When you are working with Natural Single Point of Development, you will encounter a few limitations which are due to the different capabilities of the graphical user interface available on the local site and the character-based user interface that exists on the remote site. In addition, this document includes hints which are important for the efficient use of the remote development facilities.

This document covers the following topics:

• Limitations

• Performance Considerations

Editor Features With SPoD

You can use Natural's Single Point of Development with different versions of Natural on a variety of platforms. Depending on the server environment you are using together with Natural for Windows (client), the editors offer different features. For further information, refer to the section Editor Features With SPoD in the Natural for Windows Editors documentation.

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Limitations

The following topics are covered:

• System Commands

• Terminal Commands

• Moving/Copying Error Messages

• Field Sensitive Maps

• Data Input/Output

• Dialogs

• Dependencies between XRef Evaluation and Predict

System Commands

The following topics are covered:

• System Commands Entered Directly on the Development Server

System Commands Entered Directly on the Development Server

All system commands which are not entered in the user interface of Natural Studio are executed directly by the Development Server without control of Natural Studio. As a result, the character-based representation of the corresponding command appears in the Natural Web I/O Interface client window. This is the case when the STACK TOP COMMAND mechanism is used or when a system command is directly entered inside the Natural Web I/O Interface client window.

During the mapping phase any STACK commands entered in the text box Session Parameters are processed within Natural Studio and the corresponding Natural Studio windows are used.

The commands HELLO and MAINMENU do not cause a screen output on the development server side, since this would not make any sense in the SPoD environment. Instead of the menu-driven user interface, the dialogs provided in Natural Studio are used.

Terminal Commands

Using terminal commands in a SPoD environment is only possible within the Natural Web I/O Interface client window. Entering terminal commands in the command line of Natural Studio is not possible.

Moving/Copying Error Messages

Moving and copying of error messages is different in remote and local environments:

• When error messages are moved or copied within the remote environment or are moved or copied from the local to the remote environment or vice versa: the error messages involved are merged, that is,

  • error messages which already exist in the target environment are replaced,

  • messages which do not exist in the source library are kept in the target library,

  • messages which do not exist in the target library are added.

• When error messages are moved or copied within the local environment, the messages involved are handled on file level, that is,

  • all error messages (that is, files) of a language are deleted and

  • the file from the source library is created anew in the target library.

Field Sensitive Maps

For these maps, the consistency check for a map field is made as soon as the user input has been entered. Field sensitive maps can be moved or copied from the local environment to a remote environment. However, a field sensitive map cannot be tested or executed on a remote z/OS environment.

Data Input/Output

Data input and output takes place only via the Natural Web I/O Interface, irrespective of whether the dynamic parameter WEBIO is set to ON or not.

Dialogs

Dialogs can be edited, but cannot be executed directly on the server.

Dependencies between XRef Evaluation and Predict

If you are using dynamic language assigned when calling other objects such as INPUT USING MAP 'MAP1&', the connection between caller and called object cannot be retrieved by using XRef Evaluation.

Natural on z/OS supports case-sensitive calls to other objects such as PERFORM SUBROUTINE. With the current version of SPoD, this may lead to strange results when, in XRef Evaluation, trees are expanded and it is not possible to request case-sensitive calls with the filter dialog.

Performance Considerations

Progress Information

The working situation displayed in the library workspace of Natural Studio is based on the representation of the entire user system files.

The tree view window opens when the user connects to the Natural Development Server. For this, the entire system file has to be analyzed and the corresponding information has to be transferred from the Natural Development Server to the Natural Studio client. In the case of very large system files, the build-up of the tree view window can be very time consuming. Status information displayed in the status bar keeps the user informed about the progress of the screen build-up operation. This is to avoid the impression that the connection to the Natural Development Server might be interrupted.

Filter Definition

Another possibility to reduce the amount of data read while mapping the environment is to supply filter definitions on system file or library level.

Refresh Options

In the default configuration of Natural Studio, all operations which result in a modification of the system file, for example, moving or copying objects, but also a SAVE or STOW command, will cause the tree view window contents to be refreshed, which can be a very time consuming process in the case of very large system files.

Since the tree view of the application workspace displays only the objects that are linked to the application, the build-up of its tree view screen is consequently considerably faster, which is another advantage of using the application workspace.

Object Lists on z/OS

In z/OS environments, libraries may contain a huge number of objects. Expanding such a library in a tree node in the NaturalONE Server view or in the Natural Studio views can take a long time.