The Automatic System Facility

What is ASF

The Automatic System Facility (ASF) is an online, menu-driven facility that enables all users in the corporation to take advantage of database management system capabilities. ASF is a facility of the CA IDMS/DB database management system. ASF is also a component of the Information Center Management System (CA-ICMS), which uses an CA IDMS/DB database. Thus, ASF is a tool for both the development center and the information center.

You Define Data Tables

Through ASF, you can accomplish your own data processing tasks, no matter what level of data processing expertise you have. ASF is the interface between you and the database. Through ASF, you define data tables by describing the data you want to manage. ASF automatically generates an application program to store and access data in the table you define.

ASF Creates Support Structures

You need only define a data table; ASF creates all the supporting structures needed to use that table. ASF performs the following application development tasks for you:

Formats screens for displaying/updating data
Generates programming logic for adding, updating, deleting, and displaying data
Stores definitions for formatting data

Create Your Own Database

By using ASF, you can create private databases without requiring assistance from the data processing department. Private databases give users direct control over data that is of interest to an individual or to a small group. Users can also have easy access to corporate data that is stored in production databases. ASF enables you to easily develop applications that answer many of your data processing needs.

Use or Add to Existing Database

You can define a table that adds new data elements to the database, or define a table that relates elements already existing in the database. Relational operations can be performed through ASF when defining data tables. ASF includes all the functions necessary to define data tables and to use those tables through the online applications created by ASF.

This section contains the following topics:

Data Tables

Relational Operations

ASF in the Corporate Environment