PACBASE

PACBASE is a Computer aided software engineering generating programs in language COBOL. Its name of origin, PAC700, comes from the acronym CAP for “Automatic Programming Corig”. CORIG, Design and Realization in Business computing, were a method of structured Programmation of the Années 1970.

It makes it possible to make independent the logical aspects of the physical aspects of the programming; thus same source PACBASE, with the help of the good specification of a very reduced number of parameters, can generate programs operative COBOL on machines IBM or machines Bull, and even Unix.

The editor of this CASE was the cgi (Data-processing General Company), repurchased since by IBM. Many companies (banks, insurances, etc), primarily in France, use PACBASE. IBM announced the end of the support of PACBASE for 2012.

The Reference frame

PACBASE manages a Référentiel entities, containing a Dictionnaire structured.

The principal entities are:

of the headings : Data S (the most elementary entity);
of the segments , or files: whole of data representing of the Objects trades or the relations between Objects trades. They are lists of headings;
of the Structures of data : whole of segments or states;
of the states: for the impression;
of the programs (batchs);
of the screens (compromise);
of the texts (Documentation);
of the Manual S (whole of texts).

The Gestion centralized of a Référentiel makes it possible to obtain the chainings between entities (which Computer programs uses such heading, etc), in the same manner as a Logiciel Wiki.

Libraries

PACBASE proposes a hierarchical tree structure of libraries in which the entities are arranged. That makes it possible several teams to work on the same reference frame and to store their programs in their own libraries.

The principle of Hiérarchie is the following: the entities of a library are usable by the libraries of the lower level. Thus important entities (that they are data or macrostructures) can be declared only once and thus communes with the whole of a site).

Sessions

PACBASE proposes a management system of version by means of historized session, work or current session. Simplistic, it however makes it possible to manage the various versions of an application with the proviso not too of multiplying them nor at the same time to do many developments on several branches.

Limits

PACBASE makes it possible to generate simple programs easily. However, it is very restrictive and has some not corrected Bogue S. That tries sometimes the programmers who are confronted there to code directly in COBOL, which is highly disadvised. A thorough knowledge of the tool makes it possible to find a parade by respecting the Norme S of Programmation related on Pacbase or the Entreprise user.

In addition, Pacbase is a tool lack user-friendliness, and its Portabilité on other environments of development which the COBOL is not obvious. It is structured according to a logic dating from the Années 1970, in which one did not imagine a strong Exigences of Interopérabilité between Système S complexes.

The Programming

That it is in Batch or TP, the step is the same one:

Installation of the standard PACBASE , which consists of a systematization of the programming. The standard batch is different from standard TP.
Addition of the standard company , via Macro Parameterized Structures (MSP)
Finalization by specific treatments

In Batch

PACBASE manages concepts of rupture and synchronization of files using dedicated indicators making it possible to very easily know for each file, if one treats a Donnée for the first time or the last time, or if it is present in other input files.

In Transactional Processing (module Dialogs)

PACBASE manages compromise kinematics. It also takes charges all the technical side with it with the Interfaçage with the compromise Moniteur (for example: CICS)

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