This document covers the following topics:
As of Natural Version 6.3.7, Windows Server 2008 is also supported, in addition to the operating systems listed in the section Supported Operating Systems of the release information for Natural Version 6.3.1.
The utility SYSEXT provides the following new
application programming interfaces (APIs):
| API | Description |
|---|---|
USR4215N |
Return a list of resources (short object and long resource name) of a Natural library according to the forwarded range parameters. |
Natural for Ajax is now delivered in the Version 1.2.4. It is based on Application Designer Version 8.0.
Support is provided for the following:
Certain controls can be bound to Natural control variables so that
the modification status of a Natural operand that represents the value of the
control can be checked with IF
control-variable MODIFIED. See
XCIDATADEF - Data Definition in the Natural for Ajax
documentation.
The Natural system variable
*CURS-FIELD can be used
in Natural for Ajax applications to identify the operand that represents the
value of the control that has the input focus. When the Natural system function
POS
is applied to a Natural operand that represents the value of a control, it
yields the identifier of that operand. See also Natural Parameters and
System Variables in the Natural for Ajax documentation.
The statusprop property for input
controls such as FIELD has been split into two separate properties:
statusprop and
displayprop. See Dynamically Controlling
the Visibility and the Display Status of Controls in the Natural for
Ajax documentation.
It is now possible to define a Natural for Ajax application as a servlet in the file web.xml. This makes the definition of security constraints for individual applications easier.
The following new features apply only to Natural maps, not to rich GUI pages:
With the configuration tool, it is now possible to configure the behavior of a double-click. The double-click can be assigned to a function key or can be disabled.
With the configuration tool, it is now possible to define that all function keys are to be shown, including those which do not have names. This makes sure that the function keys are always displayed at the same position.
The Natural Web I/O Interface is now delivered in the Version 1.3.5.
Support is provided for the following:
It is now possible to define different styles for output fields which are based on variables and output fields which are based on literals (J2EE only). See Defining Different Styles for Output Fields in Configuring the Client which is part of the Natural Web I/O Interface documentation.
Processing rules (inline rules and Predict free rules) are now supported in Natural adapters in the same way as in Natural maps.
A field in a PROCESS PAGE statement can now be
associated with a control variable. When the value returned for that field is
not equal to the value sent, the field is regarded as modified and the control
variable is set to modified.
The compiler option PCHECK has been enhanced for
use in conjunction with objects of type adapter. With
PCHECK set to ON, the
PROCESS PAGE USING statement now checks
the parameter number, format, length and array index boundaries not only at
execution time, but already at compile time.
In addition, the parameter check at compile time has been expanded to
other invoking statements, such as
PERFORM (external subroutine),
INPUT USING
MAP, and to the calling of
helproutines.
The precision of the result field in an exponentiation with an exponent of format numeric (N) or packed (P) has changed in Natural Version 6.3.7 in order to achieve a result which is more precise.
In case of an exponentiation where the exponent is a numeric or packed
operand with one or more digits after the decimal point (for example,
N1.1 or P1.1), a result field of format float (F8)
instead of format packed (P) is now generated.
The change is effective after a RUN,
CATALOG or STOW in
Natural Version 6.3.7. An EXECUTE of programs which
are compiled under a previous version (Natural Version 6.3.6 or below) has no
effect.
Example:
DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 #F8 (F8) END-DEFINE COMPUTE ROUNDED #F8 = 1 + 5 ** 0.5 /* The result field of the exponentiation 5 ** 0.5 is now F8 instead of P15.0 PRINT #F8 /* After CATALOG, the result in Natural Version 6.3.7 is +3.236067977499789E+00 /* Result in Natural Version 6.3.6 is +3.000000000000000E+00 END
The documentation has been adapted accordingly. See Performance Considerations for Mixed Format Expressions in the Programming Guide.
With Natural Version 6.3.7, the new DDM EMPLOYEES-V2009 is
delivered. This DDM is used by the new sample programs supplied with the
SYSEXV utility. This DDM makes use of
new Adabas data types introduced with Adabas Version 6. The respective
EMPLOYEES data requires Adabas Version 6.1.6 or higher.
The columns that are shown in the SYSPROD - Product Information dialog box have been changed.
For displaying the products in the local environment, the unused columns Inpl Creation, Nucleus Date, Nucleus Time and Status have been removed. The information that was previously shown in the PL column has been attached to the information shown in the Version column.
For displaying the products in a mainframe environment, the column Nucleus Version has been added. This column will be filled with the next version of the Natural Development Server (NDV) for mainframes. Furthermore, the columns have been changed to better distinguish between INPL and nucleus components of the installed products.
See also Product Information in Using Natural Studio.
The following application programming interfaces (API) in the library
SYSEXT have been enhanced:
USR0330NThe complete timestamp value for Natural objects is now returned.
USR0360N,USR0421NandUSR1020NA new optional parameter named
LAYOUT-CHECKis available. The layout definition is checked when a value other than blank is specified for this parameter. Error messages that do not fit into the ranges are not processed.
Natural Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is available as a separate subcomponent of Natural. It has its own version number. This measure takes into account that Natural RPC is a cross-platform component and makes it possible to provide new Natural RPC versions independent of new Natural versions for the various platforms supported.
With Natural Version 6.3.7, an enhanced Natural Remote Procedure Call Version 6.3.3.1 is delivered that replaces the existing Natural RPC Version 6.3.3.
As of Version 6.3 of Natural Remote Procedure Call (RPC), the following changes and enhancements are available:
The system command RPCERR has been enhanced
to show the full error message text returned by an EntireX RPC server.
The following enhancements have been applied to the user application
programming interface
RPCINFO and the parameter data area
RPCINFOL:
RPCINFO has been enhanced to retrieve the error message
text returned by an EntireX RPC server.
The fields S-NODE, S-NAME,
C-NODE, C-NAME have been enlarged from A8 to A32 to
be more compliant with EntireX.
RPCINFO is loaded to the library SYSTEM on
system file FNAT and is immediately available to all user
applications.
All enhancements are compatible with existing applications.
Notes:
RPCINFOL, you may be concerned if the enlarged fields are
displayed. Either adapt your output layout accordingly or add the session
parameter AL=8 where appropriate.
RPCINFO from the FUSER system file.
Please note that the term "stub subprogram", which in earlier versions of EntireX was also used to refer to application-dependent, Workbench-generated pieces of code for issuing and receiving remote procedure calls, will no longer be used. In the EntireX documentation, these objects are now referred to as "interface objects". In the Natural Remote Procedure Call documentation, however, the term "stub subprogram" is still prevailing. It will be replaced in one of the next versions of Natural RPC.
The following enhancements are provided with Natural Security Version 6.3.7:
The following enhancements are provided for users:
The function Copy User has been enhanced: You can enter the name of the new user not only in the new profile but already in the window which is displayed when you invoke the Copy function. This name is then written into the new profile (where you can still change it, of course).
A new user exit,
NSCUSEX2, is provided in the library
SYSSEC. It allows you to review the changes you have made to a
list of group members. It is invoked when you use the user-maintenance function
Edit Group Members and
CATALOG the changes to the group. It displays a list
of the group's members, indicating which members have been added to the group
and which have been removed from it.
The following enhancements are provided for libraries:
The function Copy Library has been enhanced: You can enter the name of the new library not only in the new profile but already in the window which is displayed when you invoke the Copy function. This name is then written into the new profile (where you can still change it, of course).
UNIX shell commands can be executed from within a Natural program by
invoking the Natural user exit SHCMD via the statement CALL
SHCMD. With Natural Security you can now control for each library the
execution of UNIX shell commands from within Natural programs by
allowing/disallowing the execution of the CALL SHCMD statement in
the Command Restrictions section of
library profiles.
The following enhancements are provided for utilities:
In the security profiles for the
SYSERR utility, you can now control the
use of SYSERR direct commands. You can allow or disallow each
command for all users, or allow it for Natural Security administrators
only.
The session option
Utilities option in the default
profiles of utilities SYSMAIN and SYSOBJH has been
enhanced: In addition to the existing values Y and N,
you can specify the new value O: This is identical to
Y, but has the following additional effect:
If you use SYSMAIN or SYSOBJH to process the
contents of a library in whose library profile the general option
Utilities is set to O (= processing permitted
for owners), and you as an owner require a countersignature, the
countersignature prompt will be suppressed; instead, the library will be
excluded from SYSMAIN/SYSOBJH processing.
This enhancement is only relevant online, because in batch mode countersignatures cannot be processed anyhow.
The following application programming interfaces (APIs) have been enhanced:
The API
NSCADM has been enhanced. It allows you
to compare a preset value (as set in the
Library and User Preset Values)
with the the corresponding actual value in user profiles, and provides a list
of all user profiles in which the value differs from the preset value. For
details, see example program PGMADM04 and text member
TXTADM04 in the library SYSSEC.
The API
NSCXR has been enhanced. It allows you
to retrieve information about the access rights to an individual module in a
library, for all users who have access to the library. For details, see example
program PGMXR018 and text member TXTXR018 in the
library SYSSEC.
The following other enhancements are provided:
If a startup transaction is specified in a Natural Security library profile, it will be executed after a successful logon to the library. In a Natural Development Server environment, however, when a library is selected from the tree view in the mapped environment, the execution of a startup transaction may not be desired. A new Administrator Services option NDV Startup Inactive, which can be set in the Library And User Preset Values, allows you to suppress the execution of startup transactions in a mapped environment.
The function Copy Mailbox has been enhanced: You can enter the name of the new mailbox not only in the new profile but already in the window which is displayed when you invoke the Copy function. This name is then written into the new profile (where you can still change it, of course).