DB2/400 constraints and LANSA
Date: | 18 August, 1998 |
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Updated: | 25 March 2010 |
Product/Release: | LANSA for iSeries |
Abstract: | It is not recommended to use DB2/400 constraints on LANSA applications. However, it is possible to detect and make them appear like LANSA validation errors |
Submitted By: | LANSA Technical Support |
Can LANSA support DB2® triggers, referential integrity instead of or including the LANSA ones?
Yes, LANSA ships support for DB Triggers in EPC845 for LANSA V11 SP5 and V12.
Of course, if DB2/400 triggers and constraints are imbedded into tables externally then LANSA generated applications are subject to them.
Some business applications may use DB2/400 constraints on their files. When those files are loaded into LANSA for iSeries (i.e. as maintained by OTHER) the constraints are left intact, at DB2/400 level. LANSA does not duplicate them (i.e. the same constraints are not defined at the I/O Module level). However, when LANSA performs an INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE operation, and the DB2/400 constraints are violated, an I/O error condition occurs.
In general, the use of DB2/400 constraints on LANSA applications is not recommended:
- DB2/400 constraints are platform dependent, limiting the portability of a LANSA application.
- LANSA validation rules are functionally more powerful than DB2/400 constraints.
- The rules should be centralised in one place to simplify the maintenance and avoid redundancy.
Thus, we recommend using only LANSA validation rules.
However, in some cases DB2/400 constraints have to be handled by LANSA. For those cases, we suggest you detect I/O errors caused by DB2/400 constraints and treat them as validation errors. Following is the recommended technique:
- Make a list of all the possible error message numbers, derived from DB2/400 constraint violations, associated to your I/O operations (e.g. for an INSERT: CPF502D, CPF502E CPF502F, etc).
- Use the IO_ERROR parameter on the I/O commands to go to a label. On that label, use the GET_MESSAGE BIF to get the error message number. Check the retrieved message number against the ones recorded in point 1, and perform the proper actions (e.g. redisplay or abort). The following RDML section illustrates this approach:
BEGIN_LOOP * ********* Request user inputs or corrects details REQ REQUEST FIELDS((#ADDDATA)) DESIGN(*DOWN) IDENTIFY(*DESC) MENU_KEY(*YES *RETURN) * ********* Perform any program level validation here BEGINCHECK ENDCHECK * ********* Clear previous messages USE BUILTIN(CLR_MESSAGES) * ********* Attempt to insert data into the data base INSERT FIELDS((#ADDDATA)) TO_FILE(EMPMST) IO_ERROR(CHK) GOTO LABEL(NXT) CHK ********** Check I/O Error * ********* Reset returned Message text and number CHANGE FIELD(#MSGTXT #MSGNO) TO(*BLANKS) * ********* Get and process message USE BUILTIN(GET_MESSAGE) WITH_ARGS(N) TO_GET(#RETCDE #MSGTX T #MSGNO) IF COND('(#MSGNO *EQ ''CPF502D'') *OR (#MSGNO *EQ ''CPF502E'')*OR (#MSGNO *EQ ''CPF502F'')') GOTO REQ ELSE ABORT MSGTXT('I/O Error occurred. Please, see previous messages.') ENDIF NXT * ********* If okay, reset fields and issue accepted message CHANGE FIELD(#ADDDATA) TO(*DEFAULT) MESSAGE MSGID(DCU0011) MSGF(DC@M01) MSGDTA('''Employee Master''') END_LOOP
The previous code is just an example is to help understanding the technique. Note that it is not convenient to treat all the I/O errors as if they were caused by constraint violations, for example some serious ones (e.g. permanent I/O error).