what is Tandem Pathway?
sam adams
Pathway? Believe me, I did my homework and googled. I also searched
TIM. Nothing enlightening - it seems everyone assumes if you work in
Tandem env, you must have known what Pathway is. Well, not me.
Is it a set of APIs (path_send ...) provided by Guardian/NSK that
allow you to program application in such a way that you can have
parallel processes within a server class that all implement same
services?
Is it a builtin Tandem subsystem that is part of the OS?
Is it a particular way to program/setup Tandem applications?
All the chapters in TIM about Pathway/{iTS, XM, TS) don't help me
understand this very basic question.
We are evaluating the Tandem INS (Intelligent Network Server)
platform, you know, telecom network signaling stuff. It has this
concept of a "node" (beats me, someone also knows what exactly a node
is in the INS context). So you can marry you app to the "node" (node
is a set of system processes that provide the basic INS framework -
message routing, context mgmt, memory mgmt, auto restart
app processes ...). So to marry a app to the node, we have to run a
command the bring up so called User Interface,
tacl prompt> pathcom $scpa; run logon
Some of the things inside this UI we can do are specifying how many
copies of a particular app to start, process name of the app, ...
Does this mean INS itself is a Pathway application ? and pathcom is
the cmd to configure (apolications started by) this particular
Pathway app, namely INS?
Yeah I don't even know what I am talking about. You? Thanks.
Twinsoft your NonStop partner
Dear Sam Addams,
I have looked it up for you. In Tandem Education documentation with ArtNo.
107403, Pathway Application Programming 1, Module 1 Pathway Introduction if
found the following description:
Pathway Software was designed to resolve the challanges provided in the
complex requester-server environment.
The Pathway product is a group of software tools composed of various
programs that enable businesses to develop, instal, and manage OLTP
applications. The Pathway product is desgined to help you develop and run
complex OLTP applications that meet certain requirments such as
availability, ease of use, performance, data intergrity, and expandability.
The Pathway environment consist of the following major components:
* The Patway monitor process, called PATHMON.
This controls all of the processes and devices in the Pathway system and
allows you to configure, manage, and monitor your OLTP application.
* PATHCOM is the command language inteface for the Pathway environment that
provides a command-oriented and object-oriented language for communicating
easily and directly with PATHMON. Using PATHCOM, you can configure Pathway
systems, dynamically control the processes within the system, and monitor
the status and performance of the entire Pathway system or any of its
objects.
* Requester programs are a combination of Tandem-supplied code (the TCP
program) and user-supplied code 5SCREEN COBOL programs). Requester programs
control screen displays, manage input devices, and pass requests to the
appropiate server program.
* Server programs are user written programs tha process requests messages
(generally to access a database to add, retrieve, or modify information) and
retur the resulting message to the requester.
"sam adams" <jy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3j01tuck1p7pqmb29...@4ax.com...
Kevin R. Burgess
>Ok, I know some of you are laughing at me - but really, what is Tandem
>Pathway? Believe me, I did my homework and googled. I also searched
>TIM. Nothing enlightening - it seems everyone assumes if you work in
>Tandem env, you must have known what Pathway is. Well, not me.
>
>Is it a set of APIs (path_send ...) provided by Guardian/NSK that
>allow you to program application in such a way that you can have
>parallel processes within a server class that all implement same
>services?
>
Well, since you've looked at the documentation, I would say in
simplest terms, PATHWAY is a software product that provides an
environment in which to manage your application servers and also, in
many cases, requesters. I've used it mainly to manage servers.
So as an example, you can have a "PATHWAY" or PATHMON set up as
$KPATH. In $KPATH, you have your "SERVERCLASS" application servers
(C, COBOL, TAL,etc programs) configured to start and stop as needed.
(A SERVERCLASS being a server program configured within PATHWAY)
PATHWAY manages the servers by stopping and starting them as requested
by the requester programs (i.e. SCOBOL (Screen COBOL) programs, RSC
clients (for client/server), etc).
The product is very good at managing processes.
Regards,
Kevin
>Is it a builtin Tandem subsystem that is part of the OS?
>
>Is it a particular way to program/setup Tandem applications?
>
>All the chapters in TIM about Pathway/{iTS, XM, TS) don't help me
>understand this very basic question.
>
>We are evaluating the Tandem INS (Intelligent Network Server)
>platform, you know, telecom network signaling stuff. It has this
>concept of a "node" (beats me, someone also knows what exactly a node
>is in the INS context). So you can marry you app to the "node" (node
>is a set of system processes that provide the basic INS framework -
>message routing, context mgmt, memory mgmt, auto restart
>app processes ...). So to marry a app to the node, we have to run a
>command the bring up so called User Interface,
> tacl prompt> pathcom $scpa; run logon
>
>Some of the things inside this UI we can do are specifying how many
>copies of a particular app to start, process name of the app, ...
>
>Does this mean INS itself is a Pathway application ? and pathcom is
>the cmd to configure (apolications started by) this particular
>Pathway app, namely INS?
>
>Yeah I don't even know what I am talking about. You? Thanks.
Remove NOSPAM for replies
Cornerstone Software, Inc./ EaglePro Lease Accounting Software
WWW: http://www.cornerstonesoftware.com/
Silver Surfer
sam adams <jy...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Ok, I know some of you are laughing at me - but really, what is Tandem
> Pathway? Believe me, I did my homework and googled. I also searched
> TIM. Nothing enlightening - it seems everyone assumes if you work in
> Tandem env, you must have known what Pathway is. Well, not me.
The answer from Twinsoft quoting the training manual is very good and
correct. So see this as a supliment to that description.
It is not a stupid question and there is some confusion caused by a
change of name/usage of the term Pathway over the years.
Originally Pathway was THE way to write and manage transaction
processing (TP) applications on the NonStop server.
Some years back it was split in two with Transaction Services/
MultiProcessing (TS/MP) being extracted as the management part of the
product.
Pathway is now just one of a number of ways of writing TP applications.
Others include Tuxedo, Java, Corba, Web and others.
They all (or mostly) use TS/MP as the core backend technology.
However, colloquoally, the term pathway is often used to include TS/MP
although strictly it is now a subset of what it once was.
>
> Is it a set of APIs (path_send ...) provided by Guardian/NSK that
> allow you to program application in such a way that you can have
> parallel processes within a server class that all implement same
> services?
Yes - exacly that. It includes way to develop both screen based
applications (SCobol) as well as the more programatic devices. It
includes the TCP process etc.
Strictly speaing the parallel processes are manged by TS/MP rather than
pathway but the pathway TCP interfaces to them
>
> Is it a builtin Tandem subsystem that is part of the OS?
No. It is a seperate, but very comonly used, subsystem.
i.e. you pay extra for it !!
>
> Is it a particular way to program/setup Tandem applications?
Yes. It is a way to program/setup transaction based applications in
conjunction with TS/MP
>
> All the chapters in TIM about Pathway/{iTS, XM, TS) don't help me
> understand this very basic question.
>
> We are evaluating the Tandem INS (Intelligent Network Server)
> platform, you know, telecom network signaling stuff. It has this
> concept of a "node" (beats me, someone also knows what exactly a node
> is in the INS context). So you can marry you app to the "node" (node
> is a set of system processes that provide the basic INS framework -
> message routing, context mgmt, memory mgmt, auto restart
> app processes ...). So to marry a app to the node, we have to run a
> command the bring up so called User Interface,
> tacl prompt> pathcom $scpa; run logon
>
> Some of the things inside this UI we can do are specifying how many
> copies of a particular app to start, process name of the app, ...
>
> Does this mean INS itself is a Pathway application ? and pathcom is
> the cmd to configure (apolications started by) this particular
> Pathway app, namely INS?
I am not familar with INS. But from your description it would seem that
INS, at the very least, uses pathway and TS/MP as the operator interface.
i.e. I don't know of if the switching guts of INS is written in pathway
but the operational control is. I would guess, given INS requirements,
that the high speed switching stuff is specially coded and NOT standard
pathway.
Fred Schenck
Please refer to 'Pathway/TS System Management Manual - Chapter 1.
Introduction to Pathway/TS System Mangement'. This should give you some
answers to your question. Good luck.
"sam adams" <jy...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3j01tuck1p7pqmb29...@4ax.com...
Bob
Pathway environment.
To my knowledge here are no TIM documents describing the HP SCP
(Service Control Point) Pathway or HP INS (Intelligent Network
Server).
There is a good set of SCP documents which come on CD: "S-Series INS
R0205.00 Documentation Set" (Part Number 421089-006). Do you have
this?
The SCP-INS is a Pathway application.
Pathcom is used to configure the Pathway environment and it is also
used to run programs within the Pathway environment for example the
INS Logon (TACL>PATHCOM $SPCA; RUN LOGON).
The SCP INS environment is where you configure and manage the Node,
which in our case is made, up of Process Descriptions, Input
Parameters, Scheduling Records, SS7 configurations, etc.
sam adams
>We are running an MPC/PDE application, which runs within a SCP INS
>Pathway environment.
what's MPC/PDE ?
>There is a good set of SCP documents which come on CD: "S-Series INS
>R0205.00 Documentation Set" (Part Number 421089-006). Do you have
>this?
yes, i've those but haven't read it.
>The SCP-INS is a Pathway application.
cool, so i was pretty close.
>Pathcom is used to configure the Pathway environment and it is also
>used to run programs within the Pathway environment for example the
>INS Logon (TACL>PATHCOM $SPCA; RUN LOGON).
>The SCP INS environment is where you configure and manage the Node,
>which in our case is made, up of Process Descriptions, Input
>Parameters, Scheduling Records, SS7 configurations, etc.
thanks for the input.
Bob
Equipment.
We are using our Himalya server to assist in providing GPS assisted
location based information (Phase II) for 911 calls originated from
cell phones.
<http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/newsletter/2000/20/e911.html>
Schepers
> The SCP-INS is a Pathway application.
Almost correct. The SCP-INS (now named Open Call INS under the new HP
brand) is a hybrid.
The SS7 portion of INS runs under the Node Subsystem Manager ($NSM*).
The NSM does effectively what Pathway does but differently (it was
written before Pathway). It does its own process management.
Other parts of the INS product run under Pathway. The block-mode UI
for instance.
The configuration for the NSM and it's processes are configured under
Pathway, but run outside of Pathway.
When people refer to 'the Node'. It depends on the context. SS7
network people can refer to a node as box in their network. Tandem
people can refer to nodes as separate processor cabinets that are
hooked together to form large Tandem systems (up to 16 cpus total).
INS people may refer to the NSM itself as the node.
So, it may be a system, a CPU, a subsystem, or a process. Be careful.
Abraham De la Cruz
(Pathway Application Programming 1)
thanks
best regards
Robert Hutchings
Shiva
Roberto_TDM
A term "node" used here comes from IN "Intelligent Network" protocol, while INS stand for Intelligent Network Server. In a IN network a node is a machine or a box performing instructions. In case of SCP node, the basic of INS platform, the SCP has the capability to access to data, stored into a Database.
With Pathway, you can build a server program that perform data processing including DB access, and return the output to another client program, or display to a panel. All of this, under control and monitors of Transactions (TMF environment).
On these days, INS (and NSK/Pathway stuffs) has been ported also to vNSK system, which run HP Helion Openstack. Cool ???
Lots of customer applications, with different market segment not only Finance or Telco, has been built using Pathway env. like IBM/CICS.
Regards.