Re: [open-cobol-list] Re: File io.

[Ben Duncan]

Ok, I pop in from time to time and as 30+ year COBOL programmer,
kinda follow various threads here.

One of the reasons I have not kept up with opencobol, is that I
need ISAM multi user capabilities.

Now, I have found a ISAM file manage at :
http://www.coyotegulch.com
called ITZAM, that is a FOSS ISAM manager.

I am in the process of re-enginnering this to fit more of my needs,
which are:

A: Limit of 32 "keyes", primary unique, non-primary can have dups.
   (I have gone thru all my source code for MCBA/Realworld/MAs90 ..etc. that
    I have collected over the years, and at the most found ONLY one file
    that used more than 3 key definitions and it used six).
B: Variable length, variable field size, string based with
   multi values (Like the PICK database)
C: No concept of "defined" record layout (see B above). However, record
   "ideology" is more a "page" size access with reading/writing records
   being done in page sized "chunks" and payload being considered
   really nothing more than "blobs".
D: Multi user record locking with spin-locks and return of locked
   record information (process ID and user who has record locked)
E: COBOL return status codes, instead of ITZAM file status codes.
F: External SCHEME definitions held in another MVISAM master file.

I have started the initial work on this, and since I am NOT a
Comp-Sci engineer (hey, I am just an APPS guy ..), could use
a little help on it.
I think this could fill a need on this group and with some HELP, could
be what opencobol needed to have to support REAL multi user ISAM files.

If anyone would like to help, contact me at bns -at- meta3 -dot- net.


Thanks ...

Roger While wrote:
> 1) ALTERNATE KEY.
> The COBOL standard (85 and 2002) only
> allows one data item to be specified.
> 2) CRT.
> As stated it is pending. It can only be implemented
> when we have screen handling in place.
> (On my TODO list)
> Note this was not in the 85 standard (AFAIK), but is
> in the 2002 standard.
> 3) LOCK MODE.
> This was not in the 85 standard (AFAIK), but is in
> the 2002 standard.
> As stated pending.
> For IS files, this is very much dependent on the
> underlying software ie. Berkeley DB.
> BDB does not provide the necessary hooks to
> achieve this.
> We may be able to do it if we eventually use
> something else like VBISAM.
>
> Roger


--
Ben Duncan   - VersAccounting Software LLC 336 Elton Road  Jackson MS, 39212
"Never attribute to malice, that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"
       - Hanlon's Razor