ABL Reference content builder

The ABL Reference content builder extracts data on procedures, functions, and methods. The content builder first ensures that the catalog database contains the necessary records to specify the source file (catalog, root path, project, project relative path, and resource). The content builder analyzes the code to find where procedures, functions, and methods are defined, what their parameters are, and where they are used.

Each parameter is stored as a child record for the appropriate procedure, function, or method. Any entry that has parent or child entries displays them as subnodes in the Meta Catalog Explorer view.

The content builder records the following data in the catalog:

Content type	Entry type	Entry
ABLREFERENCE	PROCEDURE	The procedure name.
	FUNCTION	The function name.
	METHOD	The method name.
	PARAMETER	The parameter name.
	PROCEDURE-REF	The name of the referenced procedure.
	FUNCTION-REF	The name of the referenced function.
	METHOD-REF	The name of the referenced method.

Depending on the entry type, the content builder also extracts the following attribute information for each entry:

Entry type	Attribute	Value
PROCEDURE	ACCESS-MODIFIER	PRIVATE
PARAMETER	PARAMETER-TYPE	INPUT, OUTPUT, or INPUT/OUTPUT.
	DATA-TYPE	The parameter's data type.
	LIKE	TRUE if defined with the LIKE option.
	EXTENT	The extents, if any.
	NO-UNDO	TRUE if set.
FUNCTION	RETURN-DATA-TYPE ACCESS-MODIFIER	The data type returned by the function. PRIVATE
METHOD	RETURN-DATA-TYPE ACCESS-MODIFIER	The data type returned by the function. PUBLIC, PROTECTED, or PRIVATE
FUNCTION-REF	DYNAMIC	TRUE if call uses DYNAMIC-FUNCTION.
PROCEDURE-REF	PERSISTENT	TRUE if procedure is run persistently.

The content builder assigns IDs to each unique Entry and Attribute. It stores the location of these elements in the file, either as a line number or as characters from the file's beginning. The content builder also stores pointers to any parent or child entries.

For example, take the following procedure:

PROCEDURE activateSession :

DEFINE INPUT PARAMETER pcSessType AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO.

RUN storeAppServerInfo IN TARGET-PROCEDURE

("":U).

DYNAMIC-FUNCTION("setSessionParam":U IN TARGET-PROCEDURE,

"client_SessionType":U,

pcSessType).

END PROCEDURE.

When the content builder analyzes this statement, it adds the following information to the database:

Content Type	Entry type	Entry	Attributes	Attribute values
ABLREFERENCE	PROCEDURE	activateSession
	PARAMETER	pcSessType	PARAMETER-TYPE	INPUT
			DATA-TYPE	CHARACTER
			NO-UNDO	TRUE
	PROCEDURE-REF	storeAppServerInfo
	FUNCTION-REF	setSessionParam	DYNAMIC	TRUE

As mentioned previously, the content builder also stores the data on any parent or child relationships for each entry.

When displayed in the Meta Catalog Explorer, you would see the following structure: