business object
A business object is an object understandable by the business, such as a purchase order or an organizational unit. A business object has information stored in the business object attributes, such as the purchase order number or the organizational unit name. A business object also contains a set of actions, known as business object methods, that can manipulate the business object attributes, such as create purchase order and list organizational units.
From a development perspective, a business object is a collection of tables and functions that manipulate these tables that are implemented simultaneously as one group during the development phase. A business object is identified by the combination of a package code, module code, and business object code.
business objects
Business Object Layer
A set of standard DLLs from LN 6.0 onwards. The Business Object Layer invokes LN business logic methods that handle the persistency of a Business Object
BOL
Business Object Repository
A persistency system that stores the Business Object meta data. The BOR is a virtual space in which Business Objects are modeled. The runtime objects of the business objects are stored in the Business Object Layer.
BOR
company
A means to store data separately in LN. Every company has its own tables with its own data.
Example: An Item with Item Code "X" can be stored in the Item Master Table of several different companies. In each company, this Item Code "X" can have different data.
companies
customer
A code that identifies a customized software package. For example, B61O_a_cus1, where 'B61O' represents the version, 'a' represents the release, and 'cus1' represents the customer extension of the customized software.
customers
Data Access Layer
A Dynamic Link Library that is linked to a LN database table.
DAL
dynamic link library
A means of sharing common functions between several programs. This library contains functions for common use. The library can be linked to the object as a function call at run time. Implementation of a dynamic link library reduces the size of objects to a minimum because dynamic link libraries are not included in a programs object.
dynamic link libraries
DLL
expired
If a software component, such as a session or a table, is set to expired in a certain VRC, it cannot be used anymore in that VRC and in later VRCs which were derived from the VRC where the component was set to expired.
A software component that was set to expired is still available in preceding VRCs.
glossary
Definitions of the terms used in LN.
hard reference
A reference from one table to another table that is defined in the data dictionary.
LN windows interface
A Windows-based interface program between the user and the LN servers. The LN windows interface runs on the user workstation and communicates with the Bshell.
BW
logical company
Company as seen by the application. The sessions and program scripts of LN use the logical companies without having to know the physical company where the tables are actually stored.
In the most simple situation, a table in a logical company is linked to a physical company with the same company number as the logical company. In that case, the logical company and the physical company are the same company. If you use logical table linking, a table in a logical company is linked to a physical company with a different company number.
logical companies
module
A part of a package consisting of a number of related software components, such as sessions, tables, program scripts, reports, forms and menus. For example, the General Ledger module in Financials.
A module code consists of three characters. For example, General Ledger has the code "gld".
modules
multicompany environment
A collection of companies.
A multicompany environment is used to limit a table sharing set to a fixed set of companies.
operator
A symbol or other character indicating an operation that acts on one or more elements.
package
A set of related modules that implements a complete part of the functionality, for example, Enterprise Planning, Financials, or Warehousing. Packages are designed to function as independent as possible, to enable a customer to implement only particular packages.
A package code consists of two characters. For example, tt is the code of the Tools package.
Each package has a unique version structure, the VRC structure.
packages
package combination
A combination of several different packages with specific VRCs. A package combination represents a complete usable version of LN.
In the session, each user is linked to a package combination, that determines which version of the software the user can use. In the session, each company is linked to a package combination, to indicate which version of LN is appropriate to handle the data in that company.
package combinations
package VRC
A version of a package, for example, tc B61O a cus1. In general, one version of a software component, such as a session, a table, or a form, is stored in one particular package VRC.
A developer can usually modify software components only in a particular package VRC.
The code of a package VRC consists of:
- Package code, for example, 'tc'
A version (VRC) code, for example 'B61O a cus1', built up of:
- Version
- Release
- Customer
package VRCs
physical company
The company where the data is actually stored. You can link tables in Logical companies to the corresponding tables of a physical company.
program script
A sequence of instructions that is used to program a number of actions that must take place in addition to the standard program. Two different program scripts are available, namely 3GL scripts and 4GL scripts.
program scripts
UI script
reference mode
The way in which a reference restricts the contents of a table field.
A reference can have one of the following reference modes:
Mandatory
The field must contain a code that is found the reference table.Mandatory unless empty
The field can be empty. If the field is not empty, the field must contain a code that is found the reference table.Not mandatory
The field can be filled with a code that is not found in the reference table. The reference only serves to expedite queries.
reference table
The table to which some table field refers.
Example
One of the fields of the Items – General table is the Country of Origin (coor) field. This field can contain a country code. (The field can also be left empty.) LN stores country codes in the Countries table. To control this connection, the table field Country of Origin in the Items – General table has a reference to the Countries table.
Items – General is the referral table and Countries is the reference table.
reference type
The means by which a reference is defined.
Hard
If the reference type is Hard, the reference is defined in the table definition. This reference type is the most common.Soft
If the reference type is Soft, the reference is not defined in the table definition, but programmed in a program script or dll.
referral table
The table that has a field that refers to another table.
Example
One of the fields of the Items – General table is the Country of Origin (coor) field. This field can contain a country code. (The field can also be left empty.) LN stores country codes in the Countries table. To control this connection, the table field Country of Origin in the Items – General table has a reference to the Countries table.
Items – General is the referral table and Countries is the reference table.
release
An update in a version. For example, 'B61 a', where 'B61' represents the version code, and 'a' represents the release code. Each update results in a new release with a new release code.
releases
rule
A criterion to measure the quality of software components.
The rules used by VSC are, among other things, based on the LN Software Coding Standards (SCS), the LN Software Programming Standards (SPS), and the LN Performance Guide.
Some examples of rules are:
- A table code must have the following structure: pp mmm s xx, where pp is the package code, mmm is the module code, s is the submodule code (only when numeric), and xx is the sequence number.
- A message called in a script, should not be expired.
- A query that performs an update must have a 'with retry' clause.
Most rules are hardcoded in the VSC software. However, some rules that are used to analyze scripts are implemented as source analyze codes.
soft reference
A reference from one table to another table that is embedded in a program script or dll.
source analyze code
A code that is used by VSC to perform user-defined checks on scripts such as UI scripts, DLLs and DALs.
Each source analyze code is linked to an expression text and to a warning message. The expression text contains a search pattern, which is used to find errors.
For details, refer to Source Analyze Codes.
table
A data structure that is used to store data that consists of a list of records, each entry being identified by a unique key and containing a set of related values. A table contains a number of table fields that belong to a specific domain.
A table code consists of a package code, module code, and three digits.
Example
Table: tc mcs010 Countries
This table shows the table fields of tc mcs010 Countries:
| Code | Label | Length | Data Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ccty | Country | 3 | String |
| dsca | Description | 30 | Multibyte String |
| meec | EU Member State | 5 | Enumerated |
| ... |
tables
table linking
A method of table sharing that stores a table physically in one company (the physical company) and lets other companies (the logical company) use that same table as if the table is their own.
In the following diagram, company 200 shares some of the tables of company 100.
table reference
A link to a table from which something must be selected or where additional information about something is stored.
Example
The Items - General (tcibd001) table has a Country of Origin (tcibd001.ctyo) field . This field has a reference to the Countries (tcmcs010) table.
If you enter a country code in this field, LN does the following:
- Checks whether that code is present in the Countries (tcmcs010) table.
- Retrieves the country's description from the Countries (tcmcs010) table.
- Displays the country's description on the form.
Hard references are defined in the table definition.
Soft references are not defined in the table definition, but programmed in a program script or dll.
reference
table set
A set of tables that is being considered for table sharing. By using the Table Sharing Modeler tool you can simulate what happens if these tables, and only these tables, are shared.
You can have two kinds of table sets:
- A small table set which corresponds with a specific functional requirement, for example, central purchasing. You can use this table set to find out which other tables need to be shared because of table references.
- An extended table set that contains not only the tables that must be shared for functional reasons, but also all other tables that must be shared for technical reasons. You can use this table set to verify the completeness of the table set. You can also use this table set to do the actual table linking.
table sharing
A method to use the same data by more than one company. If a user in one company creates, modifies, or deletes a record in a shared table, the effect will be visible in all companies that share the table.
Two techniques can be used to achieve table sharing:
- Table linking.
- Data replication.
table sharing set
A proposed table sharing configuration.
A table sharing set contains a collection of table sets. The table sharing set defines for each of these table sets exactly which logical companies are linked to which physical companies.
verification code
A code that identifies a selection of VSC checks for software components in one or more package combinations.
A verification code is usually linked to one or more verification filters.
verification filter
A selection of VSC checks for which warnings must be generated.
A verification code usually is linked to one generic verification filter and one or more specific verification filters.
The generic filter defines the checks that are executed to verify all software components in all packages. Depending on the filter settings, the checks in the generic filter can generate two types of warnings:
- "Filtered to Handle" warnings. You must handle these warnings immediately. You must either solve or accept these filtered warnings.
- "Non-filtered" warnings that you do not have to handle immediately.
Specific filters are used to reduce the number of "FiItered to Handle" warnings for a specific package, module or VRC. Each specific filter is derived from the generic filter, and therefore executes exactly the same checks as the generic filter. In a specific filter, you can indicate for each check whether you want to generate "FiItered to Handle" warnings or "Non-filtered" warnings.
Note: you cannot disable checks, or add extra checks in a specific filter. If you select a check, which is not present in the generic filter, VSC ignores this check.
Verify Software Components
A utility to perform a quality check on the software components, which are developed or changed in LN.
VSC
version
An upgrade of a package, for example, B61. Each change in the functionality of a package results in a new version. A version can contain several releases.
versions
Version - Release - Customer
The version - release - customer (VRC) code is an identification of a stage in the development of the LN software. An example of a VRC is B61_a_ams.
A VRC code consists of:
-
Version
A stage in the development in which a major part of the software is modified. -
Release
A stage in the development in which a minor part of the software is modified. -
Customer
An Extension, Localization, or Customization of the software for a single customer or a small group of customers.
A VRC can be derived from a preceding VRC. Every software component that is contained in the preceding VRC and not explicitly modified or set to expired in the current VRC will also be available in the current VRC.
VRC
PVRC
package VRC
warning
A message that explains an error that is found during a VSC check.
Depending on the verification filter settings, VSC generates:
- "Filtered to Handle" warnings. You must handle these warnings immediately. You must either solve or accept these filtered warnings.
- "Non-filtered" warnings that you do not have to handle immediately.