ASAP EMS: Application Development & Information Retrieval

ASAP is a computer software tool designed to operate on IBM’s AS/400 midrange computer system. It is owned by our company, Velocity Global Ltd, and we are responsible for its on going development and day-to-day support of its users throughout the world.
Report Writer and Inquiry Generator ASAP Reports and Inquiries is a tool for information retrieval. It enables users of the AS/400 to report on data held in the AS/400 in almost any way they wish. Designed for use by non technical users, ASAP is extremely easy to learn and to use. It writes it’s own RPG programs in a manner that is “transparent” to the user.
Users can create reports or inquiries simply by selecting fields. ASAP will do the rest. More advanced functions are accessed using the function keys. ASAP interfaces to AS/400 applications by using a repository that describes the structure of the application’s files and fields. For each application interface, repository set-up can be done manually, by keying in the description of the fields and files concerned. Alternatively, ASAP contains utilities that allow the repository to be loaded from the RPG file specifications, or directly from the DDS. A frequently asked question is “Are there some applications that ASAP cannot interface to?” The answer: None that we have encountered so far. ASAP has been designed to cater for such circumstances as binary fields and direct files. Even the definition of date fields has been made more flexible so that applications that store their dates in unconventional different formats can have them made available to the power of ASAP’s arithmetic.
Other features of ASAP Report Writer and Inquiry Generator:
WYSIWYG formatting of reports and screens Creates its own file joins. Just pick the fields you want, and ASAP will do the rest Multiple heading and detail lines in reports; formatting of sub totals Run-time input of parameters and working field values Creates its own word indexes over description fields. This allows you to find “Smith & Brown” by entering BRO Incorporates an easy to use Menu Generator for accessing completed retrievals Builds your own context-sensitive help text into menus and inquiry programs Windows can be created in inquiry programs Includes a sample system and a comprehensive Reference Manual and User Guide
Progam Generator The second half of ASAP comprises two programming tools: Maintenance (ASAP-M) and Transactions (ASAP-T). Whereas ASAP Reports and Inquiries allow you to retrieve information, ASAP-M allows you to enter or change data, one record at a time. This is suitable for Master File information, for example, entering or updating a customer’s details. Only ASAP-T will allow you to enter or revise a display showing multiple lines associated with a common header, and only ASAP-T can generate Batch update programs. Together the ASAP components can generate a complete data processing system or to add functionality to an existing system. Once trained in the use of ASAP-M and ASAP-T, customers have found they can create new applications in around 25% of the time it would take to program the same application by conventional methods.