Concepts of Incorporation

Incorporation functions are used

  • to find external objects that are not yet documented/connected to a documentation object,

  • to document applications that are not yet documented in Predict,

  • to redocument applications that are not completely documented in Predict.

This document covers the following topics:


Overview of Incorporation Options

Incorporation functions perform the following tasks:

  • Test
    Compare external and documentation objects. The function finds implemented objects already documented with Predict objects, where the implemented object and the Predict object are not connected.

    Note:
    In Predict, this incorporation function is called Compare.

  • Connect
    Connect external and documentation objects. The function connects documentation and implementation objects and - if appropriate - the documentation object is partially updated. For example: physical file attributes are updated, but file lists are not.

  • Display Masters
    Display IDs of objects that must be documented in Predict before objects can be incorporated.

    • Display DB2 databases, tablespaces and storagegroups that must be documented in Predict before tables/views or tablespaces can be incorporated.

  • Incorporate
    Incorporate external objects. A Predict object is created, its attributes are taken from the implemented object. The implemented object and the new documentation object are connected.

Connecting External and Predict Objects

The incorporation functions Test, Connect and Incorporate can be used to connect Predict objects and external objects.

See the section Handling of External and Documentation Objects in this documentation for a description of the basic principles of connecting external and Predict objects.

Identifying Corresponding External and Documentation Objects

Incorporation functions read information from Predict and from external sources to try and find objects that correspond. Corresponding objects are identified as follows:

Predict Object Corresponding Object Identified with
Adabas Database Physical database number (P-DBnr)
Adabas File Physical database and file number (P-DBnr/P-Fnr); see also note below.
DB2 Database DB2 database name
DB2,SQL/DS Tables/Views DB2,SQL/DS table/view name - Predict file ID
DB2 Storagegroup DB2 storagegroup name
DB2 Tablespace DB2 tablespace name

Note:
With partitioned files, a Predict file object can be implemented with several physical files: In this case the database/file number of implemented files and corresponding Predict file objects need not be identical. Predict evaluates the Vista translation table to determine implemented files documented with Predict file object when the database/file numbers are not identical.

Sources of Information on External Objects

Predict reads the following external sources of information:

Documentation Object External Source of Information
Adabas Database Adabas GCB
Adabas file Adabas FCB and FDT
DB2 Database DB2 catalog
DB2,SQL/DS Tables/Views DB2 catalog
DB2 Storagegroup DB2 catalog
DB2 Tablespace DB2 catalog

Calling Incorporation Functions

Incorporation Functions are Executed in Two Steps

  • Create a list of external objects not yet connected to any Predict documentation object by specifying selection criteria.

  • Process the selected objects with incorporation functions.

Step 1: Selecting the Objects to be Processed

A drop-down list box containing external objects is provided. Selection criteria determine which objects are contained in the list. The content of the list depends on the external object type.

Select object

Remarks which apply to all Object Types

Note:
Type-specific remarks are described with the respective external object types.

Remark Function Description
Equal Test No significant differences between external and documentation object. Connection between the two can be established.
Different Significant differences between external and documentation object. No connection between the two possible.
Connected After execution of incorporation function Connect Connection between external and documentation object was established.
Not connected No connection established due to significant differences between external and documentation object.
Incorporated After execution of function Incorporate New Predict object created with information from external object.
Not incorporated No new Predict object created.

Step 2: Processing Objects with Incorporation Functions

Test

Compares the external objects with Predict objects and reports differences between attributes and lists of children (if applicable). Requires that both an implemented object and a corresponding Predict object exist.

Connect

Connects the external object to an existing Predict object and

  • copies current information from external object to the Predict object;

  • writes to the generation log of the object that a corresponding implemented database existed when the connection was established;

  • connects child objects to the corresponding external objects.

Display Masters

When incorporating tables/views/tablespaces, higher-level objects (databases, storagegroups, tablespaces) must be documented in Predict. This function finds higher-level objects that are not documented.

Incorporate

Creates Predict objects from information of external objects and connects the Predict objects to the external objects. Applicable to all external object types.

  • When incorporating files/tables/views, Predict objects for the files in the database and links from files to fields are also created.

Type-specific parameters determine how the different incorporation functions work.