Information Catalog Manager Programming Guide and Reference

The Information Catalog Manager API input structure

Figure 6 shows the general format of the Information Catalog Manager API input structure. The structure consists of three contiguous areas: the header area, the definition area, and the object area. Some Information Catalog Manager API calls require only the first two areas.

The fields of each of the areas are described in the following sections.

Figure 6. API input structure

The following API calls receive input from an input structure:

FLGAppendType: Adds new properties to an object type
FLGCreateInst: Creates a new object instance
FLGCreateReg: Registers a new object type
FLGCreateType: Creates a new object type
FLGExport: Copies and translates the Information Catalog Manager metadata objects to a file in tag language format
FLGManageCommentStatus: Updates the list of available status choices for comments
FLGManageUsers: Updates the administrators and users for an information catalog and identifies extent of each user's authority
FLGSearch: Returns a list of the instances of a specific object type that meet the selection criteria
FLGSearchAll: Returns a list of the instances of any object type that meet the selection criteria
FLGUpdateInst: Updates information about an object instance
FLGUpdateReg: Updates information about an object type registration

If FLGSearch and FLGSearchAll do not receive an input structure, they attempt to retrieve all objects.

Header area -- always required

The header area describes the information in the definition and object areas. Any fields that are not required and are not specified must be set to blanks.

Figure 7. Input structure header area

Table 7 describes the meaning of each byte offset position in the header area shown in Figure 7.

Table 7. The input structure header area and its fields

Section from Figure 7 Byte offset Required? Description
FLG-HEAD 0-7 Always Structure identifier.
definition length 8-15 Always Length of the definition area.
The value must be a multiple of 160 (160 times the number of definition records).
object length 16-23 Always Length of the object area.
For FLGAppendType and FLGCreateType, this value is zero (00000000).
obj area entry count 24-31 Always Number of entries (property values) in the object area.
The value is the number of properties in the definition area times the number of sets of values described in the object area.
For FLGAppendType and FLGCreateType, this value is zero (00000000).
cat 32 Required for:

FLGAppendType
FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateReg
FLGCreateType
FLGUpdateInst
FLGUpdateReg
Category of the object type or object.
Valid values are:

G
Grouping
E
Elemental
C
Contact
P
Program
D
Dictionary
S
Support
A
Attachment

object type id 33-38 Required for:

FLGAppendType
FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateType
FLGUpdateInst
FLGUpdateReg
System-generated identifier for an object type.

39-159 Always Should be left blank.

Section from Figure 7	Byte offset	Required?	Description
FLG-HEAD	0-7	Always	Structure identifier.
definition length	8-15	Always	Length of the definition area. The value must be a multiple of 160 (160 times the number of definition records).
object length	16-23	Always	Length of the object area. For FLGAppendType and FLGCreateType, this value is zero (00000000).
obj area entry count	24-31	Always	Number of entries (property values) in the object area. The value is the number of properties in the definition area times the number of sets of values described in the object area. For FLGAppendType and FLGCreateType, this value is zero (00000000).
cat	32	Required for: FLGAppendType FLGCreateInst FLGCreateReg FLGCreateType FLGUpdateInst FLGUpdateReg	Category of the object type or object. Valid values are: G Grouping E Elemental C Contact P Program D Dictionary S Support A Attachment
object type id	33-38	Required for: FLGAppendType FLGCreateInst FLGCreateType FLGUpdateInst FLGUpdateReg	System-generated identifier for an object type.
	39-159	Always	Should be left blank.

Definition area -- always required

The definition area contains a set of property definitions required as input by a particular the Information Catalog Manager API function.

Table 8 shows what the information in the definition area means for different API calls that use input structures.

Table 8. The meaning of the definition area for different API calls

API calls Information in the definition area

FLGAppendType
FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateReg
FLGCreateType
FLGUpdateInst
FLGUpdateReg

Definition of the set of properties that define the object registration, object type, or object instance

FLGSearch
FLGSearchAll

Definition of the set of properties that describe the selection criteria
FLGExport Definition of the properties that specify the metadata to be exported
FLGManageCommentStatus Definition of the set of properties that specify Comments status choices
FLGManageUsers Definition of the set of properties that describe the Information Catalog Manager users

API calls	Information in the definition area
FLGAppendType FLGCreateInst FLGCreateReg FLGCreateType FLGUpdateInst FLGUpdateReg	Definition of the set of properties that define the object registration, object type, or object instance
FLGSearch FLGSearchAll	Definition of the set of properties that describe the selection criteria
FLGExport	Definition of the properties that specify the metadata to be exported
FLGManageCommentStatus	Definition of the set of properties that specify Comments status choices
FLGManageUsers	Definition of the set of properties that describe the Information Catalog Manager users

Each property in the definition area is defined by a set of formatted specifications. Table 9 describes the byte offset positions shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Input structure definition record

Table 9. The input structure definition area and its fields

Section from Figure 8 Byte offset Required? Description
property name 0-79 Always External name of the property.
datatype 80-109 Always The data type of the property.
Valid values are:

CHAR
Fixed-length character data. Maximum length is 254.
VARCHAR
Variable-length character data. Maximum length is 4000.
LONG VARCHAR
Variable-length character data. Maximum length is 32700.
TIMESTAMP
Time stamp in the form of: yyyy-mm-dd-hh.mm.ss.nnnnnn Timestamp length is 26.

length 110-117 Always Maximum length of the property value.
ppn 118-125 Required for:

FLGAppendType
FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateReg
FLGCreateType
FLGManage- CommentStatus
FLGSearch
FLGSearchAll
FLGUpdateInst
FLGUpdateReg
For other API calls this field is unused and left blank Property short name
vf 126 Required for:

FLGAppendType
FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateReg
FLGCreateType
FLGUpdateInst
FLGUpdateReg
For other API calls this field is unused and left blank. Value flag specifying whether a property is required, optional, or system-generated.
Valid values are:

R
Required
O
Optional
S
System-generated

us 127 Required for the following API calls:

FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateType
FLGUpdateInst
For other API calls, this field is unused and left blank. Universal unique identifier (UUI) sequence number, which specifies that a property is part of the UUI.
Valid values are:

1
UUI Part 1
2
UUI Part 2
3
UUI Part 3
4
UUI Part 4
5
UUI Part 5
(blank)
Not part of the UUI

At least one property must be specified as UUI Part 1 for any object type.
See the Information Catalog Manager Administration Guide for more information about defining UUI parts.
cs 128 Required for the following API calls:

FLGSearch
FLGSearchAll
For other API calls, this field is unused and left blank. Case-sensitivity flag.
Valid values are:

Y
Case-sensitive
N
Not case-sensitive

See FLGSearch and FLGSearchAll for information about using the case-sensitivity flag.
fs 129 Required for the following API calls:

FLGSearch
FLGSearchAll
For other API calls, this field is unused and left blank. Fuzzy search flag.
Valid values are:

Y
Fuzzy search
N
Not a fuzzy search

See FLGSearch and FLGSearchAll for information about using the fuzzy search flag.

130-159 Always Reserved section.
Should be left blank.

Section from Figure 8	Byte offset	Required?	Description
property name	0-79	Always	External name of the property.
datatype	80-109	Always	The data type of the property. Valid values are: CHAR Fixed-length character data. Maximum length is 254. VARCHAR Variable-length character data. Maximum length is 4000. LONG VARCHAR Variable-length character data. Maximum length is 32700. TIMESTAMP Time stamp in the form of: `yyyy-mm-dd-hh.mm.ss.nnnnnn` Timestamp length is 26.
length	110-117	Always	Maximum length of the property value.
ppn	118-125	Required for: FLGAppendType FLGCreateInst FLGCreateReg FLGCreateType FLGManage- CommentStatus FLGSearch FLGSearchAll FLGUpdateInst FLGUpdateReg For other API calls this field is unused and left blank	Property short name
vf	126	Required for: FLGAppendType FLGCreateInst FLGCreateReg FLGCreateType FLGUpdateInst FLGUpdateReg For other API calls this field is unused and left blank.	Value flag specifying whether a property is required, optional, or system-generated. Valid values are: R Required O Optional S System-generated
us	127	Required for the following API calls: FLGCreateInst FLGCreateType FLGUpdateInst For other API calls, this field is unused and left blank.	Universal unique identifier (UUI) sequence number, which specifies that a property is part of the UUI. Valid values are: 1 UUI Part 1 2 UUI Part 2 3 UUI Part 3 4 UUI Part 4 5 UUI Part 5 (blank) Not part of the UUI At least one property must be specified as UUI Part 1 for any object type. See the Information Catalog Manager Administration Guide for more information about defining UUI parts.
cs	128	Required for the following API calls: FLGSearch FLGSearchAll For other API calls, this field is unused and left blank.	Case-sensitivity flag. Valid values are: Y Case-sensitive N Not case-sensitive See FLGSearch and FLGSearchAll for information about using the case-sensitivity flag.
fs	129	Required for the following API calls: FLGSearch FLGSearchAll For other API calls, this field is unused and left blank.	Fuzzy search flag. Valid values are: Y Fuzzy search N Not a fuzzy search See FLGSearch and FLGSearchAll for information about using the fuzzy search flag.
	130-159	Always	Reserved section. Should be left blank.

Object area -- Required when defining values

The object area contains the values for the properties defined in the definition area. The values must appear in the order defined in the definition area.

The object area for an input structure contains only one value per property defined in the definition area for all APIs except FLGExport and FLGManageUsers. For FLGExport and FLGManageUsers, the object area can contain more than one value per property defined in the definition area.

The object area is required for the following API calls:

FLGCreateInst
FLGCreateReg
FLGExport
FLGManageCommentStatus
FLGManageUsers
FLGSearch
FLGSearchAll
FLGUpdateInst
FLGUpdateReg

You can determine how to represent each value using the following rules:

Data type: How to represent the value in the object area
VARCHAR: Value is preceded by an 8-character length field that specifies the actual length of the value. Trailing blanks are automatically removed from these values; the Information Catalog Manager adjusts the length field accordingly.
LONG VARCHAR: Value is preceded by an 8-character length field that specifies the actual length of the value. Trailing blanks are automatically removed from these values; the Information Catalog Manager adjusts the length field accordingly.
CHAR: Value occupies the number of bytes defined by the property's length field in the definition area and is padded on the right with blanks to fill the defined length.
TIMESTAMP: 26 bytes

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