IBM Tivoli Web Access for Information Management

42 IBM Tivoli Web Access for Information Management

5.1 Getting started

After you become familiar with the data views supplied by Web Access, you should decide if

you will use modified copies of these views and attributes or use your own data model

records. If you decide to modify a Web Access-supplied data view or data attribute, start by

copying it and giving it your own unique name. This way, you will not lose your modifications

when Web Access-supplied data model records are updated by new releases or

maintenance. You can use the COPY command to copy data views and data attributes just

like any other records in the database. If you have a 3270 application that you want to convert

to the Web, Chapter 7, “Converting a 3270 application” on page 71 provides information

about how you can automatically create the data model records for that application. That

chapter also has information of general interest to anyone working with data model records.

Section 5.2, “Data model and HTML considerations” on page 43 contains information you

should also consider as you build data model records for your Web Access application.

Once you have created or decided on your data view names, update your BLQPARMS

configuration file and specify your data view names on the appropriate record_type

transaction directives. The record_type transaction directives also contain the name of the

HTML file to use as the first page for the transaction, but until you generate the HTML, you

may not know these names. When you do generate the HTML, update your BLQPARMS

configuration file again to specify the actual HTML file names. Refer to 4.2, “BLQPARMS

definitions needed to support a record type” on page 36 for additional information about

setting up the record type parameters in your configuration file. Be sure to use the Reload

Configuration File task on the Web Administration page to reload your configuration file

whenever you make any changes to it (see Chapter 12, “Web administration” on page 115).

When creating a custom Web application, you should start by building the display-mode

HTML for each record type you will use. Oftentimes, you will want all of your fields to appear

on the display HTML, so working with this mode first will help to identify and create all the

data attributes that you will need. Since the organization of these fields across and within the

layouts for display will often also match the appearance that you want for update and create

pages, you may find that a layout you define for the display-mode HTML can also be used for

the other HTML modes. As you proceed with create, update, and inquiry, you may see that

the bulk of the work was already done preparing the display-mode HTML, and that you may

only need to update the field usage information in the panel layouts. Another advantage to

starting with display-mode HTML is that as you identify and build all of the data attributes for a

particular record type, you may find that certain fields are common across your records types.

So instead of creating new data attributes for another record type, you may be able to use the

same data attribute records for the common fields.

After you create the display-mode HTML using the panel layout information in your data

views, you will have a better idea of what you want your users to see on the HTML pages that

they will use to update or create records using Web Access. Generate the HTML for update

next. Keep in mind required and display-only fields, such as record ID. Also keep in mind that

some fields may not be needed on update. For example, you may want the Audit Information

fields

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to appear on display-mode HTML, but you would not want these fields to be available

in update mode. The layouts for create are often nearly identical to those for update.

Generally, it is only necessary to change a few usage fields in the layouts to allow the

create-mode HTML to be generated. As you generate the HTML, add the HTML file names to

your BLQPARMS configuration file so that you can test the HTML.

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For now, do not concern

yourself with business logic or process flow. Focus instead on generating all of the HTML

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For example, the date a record was created and the user who last modified it.

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Remember to use the Web Administration page to reload the configuration file whenever you change it.