HP-UX SNAplus2 R7 NOF Programmer's Guide

Introduction to the NOF API
Purpose of the NOF API
1 Introduction to the NOF API
This chapter provides an introduction to the SNAplus2 NOF API. It includes the following information:
• Purpose of the NOF API
• SNAplus2 components and resources
• Client-server operation
• NOF verbs and indications
1.1 Purpose of the NOF API
The SNAplus2 NOF API provides access to a standard set of commands, called NOF verbs, that can be used to
administer the SNAplus2 system from within an application program. These verbs enable you to define and delete
resources, specify SNAplus2 parameters such as diagnostics levels and file names, start and stop defined resources,
query the definition or current status of resources, and manage which servers on the SNAplus2 LAN can act as
backup masters if the master configuration file server is not available.
In a client-server system, you can use any NOF verbs in an application running on a server. Applications running
on clients (either HP-UX or Windows) can use NOF verbs to query configuration or status information, but cannot
use other verbs to modify the configuration or to start or stop resources.
The NOF verbs provide the same functions as commands issued to the command-line administration program
snapadmin, or as records in a SNAplus2 configuration file. For example, the NOF verb DEFINE_LOCAL_LU is
equivalent both to a define_local_lu command issued to the
snapadmin program, and to a define_local_lu
record in a configuration file; all three of them perform the same function, which is to specify the parameters of a
SNAplus2 local APPC LU.
You can use the Motif administration program
xsnapadmin to perform the same function as a NOF verb or an
administration command (for example, to define a local APPC LU). However, this does not provide access to the
full range of parameters included in some NOF verbs. For more information about using the Motif administration
program, refer to the
HP-UX SNAplus2 Administration Guide.
You can issue NOF verbs to any of the following targets:
• A running SNAplus2 node—to manage its resources or to monitor its operation
• A server where the node is not running—to query the stored configuration or to modify it for use when the
node is next started
• The SNAplus2 domain as a whole—to define, modify, or query the configuration of domain resources (resources
used to support particular user programs, such as 3270 diagnostics parameters and CPI-C side information entries,
which are not associated with a particular node).
• The SNAplus2 invokable TP data file—to define information that SNAplus2 needs to start invokable (target)
TPs, or to define other information relating to a TP (such as the level of security required to access the TP).
The NOF API enables you to do the following:
• Develop your own application programs to manage the SNAplus2 system
• Develop application programs that use the other SNAplus2 APIs so that they can also manage their own resources
(for example, an APPC application can check that the communications link to its partner TP is active before
attempting to allocate a conversation or can define the remote LU where its partner TP is located).
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