Introduction to the Mapping Facility › Overview › What is the Mapping Facility?

What is the Mapping Facility?

A map is a formatted terminal screen used to communicate between an application and a terminal operator. The CA IDMS mapping facility is used to define the layout of maps. The mapping facility simplifies the development, storage, and use of input/output (I/O) displays and fields.

• Development—The mapping facility enables the map developer to:
  • Use commands or screen prompts to simplify the definition of maps
  • Take advantage of consistent procedures to establish fields on a map
  • Predefine the characteristics of the data transmitted between the I/O device and program variable storage
  • Use the mapping facility to specify links between a map and records
  • Generate an automatic screen layout from a record definition
• Storage—The mapping facility handles the storage and retrieval of map-related entity occurrences and map load modules
• Use—The mapping facility creates maps that can be integrated easily with dialogs and programs.
  • Dialogs generated by the application development system, CA ADS, use CA IDMS maps exclusively for screen I/O operations.
  • Programs written in COBOL, PL/I, and Assembler can use maps for I/O transactions when appropriate Data Manipulation Language (DML) statements are included in the code.

Note: References in this manual to user-written programs apply equally to CA ADS dialogs and host language programs unless otherwise noted.