Introduction › CA IDMS Dictionary Loader Capabilities

CA IDMS Dictionary Loader Capabilities

The CA IDMS Dictionary Loader has the capabilities described below.

Generates DDDL statements

The CA IDMS Dictionary Loader can process a system of up to 99 COBOL programs to generate a file of DDDL statements that describe the programs and the files, records, and elements that the programs use. This file can be submitted to the DDDL compiler to populate the data dictionary.

Generates VERSION clauses

The CA IDMS Dictionary Loader adds VERSION clauses to all generated statements. If directed by a control statement, the DDDL Generator includes a user-specified VERSION clause in each generated statement; otherwise, the DDDL Generator includes a VERSION 01 clause in each statement.

Processes synonyms

The CA IDMS Dictionary Loader can identify synonyms within generated ADD statements. When a single file or record is referred to by many different names throughout the system of programs, the DDDL Generator can be directed to generate a SYNONYM clause within each ADD statement to identify all other names used to refer to the file or record.

Processes nonunique names

The CA IDMS Dictionary Loader can differentiate between multiple uses of the same name. When multiple files or records are referred to by a single name, the DDDL Generator can be directed to generate an ADD statement for each unique file or record, assigning each occurrence of the name of a separate version number (NEXT HIGHEST/NEXT LOWEST) or assigning all occurrences the same version.

Using NEXT HIGHEST/LOWEST

If NEXT HIGHEST/NEXT LOWEST is used in generating the DDDL statements with the DDDL Generator, the DDDL compiler will add all of the entities to the data dictionary, using the same name and differentiating one from another by the version number.

Using explicit version numbers

If all entities are assigned an explicit version number (that is, the same version number) during DDDL Generator processing, the DDDL compiler will process the statements in one of two ways depending on the setting of the DDDL compiler option DEFAULT IS ON/OFF:

Editing the generated statements

You can edit the generated DDDL statements to eliminate unwanted ADDs, to establish different version numbers, or to merge several ADD statements that describe the same record or file into a single ADD statement.