Cross-System Connectivity

With ALLBASE/NET, dissimilar HP systems can be connected. This is called cross-system connectivity.

The client and server can be any combination of HP 3000 Series 900s, or HP 9000 Series 700s/800s. Ho wever, the G.0 version of ALLBASE/SQL does not support the HP 9000 Series 300/400 as a serv er; it can be used as a clien t.

If you are developing applications that do dynamic queries, do not assume that y ou know the format of fetc hed data. The format array , as described in the applicable ALLBASE/SQL application programmer's guide, should alw ays be used to parse dynamically fetc hed data bu￿ers to avoid erroneous assumptions about data alignmen t on remote systems.

MPE/iX and HP-UX Syntax Differences

There are some di￿erences in the syn tax of DBEnvironment names and login names between MPE/iX and HP-UX systems. These di￿erences are discussed in the \Setting Up ALLBASE/NET" and \NETUtil Reference" c hapters.

Client and Server Login Names

ALLBASE/NET does not require that clien t and server login names m ust be identical. However, under certain circumstances, iden tical client and server login names are recommended. The follo wing guidelines for handling these names are divided in to four parts to address the needs of the speci￿c users of ALLBASE/NET and ALLBASE/SQL.

ALLBASE/NET System Administrators

As system administrator on the serv er, you are responsible for assigning a v alid server login name to the client who will be accessing the DBEn vironment. That client's login name is then mapped to the serv er login name in the NETUsers ￿le.

When possible, it is recommended that the clien t and server login names be the same. This is a precautionary measure to a void authorization and o wnership problems that arise during preprocessing and execution of certain application programs (suc h as ALLBASE/Query).

Such programs mak e the erroneous assumption that the DBEUserID is based on the client login name. This assumption is true in a local en vironment, but in a remote en vironment, the DBEUserID is de￿ned b y the server login name speci￿ed in the NETUsers ￿le. If the serv er login name is di￿eren t from the client login name, y ou may receive an error message about an invalid authorization or a nonexisten t object.

In some cases, suc h as in HP-UX to MPE/iX connections, it is impossible to ha ve identical client and server login names. In this case, y ou should make sure that the database administrator is a ware of the di￿erence in the clien t and server login names. (In man y cases, you are also the database administrator. If so, see the recommendations belo w for database administrators.)

ALLBASE/SQL Database Administrators

As database administrator on the serv er, you need to be aware that some of y our remote client users may have client login names that are mapped to di￿eren t server login names. In such cases, you might want to take some precautionary measures to a void problems with ALLBASE/SQL object o wnership and authorizations.

1-6 Getting Started