SYSAPI Utility - APIs of Natural Add-On Products

The utility SYSAPI is used to locate and test Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) provided by Natural add-on products such as Entire Output Management.

The API of a Natural add-on product is a Natural subprogram (cataloged object) that is used for accessing and possibly modifying data or performing services that are specific to an add-on product or a subcomponent.

The API of a Natural add-on product is supplied in the Natural library and/or system file provided for objects that are specific to a particular Natural add-on product. For instructions on using the API of a Natural add-on product, refer to the documentation of the respective add-on product.

For each API of a Natural add-on product, the utility SYSAPI provides a functional description, one example program and API-specific keywords.

The SYSAPI Utility - APIs of Natural Add-On Products documentation covers the following topics:

Related Topics:

Prerequisites

  • The appropriate Natural add-on product must be installed at your site.

  • The version of the Natural add-on product installed must support the SYSAPI utility features.

Invoking and Terminating SYSAPI

This section provides instructions for invoking and terminating the SYSAPI utility.

Start of instruction set To invoke the SYSAPI utility

  • Enter the following system command:

    SYSAPI

    The SYSAPI main menu appears, which lists one or more Natural add-on products, each followed by one or more associated groups of APIs.

    Each group represents a particular API feature provided for the Natural add-on product and contains all example programs that relate to this feature.

    You can select a group to display all belonging APIs in a submenu, see Using the SYSAPI Utility.

Note:
In the Command line, you can enter any Natural system command.

Start of instruction set To terminate SYSAPI

  • Press PF3 or PF12.

Reserved Keywords

Reserved keywords refer to meta information on APIs, for example the version of a Natural Add-on product in which a new API has been added. Reserved keywords always start with a plus sign (+). See the table below for a description:

Reserved Keyword Description
+NEW-PROD-version An API that has been added to a specific product in a specific version.
+MOD-PROD-version An API that belongs to a specific product and has been modified in a specific version.

Using the SYSAPI Utility

After you have invoked the SYSAPI utility, you can select one specific group of APIs by entering any character in the corresponding input field or by cursor selection. The resulting SYSAPI submenu lists all APIs of the group selected in alphabetical order.

This section describes how to use the SYSAPI submenu, for example to submit selection or search criteria. The following topics are covered:

Elements of the SYSAPI Submenu

The SYSAPI submenu provides an alphabetical ordered list of APIs. The columns Interface and Description are headed by selection fields that allow you to enter selection criteria.

The input fields for keywords can be used both for keyword selection and keyword search.

A detailed description of all elements and their usage is given below:

Element Explanation Usage
Cmd The input field for a line command to be executed on an API, see Line Commands. Enter a line command, example:
K List all keywords relevant to the specified API.
Interface The name of the API subprogram. Enter an asterisk (*) , or a prefix to be delimited by an asterisk.
Description A brief description of the purpose of the API. Enter a string, example:
printer List all APIs with a description containing the string printer or Printer.
Keywords List all keywords or enter a keyword as selection criterion. You can enter at most two keywords. See Keyword Search or Keyword Selection.
And/Or Specify the logical condition by which multiple keywords are combined: A (And) or O (Or). A is default. Enter A or O. See also Keyword Selection.
Command Command line to enter Natural system commands. Enter a Natural system command.

Note:
If a Natural add-on product is localized for some additional language, you can specify this language in your profile parameter settings, see ULANG - User Language under Parameter Reference. As a result, the list returned for this add-on product contains APIs for the language you have specified.

Start of instruction setKeyword Search

  • Enter an asterisk (*), or a prefix delimited by an asterisk, for example: 

    L*

    As a result, a menu similar to the example below appears.

             Search for Keywords

  Mark Keyword
  ---- L*__________________
    _  LIST
    _  LOG
    _  LOGGING
    _  LOGICAL

    To select a specific keyword as selection criterion, enter any character in the Mark column. As a result, a list of all APIs with this selection criterion is displayed.

    Note:
    Using keyword search on both input fields results in two menus that are processed and displayed consecutively.

Start of instruction setKeyword Selection

  1. Enter a keyword in full. You can also enter keywords in both input fields, for example: 

    USER

    and

    LOG

  2. Choose the logical condition by which multiple keywords are combined: A (And) and O (Or).

    Depending on the condition specified, you either get a list of all APIs with keyword USER and keyword LOG (And), or a list of all APIs with keyword USER or keyword LOG (Or).

PF Keys

You can use the following PF keys:

PF Key Name Function
PF1 Help Display context-sensitive help. There is a specific help text for each input field. In other contexts, for example the command line, a general help text is displayed.
PF2 Reset Clear all selection fields and readjust the list of APIs.
PF3 Exit Exit the SYSAPI utility, or the current menu or window.
PF6 -- Scroll to the beginning of the list.
PF7 - Scroll one page up.
PF8 + Scroll one page down.
PF9 ++ Scroll to the end of the list.
PF12 Canc Exit the SYSAPI utility, or the current menu or window.

Line Commands

Line commands are used to perform object operations. You can enter a line command in the Cmd column next to the API required. For a list of valid line commands, enter a question mark (?) or press PF1.

The following line commands are available:

Line Command Function
K List keywords relevant to the specified API.
T If available, list the text object for a description of the corresponding API. Otherwise, use the line command L to list the example program for a description.
L List the example program.
E Edit the example program.
X Execute the example program.
. Return to the SYSAPI main menu.