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XX-B0CC2-5B

1978

12 pages

Original

7.0MB

Document:	TRAX The Complete On-Line Transaction Processing System
Order Number:	XX-B0CC2-5B
Revision:	0
Pages:	12
Original Filename:	http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/trax/TRAX_Brochure_1978.pdf

OCR Text

THE COMPLETE
~D~DDmD ON-LINE TRANSACTION
PROCESSING SYSTEM

FROM DIGITAL.
ON-LINE TRANSACTION PROCESSING
IS NOW A LOT EASIER.

With TRAX from Digital,
solving transaction processing
problems is easier-and much
less expensive. TRAX has everything you need to easily develop
and maintain on-line transaction processing applications.
It combines the best on-line
mainframe features with all the
advantages of minicomputers
and adds capabilities rarely
found anywhere. TRAX is a
totally integrated system that

economically meets managements ' most demanding
requirements - high performance, high uptime with assured
data safety, intersystem communications, and ease of use by
programmers and clerical
workers at terminals .
TRAX is designed for highvolume transaction processing
and easy application development. Its new forms-oriented
terminal is very easy for the
unsophisticated user. TRAX has
an efficient architecture, a simplified programming style, and
powerful facilities that simplify
the development and maintenance of applications.

Until now, many features
essential to on-line transaction
processing were either unavailable or very expensive - features like automatic application
recovery and restart, comprehensive data integrity, all programming in high level
languages, distributed processing, fast terminal response and
high throughput. and terminals
that guide users through every
transaction step. Now they're all
available in TRAX-sotransaction processing is much easier,
and less expensive, than ever
before.

TRAX IS EASY TO
PROGRAM
TRAX saves you the high
cost of hiring system programmers. TRAX has all system programs built in-all you write are
application programs. For

3271 protocol emulation.
In addition, comprehensive
"how-to" documentation, a
demonstration application, and
interactive utilities make application design, programming,
and system operation simpler
than ever before.

satisfaction. TRAX provides rapid application
terminal response.

TRAX SAFEGUARDS
YOUR DATA

TRAX has a unique combination of features that cope with
hardware, software, and human
problems - to safeguard your
records-to keep seNing you
Clerical or sales people,
while protecting your data.
order-takers or production
Data integrity is assured
expediters can easily use TRAX
despite hardware or software
without understanding comfailures. TRAX provides efficient
puters. The smart forms-oriented automatic on-line application
VT62 terminal- designed exclu- recovery from system crashes,
sively for TRAX systems - gives
power failures, resource interyou and your terminal users
lock between transactions, and
these benefits:
user and system transaction
• Fast training . The system
aborts. Application recovery
guides users with menu
means transactions aren 't lost or
selection and function
reentered.
keys so users don't need
Journaling provides
to know computer
recovery from media failure
commands.
without reentry of transactions.

YOUR PEOPLE CAN
USE TRAX EASILY

example, TRAX includes
restart/recovery, staging, and
forms handling capabilities.
TRAX application-design
style, supported in both software
and documentation, helps the
application designer or analyst
easily create efficient
applications.
TRAX is highly approachable by application programmers who use ANSI-standard
COBOL, or BASIC-PLUS-2, and a
very simple forms language to
write all applications easily.
Programmers write small,
structured, modular tasks
instead of large, complex, and
hard-to-maintain application
programs. Programs are
created and tested interactively-so applications are developed easily and rapidly. With
the English-like forms language,
ATL, a novice programmer can
format screens.
All files are accessed
directly from COBOL or BASICPLUS-2. Data management seNices support sequential, relative,
and indexed file organizations
and sequential and random
record access.
The .built-in communications options are also used with
COBOL or BASIC-PLUS-2. TRAX
systems can easily talk to each
other. They can also talk to
mainframe systems, using TRAX

• Fewer typing errors.
Local terminal intelligence
permits instant detection
and immediate correction
of errors.
• Minimized confusion.
With reverse video, automatic cursor positioning,
and left and right justification, screens are easy to
understand.
• Greater feeling of control. Smart locally buffered terminals instantly
echo typed characters.
• Fewer misunderstandings. Separate message
and display areas make
appl ication messages to
the user easy to read.
• Increased user

Staging delays record updates
until transactions are completeso they can always be aborted
with records left intact. With record locking, TRAX prevents
simultaneous updates of records, unlike systems that severely
limit user access by locking
large data blocks or the entire
data base.
TRAX guards against
unauthorized activity with user
sign-ons, passwords, and identity codes. It also has user and
terminal work classes that
define what transactions are
available to a user or a terminal.
TRAX utilities log hardware
and software errors to help provide increased uptime by spotting trouble areas early.

TRAX PERFORMS
TRAX integrates many
hardware and software features
that increase system throughput and speed terminal
response so you benefit from :
• High performance. You
can use Digital 's comprehensive TRAX measurements to accurately
estimate performance of
your application.
• Increased disk throughput with software caching , multiple disk
controllers, overlapped
seeks, and shared , resident data management
services.
• Fast file access because
all application files are
opened when the appl ication is started.
• Higher system throughput with block mode
transmission and auxiliary
processors reducing terminal handling overhead.
• Fast execution and
higher performance with
shared system code, and
small, fast application
modules instead of large
programs that use a lot of
memory.
• Optimized performance ,
after application is in production use, with software
performance monitoring
and simple tuning .
• Instant data entry validation with local error
detection in smart VT62
terminals.

TRAX SAVES
Because TRAX provides
complete transaction processing capabilities at minicomputer costs , you save in the initial
system purchase. Savings continue because TRAX lifetime
costs are much lower than with
any comparable system.
Applications are brought
up quickly using modular application design and high-level
languages. You don 't add
highly paid system programmers to your staff. Programming
time is reduced with extensive
editing and debugging tools ,
all used on-line. System tools
speed program check out - so
applications get on-line fast
and risks of errors during production are reduced.
System operations costs
are also reduced. TRAX systemgeneration sets new standards
of ease and efficiency. Applying updates to TRAX software is
a fully automated procedure.
TRAX systems range from
those based on the smaller PDP11 / 34 to those based on the
large and powerful 11170 (with
main memory up to four million
bytes). Application programs
written on one TRAX system can
run unchanged on any other.
VT62 screen formats can
be modified without changing
the appl ication programs that
process the user-typed data.
Multidrop VT62 terminals
cut communications costs by
efficiently sharing lines. Choose
fast synchronous or less expensive asynchronous modems.
With its 3271 protocol emulation option, TRAX is easy to
integrate into your mainframe
setup - TRAX may be a better

alternative than upgrading your
mainframe for transaction
processing .

MINICOMPUTER
IMPLEMENTATION
Compared to mainframes,
minicomputer on-line transaction processing has several
advantages:
• hardware is less
expensive
• maintenance and development costs are lower
• environments are easier to
control
• interactive capabilities
are optimized
• computers are located
where work is done.
Developing a mainframe
transaction-processing application can be complex, costly,
and time consuming . The origins
of many mainframe transaction
processing systems are in batch
techniques; the nature of on-line
transaction processing requires
interactive architecture.
TRAX has minicomputer
features such as an on-line
forms language and interactive
program development and
check out performed simultaneously with transaction processing. TRAX is unique in
combining minicomputer
advantages, VT62 applications
terminals , and sophisticated
software developed specifically
for transaction processing ; TRAX
combines the best on-line mainframe features with all the
advantages of minicomputers
and adds capabilities rarely
found anywhere. With TRAX, online transaction processing is
now easier than ever before.

AN APPLICATION EXAMPLE
An example points up the
benefits of on-line transaction
processing and the advantages
ofTRAX.
If you are unacquainted
with on-line transaction processing, the example should serve

as an introduction. If you are
familiar with transaction processing, the example will explain
the many benefits of TRAX - the
complete on-line transaction
processing system.
Although the example may
not resemble your application,

A TRADITIONAL SYSTEM

it does illustrate some requirements of all on-line transaction
processing systems ... requirements such as ease of use, reliability, data protection , high
performance, communications,
and economy.

and processed , it is found that
Jerry's more recent orders for
mufflers and ignition sets have
exceeded his credit limit. The
credit manager insists on payment before letting the gaskets
ship. Again Marsha must call
Jerry to explain the problem.
EXCEPTION REPORT--INVENTORY 1118urnCIEH!
2 7 Ar r ll

Jerry down at Jerry's Auto
Diagnostic Center anxiously
phones Apex Automotive Supply with an order for six number
43Q gaskets that he needs for a
valve job. While Jerry is on the
phone, Marsha, an Apex salesperson , looks at a weekly
report of inventory items and
finds that eight 43Q gaskets are
in stock. She then writes out an
order with all customer data,
including items ordered and
"ship to " and "bill to " addresses.
When enough orders have been
received, Marsha sends them to
keypunch, where an operator
punches the gasket order.
If the keypunch operator
cannot read Marsha 's handwriting, the order must be returned
for clarification. The order is then
keypunched. At last the cards

are read into the computer for
processing with a batch of other
orders. During processing ,
inventory records and prices are
checked against items ordered.
Customer information
(addresses, credit status, etc.) is
checked, and picking orders
are issued. For Jerry's order,
however, a report is printed stating that there is no such item as
number 432 gaskets. The report
is routed to Marsha who looks at
her copy of the original order
and finds that the keypunch
operator entered "432 " instead
of " 43Q " as the gasket part.
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Jerry insists that he sent a
payment a few days ago.
Checking with bookkeeping,
Marsha confirms this but finds
that payments received the day
Jerry's check arrived are still in
keypunch, yet to be processed
and applied to customer
accounts.
Late in the day the credit
manager agrees that Jerry's
account is okay to ship, and his
order is resubmitted the next
day for processing. The order is
again processed , but a report is
issued stating that only five 43Q
gaskets are in stock because
three were sold since Marsha 's
last weekly inventory report was
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and explain the delay, then
reenter the order. No other keypunch errors oc'cur, but when
the order is again keypunched

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'While it is perhaps unlikely that all these mishaps would occur in just one c ase. the narrative is intended to point up the inherent constra ints of botch processing .

19 . 75
2 7 7. 75

THE NEW ALTERNATIVE

Steve types Jerry's ordering information.
Steve requests the fi rst form of the Enter
Order transaction.

Moving the terminal cursor
to the Enter Order transaction
listed on his transaction-selection menu, Steve presses the
SELECT key which confirms his
selection by highlighting "Enter
Jerry speaks to Steve who
Order" in reverse video. Steve
sits at a VT62 applications termi- then presses the ENTER key, and
nal, a part of the Sleek TRAX
a form appears with the cursor
system.
positioned at the beginning of
Having been burned
the "customer ID number" field,
before, Jerry tells Steve he wants prompting for Jerry's customer
to order six 43Q gaskets and asks identification number. Because
Steve to make sure Sleek's inven- Jerry doesn't know his ID
tory and his credit are sufficient.
number, Steve moves the cursor
and enters instead "Jerry's Auto
Diagnostic Center" in the customer name field also provided
on the form. Steve then hits the
ENTER key. The alternative lookup capability (by customer
number or name) is made possible by TRAX's multi key ISAM
feature.

Custoooer I:
Custoooer Haooe:

Steve inadvertently hits the
letter ''1'' instead of a "6" while
typing where the form and automatic cursor positioning
prompts for Jerry's ZIP Code. At
the instant he hits the ''1'' the
terminal buzzes, an error light
comes on, and the message
"numeric only" appears on the
screen's error line. The cursor

Terminal responds instantly to
typing errors.

does not move, nor does the
letter appear on the screen.
Steve corrects this error,
detected in the terminal's
CustolOer Identiflcahon
microprocessor without CPU
involvement, by pressing the
I11III
_ _ _
RESET key and typing the
number "6."

Terminal displays first form of Enter Order
transaction.
Custo.er Identlficatlon

Custoooer I:
Custoooer HalOe:

I11III

____

Steve types customer name where
prompted by form.
Terminal confirms selected transaction.

Almost instantly, the screen
shows a return form which displays the order number and
date, and prompts Steve to enter
Jerry's purchase order number
and shipping instructions.

After Steve types the order
information, he presses the
ENTER key. He quickly gets a
form on which he types the
quantity, 6, and stock number,
43Q, for Jerry's gaskets. He then

Steve enters gasket ord er.

presses the ENTER key. A message "TRANSACTION COMPLETE " comes back so Steve
knows that
• the part number is valid
• the order is entered
• Jerry's credit is good
• the gaskets are in
inventory.
TRANSACTION CO"PLETE

-------Stock

Quan Description of IteM

_ _ II1II Gasket

Each
$2.00

Available

Extended

$12.80

correct position. The buffered ,
smart VT62 terminal detects
typing errors and echos typed
characters instantly, provides
separate screen areas for forms
and for system / operator messages, and responds rapidly
after forms are transmitted.
These features make
Steve's job easy and enjoyable.
Of course, the ability the system
gi ves him to keep his phone customers happy is a primary TRAX
benefit that Steve takes for
granted because the system is
almost always available for his
use : TRAX restart and application recovery features keep the
system up and maintain file
integrity, making software and
system failures , including transient power problems , almost
unnoticeable to him . Other
things that never corrupt Steve's
customer records are disk
crashes or media failures,
resource interlocks, or simultaneous record updates. Files are
kept consistent without cleanup
even in those few instances
when software errors cause the
system to abort a transaction
and , more commonly, when a
customer changes his mind and
Steve deliberately aborts
mid-transaction.

Successful completion of transa c tion is
q uickly confirmed.

The application program
would tell Steve if any of these
statements were untrue. He
could then do a customer-status
or an inventory inquiry transaction to get more information.
Any credit problems could be
discussed immediately. If the
gaskets were out of stock, Steve
would have the chance, made
possible by the on-line system ,
to offer a partial shipment or a
substitute parL recommended
by the application program ,
while Jerry is still on the
phone.

TERMINAL-USER
APPROACHABILITY,
SYSTEM AVAILABILITY,
AND DATA INTEGRITY
Steve finds it easy to use the
Sleek TRAX system even though
he never before used a computerterminal. The system
guides him through each action
with easy-to-read screens.
Reverse video highlights specific prompts or typed-in data.
Automatic cursor positioning
and left and right field justification help him enter data in the

TRAX safeguards data from a variety of
human and machine actions.

Steve works on a commission , so he'd never want to damage the system. But there's no
way he can even accidentally
use operating system commands - the VT62 hardware
and software is isolated from
them. In addition , Steve must
sign on to his terminal whenever
he starts to work . Anyone who
came along whi le Steve wa s not
signed o n would need a user
identification and password
to use the term inal.

TRAX DELIVERS
As he talks to Jerry, Steve
has been able to find out that
the gaskets are in stock and that
Jerry's credit is good. This information reflects the moment's
reality, not the status of files in an
outdated report generated during a batch run . And now, after
he presses the key to enter
Jerry's gasket order, a picking
slip starts to print on a remote
Digital printer attached to a
VT62 terminal in Sleek 's warehouse on Commerce Street
across town from the Main Street
office , where Steve works. The
order is rapidly picked , packed ,
and shipped. Hardwareimplemented DDCMP communications ensure the accuracy
of all TRAX data transmission .

REMOTE
TERMINALS
In the Commerce Street
warehouse, Sleek 's busy shipping and receiving department
has several VT62 terminals handling their transactions. When

the picking slip is handed in and
the gaskets packed , a clerk
enters Jerry's shipment on a
VT62 terminal. The application
designer has dedicated the
warehouse terminals to the Ship
Order and Receive Stock transactions. Since there are no other
transactions needed in this
location, the terminals here are
limited to these two. The Ship
Order transaction entered for
Jerry's gaskets automatically
generates other transactions in
Sleek 's TRAX system that
• issue, on another printer in
the warehouse , a packing list to include with
Jerry's shipment
• adjust Jerry's accounts
receivable and credit
records, and print an
invoice
• update Sleek 's inventory
records.

The invoice immediately
issued as a result of the Ship
Order transaction lets Sleek bill
for goods the same day they're
shipped. This reduces the average time between sales and
payments compared to
batched billing. With their large
volume of business , this cash
flow improvement is very important to Sleek.

VT62 MULTIDROP CONFIGURATION
OTHER LINES
FOR
TERMINALS PRINTERS
IN OFFICE

MAINST.
OFFICE

With transactions designed
to print reports automatically
when inventory items are low or
out. Sleek personnel spot reordering situations as they occur.
They can thus keep inventories
smaller than is possible with
weekly checking and ordering
procedures.
Communications costs are
low because only one phone
line is needed for all the terminals and printers in Sleek 's Commerce Street warehouse. The
VT62s in the warehouse are mul tidrop terminals that share one
line to the TRAX system in Sleek 's
Main Street office , where Steve
works . Each printer in the warehouse shares a microprocessor
and line interface with a VT62.
However, a printer is independent of its associated VT62 so far
as the application programmer
and terminal users are
concerned.

, I

TRAX COMMUNICATIONS OPTIONS
Sleek Auto is a subsidiary of
Worldwide Enterprises, a large
firm headquartered in Chicago,
nearly a thousand miles from
Sleek. There, a mainframe computer in Worldwide's central
data processing facility is
interactively kept up to date on
Sleek's activities via TRAX 3271
protocol emulation. Other
Worldwide subsidiaries also
have TRAX systems, so Worldwide managers can stay on top
of activities in all their operational areas. And TRAX systems
in different Worldwide subsidiaries can talk to one another over
dial-up lines, with one TRAX system generating remote transactions in another, using the
TRAX-to-TRAX communications
option. One TRAX system can,
for example, locate a part in the
inventory of another.

EXPENSIVE
UPGRADE AVOIDED
Worldwide Enterprises has
even installed a TRAX system to
handle transaction processing
in their Chicago headquarters.
Adding a TRAX system that
communicates with their mainframe via 3271 protocol emulation was faster and more
economical than upgrading the
large computer to handle online transaction processing.

PROGRAMMER
APPROACHABILITY
Sleek's application programmer was able to write all
local and remote-to-Chicago
communications code in
COBOL. In fact, system programmers from Worldwide's
mainframe staff did not have to
visit Sleek- TRAX applications
never require system-level
programming.
TRAX has all system programs built in. So all the Sleek
programmer had to write were

easy-to-use management tool,
helps Sleek executives make
ad hoc inquiries and prepare
reports analyzing inventory,
purchasing, and cash flow. The
data used for these reports is
always accurate to the minute-

the applications. Using COBOL,
the simple forms language , and
several TRAX utilities, Sleek's
programmer was able to write,
debug, and get applications
on-line in months instead of
years.

TRAX LIFETIME COSTS
VS
CONVENTIONAL TRANSACTION SYSTEM COSTS

,,
\
\

System
Programming

Costs

CONVENTIONAL

TRAX
PERFORMANCE
Our story ends happily.
Jerry receives his gaskets the
next day. Steve and his many
co-workers who use VT62s at
Sleek's TRAX installation are as
happy with its rapid terminal
response as is Sleek's management with TRAX throughput. And
because Digital has comprehensive performance measurements of emulated but realistic
applications, the TRAX system
configured by the Digital salesperson and software specialist
performs as Sleek desired.

TRAX PROVIDES
MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION
Sleek puts their TRAX system to use in a host of applications. TRAX is used for accounts
payable, materials management. fixed asset management,
project management. and purchase orders, as well as for the
order entry, credit verification,
inventory, picking, shipping,
receiving, and accounts receivable transactions already mentioned. DATATRIEVE, an optional,

\
\

TRAX

a primary benefit of on-line
transaction processing.

TRAX AND YOUR
APPLICATION
As with Sleek Auto, business
events - transactions - are
probably the nuts and bolts of
your daily operations. If accurately capturing and quickly
processing transaction data into
meaningful information can aid
the operation and management
of your organization, you may
want to learn more about TRAX.
A Digital sales representative
can explain TRAX featuresand the benefits your organization can expect from TRAX.
TRAX SUPPORTED DEVICES
Max.
Memory
256KB

256KB

4MB

Disks

Tapes

Terminals

Line
Printers

PDP-11 / 34
RK07- 28MB TE16-1600bpi. 45ips
RM02- 67MB TU16-1600bpi . 45ips
RP04- 88MB TU45-1600bpi. 75ips
RP05- 88MB
RP06- 176MB

LA36
VT52
VT62
LA180

LP1196 char.
132 cal

PDP-11 / 60
RK07 - 28MB TE16-1600bpi.45ips
RM02- 67MB TU16-1600bpi.45ips
RP04- 88MB TU45-1600bpi .75ips
RP05- 88MB
RP06- 176MB

LA36
VT52
VT62
LA180

LP1196 char.
132 col

PDP-11 17 0
RM03- 67MB TE16-1600bpi.45ips LA36
RP04- 88MB TU16-1600bpi. 45ips VT52
RP05- 88MB TU45-1600bpt.75ips VT62
RP06- 176MB
LA180

LP1196 char.
132 col

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Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts 01754
Digital Equipment Corporation International (Europe), Geneva, Switzerland

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