Natural for Windows stores objects in files accessible by operating system functions. Unlike Natural for Mainframes where the objects are stored in Adabas system files, Natural for Windows stores the objects in specific directories on the disk. Thus, a database such as Adabas is not required to run Natural for Windows.
This document covers the following topics:
By default, the Natural libraries are created as subdirectories below the Natural root directory of a specific Natural version. The subdirectories have the same names as the libraries.
The Natural objects are stored as files in the subdirectories. The file name for a Natural object has the following form:
file-name.NKT
| file-name | This the name of the object. See also Object Naming Conventions in Using Natural Studio. | ||||||||
| N | The first character of the extension is always "N". It stands for "Natural". | ||||||||
| K |
|
||||||||
| T | The third character of the extension stands of the type of the object. For valid values, see the list below. | ||||||||
For example, the source program TESTPROG is stored as
file TESTPROG.NSP, while the generated code for the map
TESTMAP is stored as file TESTMAP.NGM.
Note:
The file name is not always identical to the object name. Both
the current object name and the corresponding internal object name are
documented in the file FILEDIR.SAG.
The following object types and the respective letters and numbers are used for the extensions available:
| Letter or Number | Object Type |
|---|---|
| A | Parameter data area (PDA) |
| C | Copycode |
| D | DDM |
| G | Global data area (GDA) |
| H | Helproutine |
| L | Local data area (LDA) |
| M | Map |
| N | Subprogram |
| P | Program |
| S | Subroutine |
| T | Text |
| 3 | Dialog |
| 4 | Class |
| 5 | Command processor |
| 7 | Function |
| 8 | Adapter |
The Natural system files FNAT (for system programs)
and FUSER (for user-written programs) are located in different
subdirectories.
FNAT assumes the following directory structure:
FNATLIBDIR.SAG
The file LIBDIR.SAG, which is only
available for FNAT, contains information on all further installed
Software AG products using Natural. This information can be displayed by using
the system command SYSPROD.
FUSER assumes the following directory structure:
FUSER
The name of a user library must not start with "SYS".
The directory structure is generated during the installation of Natural. The directories representing the system and user libraries contain the following:
FILEDIR.SAG
This file contains internal library information used by
Natural. For further information, see The File
FILEDIR.SAG below.
SRC
This subdirectory contains the Natural source objects stored
in the library.
GP
This subdirectory contains the generated Natural programs
stored in the library.
ERR
This subdirectory contains the error messages stored in the
library.
RES
This subdirectory contains the private and shared resources
stored in the library.
DDMs can be stored in local libraries. If DDMs are used by a
program, Natural first searches the current library, then the steplibs, and
then the library SYSTEM. If the DDMs are not found, the program
does not compile and displays an error message. However, if
FDDM mode has been
activated, Natural searches for the DDMs only in the system file
FDDM.
The paths to the system files FNAT,
FUSER and FDDM are defined in the
Configuration Utility. System
files are version-dependent. Therefore, Natural can only access system files of
the current Natural version. It is recommended that you only have one
FNAT system file. It is possible, however, to define several
FUSER system files (for example, when you have different
development areas for different purposes).
The system file FDDM is a container in which all DDMs
can be stored.
FDDM assumes the following directory structure:
FDDM
By default, the system file FDDM is not active. If
you want to use it, you have to activate FDDM mode as described
below.
If FDDM mode is activated (both database ID and file number do
not equal 0 in the global configuration file), all DDMs are stored and read in
the system file FDDM. DDMs stored in libraries will no longer be
accessible from Natural. This is similar to the mainframe, where all DDMs are
stored in the system file FDIC.
If the FDDM system file is undefined in the global
configuration file, the DDMs are stored in the Natural libraries
FUSER and FNAT, and the
FDDM system file is displayed as an inactive environment.
To activate FDDM mode
Create an empty directory in which the DDMs are to be stored in FDDM mode. The directory can have any name which corresponds to the Natural naming conventions.
Invoke the Configuration Utility.
In the global configuration file (category
System Files), assign a database ID and file number
for the system file FDDM and define the path to the directory that
you have created in the first step.
Select the required parameter file.
Locate the parameter FDDM.
Tip:
Locate this parameter by searching for
"FDDM". See
Finding a
Parameter in the Configuration
Utility documentation for further information.
Select the required path for the parameter
FDDM from the drop-down list box.
Save your changes.
Migrate all required DDMs to the system file
FDDM as described below.
All DDMs that are to be available in FDDM mode must be contained
in the system file FDDM. Especially the example DDMs delivered
with Natural in library SYSEXDDM must be available in the system
file FDDM.
For migration of DDMs to the FDDM system file, you
can choose between different alternatives:
You can use the Object
Handler which supports the FDDM system file and offers
the possibility to migrate the DDMs into the FDDM system file. The
DDMs can be unloaded from the Natural libraries and can be stored into the
FDDM system file in the active Natural session.
Important:
To migrate a complete development environment, it is
recommended to use the Object Handler.
It is also possible to migrate the DDMs with the copy or
move function of the SYSMAIN
utility, or to copy and move (or drag-and-drop) the DDMs with
Natural Studio as described below. In this case, it is required that
the FDDM parameter is first deactivated so that your old
environment is used again.
These alternatives are described below in detail.
Note:
The INPL
utility loads DDMs either to Natural libraries if FDDM mode is not
active or to the system file FDDM if FDDM mode is active. This may
have some impact if the loaded INPL files are intended to work in both modes.
It may be necessary that the DDMs are available in the Natural libraries as
well as in the FDDM system file.
To migrate DDMs to the system file FDDM using
the Object Handler
Activate FDDM mode as described above.
Start Natural Studio using the modified parameter file
(that is, the parameter file in which path for the parameter
FDDM has been defined).
From the menu, choose to start the Object Handler.
From the menu of the Object Handler, choose .
In the resulting dialog box, select the option button Additional Options and choose the button.
In the resulting dialog box, select the Special page.
Deactivate the check box Use FDDM file for DDMs.
This activates your old environment (which contains the DDM to migrated). If you do not deactivate this check box, you cannot access the DDMs that are to be migrated.
Unload the DDMs stored in Natural libraries (either with the wizard or in advanced-user mode).
Activate the check box Use FDDM file for DDMs (see the above steps).
This activates your new environment containing the
FDDM system file.
Note:
In different libraries, DDMs can exist with identical
names. To prevent overwriting DDMs in the FDDM system file and to
detect DDMs with identical names, it is recommended to load the DDMs with the
Do not replace option. This option is located on the same
page as the check box Use FDDM file for
DDMs.
Load the DDMs into the FDDM system file
(either with the wizard or in advanced-user mode).
To migrate DDMs to the system file FDDM using
the copy or move function of Natural Studio
Start Natural with the dynamic parameter
FDDM=0,0 as shown below:
natural FDDM=0,0
This activates your old environment containing the DDM to
migrated. If you do not override the new FDDM
specification in your modified parameter file, you cannot access these
DDMs.
Copy or move
all required DDMs from the Natural libraries into the library
SYSTEM in your designated FDDM file. This file is
displayed in the inactive environment of Natural Studio.
Terminate Natural.
The next time you start Natural without the
above-mentioned dynamic parameter, the FDDM system file will be
used.
When you have migrated all DDMs to the system file
FDDM, you can check whether FDDM is used.
To check whether FDDM is used
Start Natural.
From the menu, choose . See also System Files in the documentation Using Natural Studio.
The SYSPROF dialog box appears.
If the FDDM file is displayed, Natural will
access only DDMs stored in this system file.
If the FDDM file is not displayed or if the
expected files are not displayed, revise the parameter file used for your
session.
A Natural developer must have read, write and delete rights for all objects.
An end-user must only have read rights for the generated programs (and in some special cases also read rights for the sources).
Do not access Natural files with operating system utilities. These utilities might modify and destroy the Natural directory information.
Do not store private data files in the directories
FNAT, FUSER and FDDM, since Natural may
delete or modify them in an unexpected way.
Do not use one of the directories FNAT,
FUSER and FDDM as working directories for your
Windows applications,
since this can cause problems when issuing Natural system commands.
The file name (i.e path including file name in 8.3 format) of any object accessed by Natural must not exceed 255 bytes.
The file FILEDIR.SAG supports up to 60000 objects. It contains internal library information used by Natural including the programming mode of an object (structured or reporting) and internally converted object names. These internal object names are automatically created when storing Natural objects to disk with:
names longer than 8 characters (which can be the case with DDMs);
names containing any special character supported by Natural but not by the operating system.
Internal object names are unique and consist of an abbreviation of the current object name and an arbitrary number. Both the current object name and the corresponding internal object name are documented in FILEDIR.SAG.
Even if an object is located in the correct directory, it can only be used by Natural after this library information is included in FILEDIR.SAG. For objects created within Natural, the library information is included automatically. Information on how to import other objects can be found in the section Importing Objects in the documentation Using Natural Studio.
The utility FTOUCH can be used to update
FILEDIR.SAG without entering Natural.
The directory file FILEDIR.SAG in a Natural
library as well as the Natural error message files are created in a portable
platform-independent format. This offers, for example, the possibility of
exchanging FUSER libraries between different Windows and Linux
platforms simply by copying the libraries via operating system commands.
The FNAT system file belongs to a Natural
installation and is both version-specific and platform-specific. Therefore, it
is not recommended to share FNAT system files among different
platforms. Especially the FNAT system file on a Windows platform
contains a completely different set of utilities as the FNAT
system file on the Linux platform.
Although it is now possible to share an FUSER system
file among different platforms, this possibility should by handled with care
because Natural's locking mechanism does not cross machine boundaries and hence
it would be possible for two Natural sessions on different platforms to modify
the same object at the same time with unpredictable results.
The following topics are covered below:
When the application to be ported uses the system variable
*LANGUAGE,
you have to take notice of the following information.
Almost all Natural objects are stored in the system file with a name which contains only upper-case characters. An exception are the language-dependent objects (that is: the objects which have been created for a specific language). Language-dependent objects may contain lower-case characters in their names. Since Windows is a case-preserving operating system (whereas Linux is a case-sensitive operating system), it may happen that names which have been created under Linux cause a conflict in Windows, or that an application which has been developed under Linux yields unexpected results in Windows.
The command SAVE PGM& creates an
object where the object name contains the language identifier. The resulting
object name depends on the setting of
*LANGUAGE:
Setting of
*LANGUAGE
|
An object with the following name is created |
|---|---|
| 33 | PGMX (with an upper-case
X)
|
| 59 | PGMx (with a lower-case
x)
|
The separate objects which have been created under Linux
(PGMX.NGP and PGMx.NGP) get entries
in the file FILEDIR.SAG with the names PGMX
and PGMx. These two objects will be treated differently, depending
on the environment in which Natural is being executed:
When you execute PGMX with Natural for Linux,
the file PGMX.NGP is loaded into the buffer pool and
executed.
When you execute PGMX with Natural for Windows,
either the file PGMX.NGP or PGMx.NGP
is loaded into the buffer pool and executed. This is because Windows does not
distinguish between these two objects and treats them as one and the same
object. Thus it may be possible that applications which share an
FUSER, or a copy of such an FUSER, behave in a
different manner.
Message files in the old, non-portable format which have not been created on a 64-bit platform are not readable.
If you want to migrate your applications from a 32-bit platform to a 64-bit platform, you must first convert your old message files to the portable format. You do this by using the export and import functions of the SYSERR utility. First, you export the message file to a text file, and then you generate a new message file by importing the text file into Natural. This creates a portable message file which is readable on Windows and Linux. For detailed information on the export and import functions, see Generating Message and Text Files in the Tools and Utilities documentation.
When you use NFS (Network File System) to store Natural libraries, you can run into problems when the directories in which the Natural libraries are stored are mounted via NFS from a file server in your network.
The reason for this is the need to lock the FILEDIR.SAG file stored in each library during update operations of Natural objects.
If your NFS locking is incompatible or not properly set up between the involved platforms, Natural can hang in an uninterruptible state while waiting for NFS locking requests to be processed. These requests are generally logged on the consoles of the involved systems or in some other system-dependent log file.
The work-around to solve this problem is to store Natural libraries only on local disks if problems with a hanging and uninterruptible nucleus occur.