Topics:

• Ease of Use Features
• Documentation in the Master and Access Files
• How to Use the AUTOADBS Facility
• Background Execution
• The Generated Descriptions
• AUTOADBS Sample Sessions

The AUTOADBS facility automatically generates Master and Access Files for ADABAS files and views based on information stored in the Predict dictionary and supplied by user selections. The facility requires FOCUS Release 6.8 or higher, ADABAS Release 5.0 or higher, and Predict Release 3.1.4 or higher.

AUTOADBS may be executed interactively or in the background as a batch job. Multiple files can be related in one Master File in interactive mode; background mode is limited to one file per execution. One or more versions of the Predict dictionary can be used concurrently to describe several ADABAS files (for example, Production and Test dictionaries).

The facility accurately describes the ADABAS file or view within the constraints of the Adapter for ADABAS. Superdescriptors, subdescriptors, periodic elements (PE groups), and multi-value (MU) fields are included. Comments are used to describe unsupported fields in the generated Master File.

AUTOADBS provides several options that enable you to customize the output. You may:

• Include the NATURAL column heading stored in the Predict dictionary in the Master File for use as the default column heading in FOCUS reports.
• Specify the starting position and length of the Predict dictionary fieldname. This feature strips off common prefixes from the fieldname or truncates the fieldname to 12 characters (for example, when downloading data using ON TABLE PCHOLD).
• Specify the FOCUS date format for NATURAL date fields.
• Create help files for FOCUS TableTalk (FOCDEFs) as a user option. The first three lines of the Predict dictionary REMARKS field are used to provide online TableTalk help.