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Operational Overview
NOTE: This section is of
primary interest to SMMS system administrators and IS professionals.
Security
Administration of user security in Version 6 is greatly simplified from
Version 5.2. This is because many programs have been consolidated into functional
security areas, and users are authorized to access these security areas,
rather than individual programs.
Ordinarily, these “functional security areas” are groups of related master
files. For example, if the user is authorized to the Procedures file, he/she
is also authorized to all of the databases related to Procedures: Tasks,
Tools, Crafts, Notes, etc.
This screen shows - view
screenshot - the new User Security Maintenance screen. This screen
is used to authorize users to the master file database groups, and all of
their relations.
Note that, as a result of user requests, SMMS now permits separate authorizations
for the add, change, and delete update operations, as well as for inquiry
and file data extracts to user PCs. This is intended to better meet the
needs of clients with distributed reporting responsibilities in their maintenance
operation.
You can establish “default” user profiles for use with SMMS, and copy these
default profiles to quickly set-up new users. You can also tailor individual
users to suit their needs.
The screen shown in Figure 1 is also used to define user display defaults
(file sort sequences and filters discussed in Figures 1a and 1b.)
Versioning and Environments
Often, our clients like to
install the SMMS software into a production environment for “live” work,
and a separate environment for training and testing.
As a result of client suggestions, Version 6 displays the user name, company
name and environment name at the bottom of the main screen. If your Company
has a special user id for training, or uses special testing environment
libraries, you and each user can quickly tell which library they’re operating
from. (Refer to screen 1 - view
screenshot - note 3 for an illustration of this feature.)
You can also display SMMS system version and environment information from
each program, by making a selection from the Utilities menu. In addition
to the current system version, this window - view
screenshot - shows the current library set for the named environment.
File Server Subsystem – Technical Overview
The SMMS Version 6 File Server
Subsystem combines high network response speed with the secure, reliable
technology of the iSeries/400, using the “thin client” approach illustrated
in screen 1,
screen 2,
screen 3.
The DB2/400 database server programs operate in subsystem SMMSIO, which
is started with every IPL and checked periodically by SMMS user jobs. The
database servers use data queues to exchange information with client programs.
It does not matter whether these client programs are running on a PC workstation
or in the “green screen” environment.
Screen 1
shows the system in a “wait state”. The server program is a “never ending”
program running on the iSeries/400. It receives data requests from all client
programs via the “Server Data Queue”. There is one server program for each
database file in the SMMS database.
The server program also enforces SMMS business rules. All client requests
to add, change or delete data are verified by the server program before
the database update can take place. This ensures that database validations
will be consistently enforced.
Screen 2
shows what happens when the client program requests data. The client program
sends a request to the server program, via the server’s data queue. As soon
as the client program sends the request to the server, it monitors it’s
own data queue waiting on data to be returned from the server. Meanwhile,
the server program receives the data request and gets the data from the
database.
Screen 3
shows what happens when the server program responds to a data request from
the client. The server program receives the information request via its
data queue, and fetches the requested data from the database. The data is
returned to the client program via the client program’s data queue. As the
client program receives the data, it is able to display the data onto the
screen.
The result is that all client programs --- green screen or windows-based
--- are served data on a “first come, first served” basis. System business
rules are enforced equally, as the server programs also perform edits and
validations before database changes are allowed, again whether the source
of the data is “green screen” or windows.
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