Spitab mainframe product

SPITAB

Managing relational tables

All computer applications have to manage a certain number of external tables: parameters, error messages, currency rates, etc.

The SPITAB software was designed to allow the manipulation and management of relational tables. Marketed since 1980, it is very successful in France and abroad. The experience acquired with several hundred installations has enabled the improvements of the current version: richer, more reliable, more efficient.

SPITAB Client-Server allows mainframe tables to be managed from client applications running under Windows (SPITAB user interface or program using the SPITAB client API).

SPITAB/WEB allows you to consult and update your SPITAB tables through your Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.).

The DB2 version makes it possible to use all the functions of the SPITAB product to manage the site’s DB2 tables without programming particular.

The SPITAB software was designed to allow the manipulation and management of relational tables. Marketed since 1980, it is very successful in France and abroad. The experience acquired with several hundred installations has enabled the improvements of the current version: richer, more reliable, more efficient.

SPITAB Client-Server allows mainframe tables to be managed from client applications running under Windows (SPITAB user interface or program using the SPITAB client API).

SPITAB/WEB allows you to consult and update your SPITAB tables through your Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.).

The DB2 version makes it possible to use all the functions of the SPITAB product to manage the site’s DB2 tables without programming
particular.

Main features

The SPITAB table manager offers basic mainframe functions in the form of real-time screens or
of utilities. The main basic functions are:

  • Defining the structure of tables and associated controls.
  • Updating table posts.
  • List of tables.
  • APIs for accessing or updating tables from user applications,
  • Online product help.

The DB2 version allows you to use all the functions of the SPITAB product to manage the site’s DB2 tables without programming particular.

Optional Features

In addition to the basic functions, SPITAB offers the following optional devices:

  • SPITAB/WEB allows you to view and update your SPITAB tables through your web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.).
  • Custom screens: In addition to the standard job update screen, SPITAB allows you to draw an unlimited number of custom update screens for a given table.
  • The consistency and distribution of tables allows you to propagate updates from original tables to target tables according to various protocols (secondary indexes, historical, …).
  • The applicative online help allows to integrate SPITAB online help functions (documentation, list of values, etc) into CICS user applications without any modification of these.
  • Storing in CICS allows SPITAB tables to be loaded into CICS memory to significantly improve the performance of CICS applications that use them.
  • Storing under MVS makes it possible to load SPITAB tables into a dedicated MVS address space in order to significantly improve the performance of real-time or batch applications that use them.
  • SPITAB Client-Server allows mainframe tables to be managed from client applications running under Windows (SPITAB user interface or program using the SPITAB client API).
  • SPITAB is available in IBM mainframe technical environments (mainframe part) and Microsoft Windows (client-server part).

The most recent developments made to the SPITAB product are essentially aimed at improving the performance and ease of use of the product and beyond that of user applications.

It is in this spirit that the SPITAB/WEB system was born. This allows users to view and update SPITAB tables using their web browser by connecting directly to CICS.

The MVS table storage device allows MVS sites to load SPITAB tables into a dedicated address space in order to significantly improve the performance of the applications that use them by eliminating disk access. This concerns not only CICS applications but also IMS and batch.

On the other hand, the application online help device allows CICS user applications (accessing the SPITAB tables or not) to have online help of the same type as the SPITAB online help without any modification. This device notably makes it possible to associate user screens with documentation and the fields of these screens with documentation and lists of possible values.

Finally, SPITAB Client-Server makes it possible to centralize the data contained in the mainframe tables while managing them in client applications running under Windows. SPITAB provides a user interface of Browser types or user-drawn forms. They can also develop their own applications using the SPITAB client API.
It should also be noted that various developments have enriched the product in recent years. For example the adaptation of the DB2 version of SPITAB to the latest versions of DB2

Environnements

Mainframe management

SPITAB operates in the technical environments of IBM mainframes:

  • Operating systems: MVS or VSE
  • Real-time monitors: IMS (under MVS), CICS, or IDMS (APIs)
  • Databases: DB2 (under MVS), DL1, VSAM, or IDM

Client / Server

SPITB Client-Server uses the following software and protocols:

  • All Windows versions (32 bits)
  • TCP/IP avec sockets CICS ou IMS, ou LU 6.2, ou APPC, ou CPIC.

Spitab Web

Spitab Web provides a web interface for managing mainframe tables

Spitab DB2 is a DB2 application, which has its own functions aimed at making table management simple, practical and user-friendly:

  • ease of use: screens for: structure creation (DST), DB2 environment (VLD), update (MAJ), listing (LIS),
  • storage of the structure in an internal table,
  • online documentation – easily editable,
  • call of values,
  • personalized dynamic screens,
  • adapted utilities,
  • data storage (BATCH or CICS, MVS).

SPITAB DB2 has data types that DB2 does not support: type ‘9’ or ‘N’. It has a greater variety of dates: different formats, with or without century, with or without separators, on different lengths (6, 8, 10).

It manages specific types of tables: validity key tables, index tables, text tables.

The SPITAB/WEB option allows users to list, update and also define SPITAB tables through their Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox for example). All of the major functions for managing the tables by the 3270 screens are available in SPITAB/WEB. The browser connects directly to CICS. A SPITAB+ transaction receives HTTP requests and sends responses in HTML language to the Web client. SPITAB+ uses the “Web Support” facilities of the latest versions of CICS in which CICS operates as a Web server.

The generated Web pages use a style sheet delivered as source. This can be modified by the customer in order to respect the graphic charter of his site. The customer can also complete the generated pages with static HTML code which will be included at the beginning and/or at the end of the generated code in order to respect any constraints specific to its site (logo or other).

On connection, the user obtains a form allowing him to sign on the chosen SPITAB file:

In response, the user gets the list of tables in the file. He can then click on the name of the table he wants to consult and/or update. He then obtains the list of the selected table (total or partial depending on the volume of data): opposite an overview of a list of tables.

On this list, the user can either click on the “New position” link if he wishes to create a new position on an empty form, or click on the key of the position he wants to modify or delete. In both cases, he obtains a form (see the preview opposite) on which he can enter values for the position to be created or modified and click on the button corresponding to the action he wants to perform.

On the list of tables or the list of a table, the user also has, if necessary, a listbox presenting the personalized update screens (defined by the 3270 FDE and ATE screens) for each table. He can therefore, in addition to the standard form, use update forms with the same characteristics as the 3270 customized screens.

On the other hand, the administrator and the developer also have a form to create, modify and delete the table structures. This form works identically to the 3270 DST screen.

In the DB2 version, another form is also available which allows you to manage the DB2 characteristics of the SPITAB tables. This form works identically to the 3270 VLD screen.