The operation of a program contains input and output parameters
based on classes defined in the model. These parameters are appropriate to
identify the external data manipulated by the program. The COBOL profile
creates a resource stereotype to identify resources manipulated
by a program, such as a file, a message queue, or a relational table. In order
to define a resource, you need to create a dedicated resource class that references
a root Data Object to define the data of the resource.
Before you begin
The relationship between the Resource class and the DataObject
class shows that the Resource class's contents is defined by the Data Object.
This relationship is captured by a Stereotype. After the Resource class is
defined and connected to the appropriate DataObject, the input and output
parameters can target this resource class instead of the DataObject class.
You can define the model to manipulate resources through a parameter which
type is a Resource stereotyped class. You can define the model to manipulate
linkage data through a parameter which type is a DataObject stereotyped class.
To set a program to manipulate the resource, complete the following steps:
- Create a resource class that reference the DataObject that will be manipulated
by the resource.
- Reference the DataObject from the resource.
- Apply the ResourceIsStructured stereotype to the
relationship.
- Change the operation parameter so that its type targets the Resource class
and not the DataObject class. If an operation has a parameter whose type is
directly on DataObject, the generation assumes that it is a data definition
to be used in the linkage section.
About this task
In order to automate this process, a Rational® Software Architect pattern
is provided that does these steps automatically. To enhance the diagram, complete
the following steps:
Procedure
- From the Workbench, click ,
and then select the Pattern Explorer view. The
Pattern Explorer view opens.
- Select the COBOL program pattern under UML
to COBOL.
- From the Pattern Explorer view, drag the COBOL program to the diagram.
What to do next
The first parameter of the pattern is the operation that you want
to process. Drag the operation of the
COBOL_Programs class
that you want to transform into a program. The pattern now automatically
performs changes against the parameters of the operation. All its parameters
are modified and resources are created. You can then specify which Data Object
you want to use in this program as linkage section in the second parameter.
The changes are directly visible on the operation parameters. To see the newly
created Resources in your diagram, drag the resource classes from the Project
Explorer to the diagram.
Note: It is a good practice to create several diagrams that can
display subsets of your models; for example, a separate diagram dedicated
to the program, one to its resources, and one to the root definition.
There
is also a File stereotype available that you can apply in addition to the ResourceisStructured stereotype
to further define the resource as a File. The attributes of the stereotype
can help define the type of file (VSAM Sequential, Indexed) which further
customizes the COBOL source code generated by the later transformations.