, hence I would need as much info as possible.

is there any limit of varaibale files for each master file i

Thanks
Eswar

hari_uss · Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:29 pm Post subject: