Glossary

accept – establishment of a SNA or TCP/IP connection between Mainframe Connect™ Server Option and Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option.

access service – the named set of properties, used with an access service library, to which clients connect. Each DirectConnect server can have multiple services.

access code – a number or binary code assigned to programs, documents, or folders that allows authorized users to access them.

access service library – a service library that provides access to non-Sybase data contained in a database management system or other type of repository. Each such repository is called a “target.” Each access service library interacts with exactly one target and is named accordingly. See also service library.

ACSLIB – see access service library.

Adaptive Server Enterprise – the server in the Sybase client/server architecture. Adaptive Server manages multiple databases and multiple users, tracks the actual location of data on disks, maintains mapping of logical data description to physical data storage, and maintains data and procedure caches in memory.

Adaptive Server Enterprise/Component Integration Services – includes a variation of Adaptive Server that provides a Transact-SQL interface to various sources of external data. Component Integration Services allows Adaptive Server to present a uniform view of enterprise data to client applications.

administrative service library – a service library that provides remote management capabilities and server-side support. It supports a number of remote procedures, invoked as RPC requests, that enable remote DirectConnect server management. See also remote procedure call, service library.

ADMLIB – see administrative service library.

Advanced Interactive Executive – the IBM implementation of the UNIX operating system. The RISC System/6000, among other workstations, runs the AIX operating system.

advanced program-to-program communication – hardware and software that characterizes the LU 6.2 architecture and its implementations in products. See also logical unit 6.2.

AIX – see Advanced Interactive Executive.

AMD2 – the component of the Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option that allows clients to submit SQL statements to DB2 UDB. It is a CICS transaction that receives SQL statements sent from Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option and submits them to DB2 UDB, using the DB2 UDB dynamic SQL facility. It also receives the results and messages from DB2 UDB and returns them to Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option.

American Standard Code for Information Interchange – the standard code used for information interchange among data processing systems, data communication systems, and associated equipment. The code uses a coded character set consisting of 7-bit coded characters (including a parity check, 8 bits).

API – see application program interface.

APPC – see advanced program-to-program communication.

application program interface – the programming language interface between the user and Mainframe Connect Client Option or Mainframe Connect Server Option. The API for Mainframe Connect Client Option is Client-Library. The API for Mainframe Connect Server Option is Gateway-Library.

ASCII – see American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

Adaptive Server Enterprise – see Adaptive Server Enterprise.

Adaptive Server Enterprise /CIS – see Adaptive Server Enterprise/Component Integration Services.

batch – a group of records or data processing jobs brought together for processing or transmission.

bind – in the Sybase environment, this term has different meanings depending on the context:

In CICS, bind is an SNA command that establishes a connection between LUs, or a TCP/IP call that connects an application to a port on its system.
In DB2 UDB, bind compiles the Database Request Module, the precompiler product that contains SQL statements in the incoming request, and produces an access plan, a machine code version of the SQL statements that specifies the optimal access strategy for each statement.
In the mainframe access product set, bind establishes a connection between a TRS port and a CICS or IMS region.

bulk copy transfer – a transfer method in which multiple rows of data are inserted into a table in the target database. Compare with destination-template transfer and express transfer.

call level interface – a programming style that calls database functions directly from the top level of the code. Contrast with embedded SQL.

catalog – a system table that contains information about objects in a database, such as tables, views, columns, and authorizations.

catalog RPC – a component of the Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option that allows clients to access DB2 UDB system catalogs. It uses an interface compatible with the catalog interface for the ODBC API.

catalog stored procedure – a procedure used in SQL generation and application development that provides information about tables, columns, and authorizations.

character set – a set of specific (usually standardized) characters with an encoding scheme that uniquely defines each character. ASCII is a common character set.

CICS – see Customer Information Control System.

CICS region – the instance of CICS.

client – in client/server systems, the part of the system that sends requests to servers and processes the results of those requests. See also client/server. Compare with server.

client application – software responsible for the user interface that sends requests to applications acting as servers. See also client/server.

Client-Library – a library of routines that is part of Mainframe Connect Client Option.

client request – an RPC or language request sent by a client to a server.

client/server – an architecture in which the client is an application that handles the user interface and local data manipulation functions, and the server is an application providing data processing access and management. See also client application.

Client Services Application – a customer-written CICS program initiated on the host that uses the API to invoke the Mainframe Connect Client Option as a client to the ECDA Option for Oracle server or to Adaptive Server. See also application program interface, Client Services for CICS.

Client Services for CICS – a Sybase host API that invokes the Mainframe Connect Server Option as a client to an access service for DB2 UDB or Adaptive Server. See also application program interface, Customer Information Control System, Client Services Application, Mainframe Connect Server Option.

clustered index – an index in which the physical order and the logical (indexed) order is the same. Compare with nonclustered index.

code page – an assignment of graphic characters and control function meanings to all code points.

commit – a process that makes permanent all changes made to one or more database files since the initiation of the application program, the start of an interactive session, or the last commit or rollback operation. Compare with rollback.

Common Programming Interface – specifies the languages and services used to develop applications across SAA environments. The elements of the CPI specification are divided into two parts: processing logic and services.

configuration file – a file that specifies the characteristics of a system or subsystem.

configuration set – a section into which service library configuration files are divided.

conversion – the transformation between values that represent the same data item but which belong to different datatypes. Information can be lost due to conversion, because accuracy of data representation varies among different datatypes.

connection – a network path between two systems. For SNA, the path connects a logical unit (LU) on one machine to an LU on a separate machine. For TCP/IP, the path connects TCP modules on separate machines.

connection router – a program provided with Mainframe Connect Client Option that directs requests to particular remote servers. Mainframe system programmers use the connection router to define remote servers and server connections to Mainframe Connect Client Option.

Connection Router Table – a memory-resident table maintained by a Mainframe Connect Client Option system programmer that lists servers and the connections that a Client-Library transaction can use to access them.

control section – the part of a program specified by the programmer to be a relocatable unit, all elements of which are to be loaded into adjoining main storage locations.

control statement – in programming languages, a statement that is used to alter the continuous sequential execution of statements. A control statement can be a conditional statement or an imperative statement.

conversation-level security – the passing of client login information to the mainframe by TRS when it allocates a conversation.

CSA – see Client Services Application.

CSP – see catalog stored procedure.

cursor – in SQL, a named control structure used by an application program to point to a row of data.

Customer Information Control System – an IBM licensed program that enables transactions entered at remote terminals to be processed concurrently by user-written application programs.

DASD – see direct access storage device.

data definition statement – an IBM mainframe statement that relates a name to a file.

data definition language – a language for describing data and data relationships in a database.

data set name – the term or phrase used to identify a data set.

database management system – a computer-based system for defining, creating, manipulating, controlling, managing, and using databases.

database operation – a single action against the database. For Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option, a database operation is usually a single SQL statement. One or more database actions can be grouped together to form a request. See also request.

Database 2 – an IBM relational database management system.

datatype – a keyword that identifies the characteristics of stored information on a computer.

DB-Library – a Sybase and Microsoft API that allows client applications to interact with ODS applications. See also application program interface.

DBMS – see database management system.

DB2 UDB – see Database 2.

DDL – See data definition language.

DD statement – see data definition statement.

default language – the language that displays a user’s prompts and messages.

destination-template transfer – a transfer method in which source data is briefly put into a template where the user can specify that some action be performed on it before execution against a target database. See also transfer. Compare with bulk copy transfer and express transfer.

direct access storage device – a device in which access time is effectively independent of the location of the data.

direct request – a request sent directly from a client workstation through Transaction Router Service to the DirectConnect server without going through Adaptive Server. Contract with indirect request.

direct resolution – a type of service name resolution that relies upon a client application specifying the exact name of the service to be used. See also service name resolution. Compare with service name redirection.

DirectConnect Manager – a Java application from Sybase that can be used in Windows and UNIX environments. It provides remote management capabilities for DirectConnect products, including starting, stopping, creating, and copying services.

ECDA Option for Oracle server – the component of Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option that provides general management and support functions to service libraries.

dll – see dynamic link library.

DSN – see data set name.

dynamic link library – a file containing executable code and data bound to a program at load time or runtime, rather than during linking.

dynamic SQL – the preparation and processing of SQL source statements within a program while the program runs. The SQL source statements are contained in host-language variables rather than being coded directly into the application program. Contrast with static SQL.

ECDA – see Enterprise Connect Data Access.

ECDA Option for ODBC – a Sybase solution that allows client applications to access ODBC data. It combines the functionality of the ECDA Option for ODBC architecture with ODBC to provide dynamic SQL access to target data, as well as the ability to support stored procedures and text and image pointers.

ECDA Option for Oracle – a Sybase solution that provides Open Client access to Oracle databases. When used in combination with Adaptive Server, it provides many of the features of a distributed database system, such as location transparency, copy transparency, and distributed joins.

Embedded SQL™ – SQL statements that are embedded within a program and are prepared in the process before the program runs. After it is prepared, the statement itself does not change, although values of host variables specified within the statement might change.

end user – a person who connects to a DirectConnect server using an application to access databases and perform transfers. See also transfer.

Enterprise Connect Data Access – an integrated set of software applications and connectivity tools that allow access to data within a heterogeneous database environment, such as a variety of LAN-based, non-Sybase datasources, as well as mainframe data sources.

environment variable – a variable that describes how an operating system runs and the devices it recognizes.

exit routine – a user-written routine that receives control at predefined user exit points.

express transfer – a form of bulk copy transfer that uses ODBC bulk APIs to improve performance when transferring bulk data between datasources. Because it uses the same syntax as bulk copy transfer, no modification of applications is required.

external call interface – a CICS client facility that allows a program to call a CICS application as if the calling program had been linked synchronously from a previous program instead of started from a terminal.

External Security Manager – an add-on security package for the z/OS mainframe, licensed by Computer Associates.

FCT – see forms control table.

forms control table – an object that contains the special processing requirements for output data streams received from a host system by a remote session.

gateway – connectivity software that allows two or more computer systems with different network architectures to communicate.

Gateway-Library – a library of communication, conversion, tracing, and accounting functions supplied with Mainframe Connect Server Option.

globalization – the combination of internationalization and localization. See internationalization, localization.

global variable – a variable defined in one portion of a computer program and used in at least one other portion of the computer program. Contrast with local variable.

handler – a routine that controls a program’s reaction to specific external events, for example, an interrupt handler.

host – the mainframe or other machine on which a database, an application, or a program resides. In TCP/IP, this is any system that is associated with at least one Internet address. See also Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

host ID – in Mainframe Connect Server Option, the ID that the TRS passes to the mainframe with a client request. The host ID is part of the client login definition at the TRS.

host password – in Mainframe Connect Server Option, the password that the client passes to the mainframe with a client request.

host request library – a DB2 UDB table that contains host-resident SQL statements that can be executed dynamically. See also host-resident request.

host-resident request – a SQL request that resides in a DB2 UDB table called the host request library. See also host request library.

IMS – see Information Management System.

indirect request – a client request that is routed through a stored procedure on a SQL Server, which forwards the request to TRS as an RPC. Compare with direct request.

Information Management System – a database/data communication system that can manage complex databases and networks.

interfaces file – an operating system file that determines how the host client software connects to a Sybase product. An interfaces file entry contains the name of any ECDA Option for Oracle server and a list of services provided by that server.

internationalization – the process of extracting locale-specific components from the source code and moving them into one or more separate modules, making the code culturally neutral so it can be localized for a specific culture. See also globalization. Compare with localization.

keyword – a word or phrase reserved for exclusive use by Transact-SQL.

language RPC – the name TRS uses to represent a client’s language request. TRS treats a language request as a remote procedure call (RPC) and maps it to a language transaction at the remote server.

language transaction – the server transaction that processes client language requests. The Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option language transaction for CICS is AMD2, which uses the DB2 UDB dynamic SQL facilities to process incoming SQL strings. The Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option for IMS uses SYRT by default.

linkage – in computer security, combining data or information from one information system with data or information from another system with the intention to derive additional information; for example, the combination of computer files from two or more sources.

linkage editor – a computer program that creates load modules from one or more object modules or creates load modules by resolving cross references among the modules, and if necessary, adjusts those addresses.

link-edit – to create a loadable computer program by using a linkage editor. See also linkage editor.

localization – the process of preparing an extracted module for a target environment, in which messages are displayed and logged in the user’s language. Numbers, money, dates, and time are represented using the user’s cultural convention, and documents are displayed in the user’s language. See also globalization.

local variable – a variable that is defined and used only in one specified portion of a computer program. Contrast with global variable.

logical unit – a type of network addressable unit that enables a network user to gain access to network facilities and communicate remotely. A connection between a TRS and a CICS region is a connection between logical units.

logical unit 6.2 – a type of logical unit that supports general communication between programs in a distributed processing environment. See also advanced program-to-program communication.

login ID – in Mainframe Connect Server Option, the ID that a client user uses to log in to the system.

login packet – client information made available to Mainframe Connect Server Option. The client program sets this information in a login packet and sends it to TRS, which forwards it to the mainframe.

long-running transaction – a transaction that accepts more than one client request. Whereas short transactions end the communication after returning results to a client, a long-running transaction can await and process another request. Compare with short transaction.

LU 6.2 – see logical unit 6.2.

mainframe access products – Sybase products that enable client applications to communicate with mainframes in a client/server environment. See client/server.

Mainframe Connect – the Sybase product set that provides access to mainframe data.

Mainframe Connect Client Option – a Sybase product that, using Client-Library, allows mainframe clients to send requests to SQL Server, Open Server, the Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option and Mainframe Connect Server Option. Mainframe Connect Client Option provides capability for the mainframe to act as a client to LAN-based resources in the CICS or the IMS and MVS environment.

Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option – a Sybase mainframe solution that provides dynamic access to DB2 UDB data. It is available in the CICS or IMS environment. See also Customer Information Control System, Database 2, Multiple Virtual Storage.

Mainframe Connect ECDA Option for Oracle for z/OS Option – a Sybase Open Server application that provides access management for non-Sybase databases, copy management (transfer), and remote systems management.

Mainframe Connect Server Option – a Sybase product that provides capability for programmatic access to mainframe data. It allows workstation-based clients to execute customer-written mainframe transactions remotely. It is available for the CICS and the IMS and MVS environments

Multiple Virtual Storage – an IBM operating system that runs on most System/370 and System/390 mainframes. It supports 24-bit addressing up to 16 megabytes.

network protocol – a set of rules governing the way computers communicate on a network.

nonclustered index – an index that stores key values and pointers to data. Compare with clustered index.

null – having no explicitly assigned value. NULL is not equivalent to 0 or to blank.

ODBC – see Open Database Connectivity.

ODS – see Open Data Services.

Open Client – a Sybase product that provides customer applications, third-party products, and other Sybase products with the interfaces required to communicate with Open Client and Open Server applications.

Open Data Services – a product that provides a framework for creating server applications that respond to DB-Library clients.

Open Database Connectivity – a Microsoft API that allows access to both relational and non-relational databases. See also application program interface.

Open Server – a Sybase product that provides the tools and interfaces required to create a custom server. Clients can route requests to the ECDA Option for Oracle server through an Open Server configured to meet specific needs, such as the preprocessing of SQL statements.

parameter – a variable that is given a constant value for a specified application and can denote the application. Compare with property.

Partner Certification Reports – Sybase publications that certify third-party or Sybase products to work with other Sybase products.

Password Expiration Management – an IBM password management program with CICS Version 3.3 through an optional program temporary fix, and as an integral part of CICS with version 4.1 and higher.

PEM – see Password Expiration Management.

PL/1 – see Programming Language /1.

primary database – the database management system that the DirectConnect server is always connected to. It is implied in the transfer statement.

Programming Language/1 – a programming language designed for use in a wide range of commercial and scientific computer applications.

property – a setting for a server or service that defines the characteristics of the service, such as how events are logged. Compare with parameter.

protocol – the rules for requests and responses used to manage a network, transfer data, and synchronize the states of network components.

query – a request for data from a database, based upon specified conditions.

Registry – the part of the Windows operating system that holds configuration information for a particular machine.

relational database – a database in which data is viewed as being stored in tables consisting of columns (data items) and rows (units of information).

relational operators – operators supported in search conditions.

relops – see relational operators.

remote procedure call – a call to execute a stored procedure on a remote server. For Mainframe Connect Server Option, an RPC is a direct request from a client to TRS. For Mainframe Connect Client Option, a Client-Library transaction that calls a procedure on a remote server acts like an RPC.

remote stored procedure – a customer-written CICS program using an API that resides on the mainframe and communicates with Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB Option. See also Customer Information Control System, stored procedure. Compare with Client Services Application.

remote systems management – a feature that allows a system administrator to manage multiple DirectConnect servers and multiple services from a client.

Replication Server – a Sybase Adaptive Server application that maintains replicated data and processes data transactions received from a datasource.

request – one or more database operations an application sends as a unit to the database. Depending upon the response, the application commits or rolls back the request. See also commit, rollback, unit of work.

resource table – a main storage table that associates each resource identifier with an external logical unit (LU) or application program.

rollback – an instruction to a database to back out of changes requested in a unit of work. Compare with commit.

router – an attaching device that connects two LAN segments, which use similar or different architectures, at the Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model network layer. Contrast with gateway.

RPC – see remote procedure call.

RSP – see remote stored procedure.

SAA – see System Application Architecture.

secondary connection – The connection specified in the transfer statement. It represents anything that can be accessed using Mainframe Connect Client Option, such as Adaptive Server or another access service.

secondary database – in transfer processing, the supported database that is specified in the transfer statement. Compare with primary database.

server – a functional unit that provides shared services to workstations over a network. See also client/server. Compare with client.

server process ID – a positive integer that uniquely identifies a client connection to the server.

service – a functionality available in Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option. It is the pairing of a service library and a set of specific configuration properties.

service library – in Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option, a set of configuration properties that determine service functionality. See also access service library, administrative service library, Transaction Router Service library, transfer service library.

service name redirection – a type of service name resolution that allows a system administrator to create an alternative mechanism to map connections with services. See also service name resolution. Compare with direct resolution.

service name redirection file – the default name of the file used for the service name redirection feature. See service name redirection.

service name resolution – the DirectConnect server mapping of an incoming service name to an actual service. See also direct resolution, service name redirection.

session – a connection between two programs or processes. In APPC communications, sessions allow transaction programs to have conversations between the partner LUs. See also advanced program-to-program communication.

short transaction – a mainframe transaction that ends the communication when it finishes returning results to the client. Compare with long-running transaction.

SNA – see Systems Network Architecture.

SNRF – see service name redirection file.

SPID – see server process ID.

SQL – see structured query language.

SQLDA – see SQL descriptor area.

sqledit – a utility for creating and editing sql.ini files and file entries.

sql.ini – the interfaces file containing definitions for each ECDA Option for Oracle server to which a workstation can connect. The file must reside on every client machine that connects to Adaptive Server.

SQL descriptor area – a set of variables used in the processing of SQL statements.

SQL stored procedure – a single SQL statement that is statically bound to the database. See also stored procedure.

static SQL – SQL statements that are embedded within a program and prepared during the program preparation process before the program runs. Compare with dynamic SQL.

stored procedure – a collection of SQL statements and optional control-of-flow statements stored under a particular name. Adaptive Server stored procedures are called “system procedures.” See also remote stored procedure, system procedures.

structured query language – an IBM industry-standard language for processing data in a relational database.

stub – A program module that transfers remote procedure calls (RPCs) and responses between a client and a server.

SYRT – the component of Mainframe Connect DB2 UDB for IMS that allows clients to submit SQL language requests to DB2 through IMS.

system administrator – the person in charge of server system administration, including installing and maintaining DirectConnect servers and service libraries.

System Application Architecture – an IBM proprietary plan for the logical structure, formats, protocols, and operational sequences for transmitting information units through networks and controlling network configuration and operation. See also advanced program-to-program communication.

system procedures – a stored procedure that Adaptive Server supplies for use in system administration. System procedures serve as shortcuts for retrieving information from system tables, or a mechanism for accomplishing database administration. See also stored procedure.

Systems Network Architecture – an IBM proprietary plan for the structure, formats, protocols, and operational sequences for transmitting information units through networks. See also advanced program-to-program communication.

table – an array of data or a named data object that contains a specific number of unordered rows. Each item in a row can be unambiguously identified by means of one or more arguments.

Tabular Data Stream™ – a Sybase application-level protocol that defines the form and content of relational database requests and replies.

target – a system, program, or device that interprets, rejects, satisfies, or replies to requests received from a source.

target database – the database to which the DirectConnect server transfers data or performs operations on specific data.

TCP/IP – see Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

TDS – see Tabular Data Stream.

transaction – a unit of processing initiated by a single request. A transaction consists of one or more application programs that, when executed, accomplish a particular action. In Mainframe Connect Server Option, a client request (RPC or language request) invokes a mainframe transaction. In Mainframe Connect Client Option, a mainframe transaction executes a stored procedure on a remote server.

transaction processing – a sequence of operations on a database that is viewed by the user as a single, individual operation.

Transaction Router Service – a Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option program used when the mainframe acts as a transaction server to route requests from remote clients to the Mainframe Connect Server Option and return results to the clients.

Transaction Router Service library – a service library that facilitates access to remote transactions, allowing customers to execute transactions from virtually any mainframe datasource. See also service library.

Transact-SQL – a Sybase-enhanced version of the SQL database language used to communicate with Adaptive Server.

transfer – a Mainframe Connect DirectConnect for z/OS Option feature that allows users to move data or copies of data from one database to another.

transfer service library – a service library that provides copy management functionality. See also service library.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol – a set of communication protocols that supports peer-to-peer connectivity functions for both local and wide area networks.

trigger – A form of stored procedure that automatically executes when a user issues a change statement to a specified table.

TRS – see Transaction Router Service.

TRS library – see Transaction Router Service library.

unit of work – one or more database operations grouped under a commit or rollback. A unit of work ends when the application commits or rolls back a series of requests, or when the application terminates. See also commit, rollback, transaction.

user ID – user identification. The ID number by which a user is known in a specific database or system.

variable – an entity that is assigned a value. Mainframe Connect ECDA Option for Oracle for z/OS Option has two kinds of variables: local and global.

view – an alternate representation of data from one or more tables. A view can include all or some of the columns contained the table or tables on which it is defined.

Virtual Storage Access Method – an IBM-licensed program that controls communication and the flow of data in an SNA network.

Virtual Telecommunications Access Method – IBM mainframe software that allows communication on an SNA network between mainframes and allows the mainframe to have multiple sessions per connection.

VSAM – see Virtual Storage Access Method.

VTAM – see Virtual Telecommunications Access Method.

wildcard – a special character that represents a range of characters in a search pattern.