Super Natural is an end-user oriented facility for producing reports based on information contained in a mainframe database. It is an easy to use tool that does not require a detailed knowledge of programming. You can send the reports to a printer, a PC file or a personal mainframe file. You can create address labels or a personal userfile.
The University's Administrative data is stored in a database called ADABAS, which is another product from the same vendor as Super Natural. The database contains many files that contain different types of related data. About 30 files make up the Student Information System. Normally, you will use only 2-4 of these files for your reporting.
A file consists of many records. Some files have one record for each student while others have many records for a student.
A record is made up of fields. Each field is one piece of data about a student. Examples of fields are Name, Student ID, Birth Date and Gender. These are elementary fields and may only have one value in the record. Other types of fields can have more than one value in the record. These are called repeating or periodic group fields. Examples of periodic group fields are Addresses, Courses, and Grades.
Example of Elementary Fields
Database: ADABAS
File: SIS-STUDENT-ATTRIBUTES-CLASS
Fields and Sample data:
SID NAME BIRTHDATE GENDER RECORD#
123454567 Doe, John 19760915 M 1
345120342 Smith, Karen 19741201 F 2
998001234 Li, Hi 19600124 M 3
Key field: SID
Example of Periodic Group Field (Courses)
File: SIS-STUDENT-TERM-CLASS
Fields and Sample data:
TERM SID COLLEGE MAJOR TERM GPA CUM GPA COURSES REC#
95F 123454567 AS ASU 2.990 3.124 MATH241010 1
THEA204080
CHEM320012
95S 123454567 AS ASU 2.677 2.890 ENGL110010 2
ACCT102015
HIST101011
95F 345120342 BU BUS 3.875 3.800 ACCT207080 3
MATH242015
ECON151082
A Super Natural Transaction is a program developed using Super Natural screens. A transaction may be used to create a report or a PC or mainframe file. A transaction may also be used to update a user file. That is why Software AG chose to use the terminology "transaction" instead of report.
A Super Natural Prototype is a program developed in the Natural language. It may be generated from a transaction or written directly using the Natural program editor. A detailed knowledge of programming is needed to develop a prototype. Knowledge of the program editor is needed to make changes to a prototype.
Analyze the Request. Write out the request as you interprete it. Identify what the selection criteria is. Determine the file that contains the fields to be used for selection. Identify the fields to display on the report. Identify how the report is to be sorted. Identify any subtotals or counts. Determine a proper title for the report. Verify the results of your analysis with the requestor. Do all this before you even start Super Natural.
Use SIS screens to determine what SIS fields to use for the selection fields, display fields, and sort fields. The HELP function in SIS is invoked by moving the cursor to a particular field and pressing PF2. The field name appears in the top center of the screen. This may not be the exact name in your Super Natural file, but it should help you identify the field. In the upper right corner of the Help screen is the data element identifier. Some Super Natural field names begin with the data element identifier to help clarify which field to use in the Super Natural file.
Super Natural is easy when you know your data.
Super Natural has extensive Help screens to assist you in using the application. It can not help you understand your data, however. Assistance of that type must come from experienced users of the data and the data base owner.
If you need assistance as to what to enter at a particular prompt, type a "?" and press Enter, or press the PF1 (help) key. In most cases, a window will appear with context-sensitive help. If you type an invalid or incorrect command and press Enter, a help screen automatically appears to offer assistance.
A printed manual is also available for loan upon request. These manuals may be copied by departments at their own expense, and the original returned to MIS.
Call the Help Desk at X6000 for additional help with Super Natural. The Help Desk staff will refer your call to a support person in MIS.
Log on to the administrative mainframe, as usual. Select the Applications option from the TSO Applications menu. Then select Super Natural from the Natural Applications menu. The Super Natural Additional Functions menu appears.
The Additional Functions Menu was programmed in-house by MIS programmers to facilitate the use of the product. It provides you with some features which were not included with the product, or which help the product work more efficiently in our mainframe environment. From this menu, you can submit an already created report to the printer, look at the fields in a particular file, print labels, or extract the results of a report to a mainframe dataset. Select option 6 to enter Super Natural.
From the Main Menu, select the area of Super Natural in which to work. You may enter a list of transactions, prototypes, applications or user files. You may also set up some default options for your account. Type TR to enter your transactions list.
Transactions are identified with 7 characters. An optional 60-character description may also be added. Devise a naming convention to help you remember the purpose of the transaction. Use letters and numbers in your transaction ID. A hyphen may be used, but avoid other special characters. Do not embed blanks or periods in your transaction names. Transactions are listed alphabetically by name on the transaction screen.
When you first create a transaction, you must specify a primary file name. When selecting a primary file refer to your analysis of the request. The primary file must contain one or more key fields that select the largest group of records to be considered. For example, a group might be all students in a specific college or major in a specific term. Whenever a specific term is desired, specify the SIS-STUDENT-TERM-SN file as the primary file.
When you display the file selection list, you will also see a column called Access. The Access column indicates the type of access to a specific file. "R" indicates read access. "F" indicates user file. "U" indicates update access. You must have written authorization from the data base owner to gain access to a file. Contact the office responsible for the data to determine the data base owner. For example, the Registrars Office is responsible for most student information while Accounts Receivable is responsible for billing information.
For class purposes, we will use 2 files called SIS-STUDENT-TERM-CLASS and SIS-STUDENT-ATTRIBUTES-CLASS. They emulate the real production files, but contain only sample data.
Exercise - Add a new transaction
There are two components which are required of every transaction. The first is to select some fields from the primary file which will be used in developing the transaction. The other is to specify selection criteria to filter out just the records you want.
Additional formatting can be added if desired, such as sorting, arithmetic functions, titles, etc., but they are not required.
After you add a new transaction, a blank worksheet appears. The worksheet is used to design the basic structure of the report. From the worksheet you can easily pick the fields to include, change the field headings and width, and specify sort fields and/or break fields.
There are many commands that may be entered at the command prompt at the bottom of the screen. For a complete list of valid commands, type the word "commands" at the prompt. Commands may also be executed using the function keys:
Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
Help Next Exit Field Incl Flip - + Sel Run Canc
The SIS files contain hundreds of fields. Use the FIELDS command (PF4) to identify a subset of fields with which you will work. Mark each field that you want with an X (or any non blank character). Use the PF8 key to scroll through the list of fields. Use your analysis of the request to identify the fields you need. If you realize later that you need an additional field, simply issue the FIELDS command again and mark an X before the field you now want to include.
Fields can easily be removed from the worksheet as well. To remove a field, move the cursor to the Del column next to that field name, type "d" and press enter.
Exercise - Adding Fields to the Worksheet
The DB column on the worksheet tells you a little something about the field characteristics. Primary file fields start with a '1'. Key fields are denoted with a 'K', Arrays show an '*', Group fields have a 'G', etc. There are numerous combinations of these codes. Our example shows several fields having an 'S'. These are superdescriptor fields, and consist of 2 or more fields joined together into one field. For example, the field TERM-COLLEGE includes data in the format "96FAG" (the term plus the college code). These fields are key fields and are structured this way to make the most efficient use of working with the SIS data.
The additional columns to the right of the field name each serve a specific function in designing the transaction. Most of them are addressed using separate links from the Super Natural Home Page.
When associating a value with a field for selection, the exact format of the data in the field must be used. Super Natural provides a command VA (stands for value) to obtain a list of values in key fields. By reviewing the list you can determine the format of the data in the key field.
Exercise - Viewing the Values of a Key Field
The Selection Criteria tells the program what records to include on your report. For the selection criteria you want to select the largest group of records that contain the group you are interested in and then refine that group using logic statements. For example, if the requestor asked for all minorities in the college of Arts and Science for 96F, use TERM-COLLEGE as your selection field. Use ethnic code in a logic statement to limit the search to minorities. If the requestor asked for all Biology majors in 95F use TERM-MAJOR as your selection field.
Code the selection criteria with one or two key fields for the quickest processing time. Only use key fields from the primary file. To search for more than one value, separate each value with the "OR=" operand.
When using two fields in your select statement join them with AND or OR. Using AND results in records that meet both criteria. Using OR results in records that meet either criteria.
If you know the field reference code, you can use it in your select statement. Otherwise, assistants are available. The FIELDS command (PF4) invokes the field list from which you can pick a field to use in your statement. Key fields are not designated on this list, however. Reference the worksheet to identify key fields before using this function. The CONTINUE command (PF10) prompts you through the steps to creating a valid select statement.
Exercise - Specifying Selection Criteria
Notice that the Del column is now disabled for the field TERM-COLLEGE. You cannot delete a field from the worksheet if it is in use within the transaction.
At this point, we have not yet saved the transaction. The Super Natural SAVE command assumes the required elements have been completed and the transaction may be run. Sometimes it is desireable to save a transaction even though it is not complete. An alternate command called KEEP is available to save the transaction as is.
The SAVE command saves the transaction and exits back to the transaction list. The KEEP command saves the transaction, but leaves you to continue modifying. It is a good practice to use the KEEP command routinely to guard against lost work.
A transaction is automatically saved when it is run.
After you decide what records (students) to include on your report using the selection criteria, you will decide what information to report about each student. This information is coded in Super Natural in the Seq column. Number the fields in sequence of how you want them to appear from left to right on your report. Identify the field that will appear first (left most) and type 1 in the Seq column to the left of that field name. Identify the field that will appear second on your report. Type 2 in the Seq column to the left of that field name, etc.
You cannot run a Super Natural transaction without first marking at least one field in the Seq column.
Exercise - Numbering Fields for Display
As you develop your Super Natural transaction, you should run it periodically to determine if the results are as expected. After entering the selection criteria and marking a few display fields, run the transaction to determine if you are getting the records desired. To run a transaction online, type RUN at the Command prompt, or use the PF11 key.
The results will display to the screen. An intermediate screen may appear if you have marked more fields for display than can be presented horizontally on the screen. When that happens, press ENTER to automatically adjust the line length.
When a transaction displays data to the screen there is usually more data to be displayed. To scroll throught the additional screens of data, press ENTER. To end the list without viewing all the data, press PF3 (Exit). Note: PF3 does not exit you completely from Super Natural at this point. It simply backs you out of the run results screen. Other PF key options are indicated at the bottom of the screen. The print function does not work. There are alternative ways to print your report.
Enter-PF1---PF2---PF3---PF4---PF5---PF6---PF7---PF8---PF9---PF10--PF11--PF12---
Print Exit Flip + Posi < > Canc
Defining a Title
Sorting
Control Breaks for Totals and Counts
Changing Column Headings
Enhancing the Field Format (Edit Mask)
Printing
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