Programming Language For Business
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Programming Language for Business or PL/B is a business-oriented
programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...
originally called DATABUS and designed by
Datapoint Datapoint Corporation, originally known as Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC), was a computer company based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in July 1968 by Phil Ray and Gus Roche, its first products were, as the company's initial ...
in 1972 as an alternative to
COBOL COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily us ...
because Datapoint's
8-bit computer In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data buses o ...
s could not fit COBOL into their limited memory, and because COBOL did not at the time have facilities to deal with Datapoint's built-in keyboard and screen. A version of DATABUS became an
ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
standard, and the name PL/B came about when Datapoint chose not to release its
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
on the DATABUS name.


Functionality

Much like
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
and .NET, PL/B programs are compiled into an intermediate
byte-code Bytecode (also called portable code or p-code) is a form of instruction set designed for efficient execution by a software interpreter. Unlike human-readable source code, bytecodes are compact numeric codes, constants, and references (normall ...
, which is then interpreted by a runtime library. Because of this, many PL/B programs can run on
DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
,
Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...
,
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
, and
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
s. The PL/B development environments are influenced by Java and
Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to: * Visual Basic .NET (now simply referred to as "Visual Basic"), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET * Visual Basic (cl ...
, and offer many of the same features found in those languages. PL/B (Databus) is actively used all over the world, and has several forums on the Internet dedicated to supporting software developers. Since its inception, PL/B has been enhanced and adapted to keep it modernized and able to access various data sources. It has a database capability built-in with ISAM and Associative Hashed Indexes, as well as
ODBC In computing, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) for accessing database management systems (DBMS). The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of database systems and operating systems. An ...
, SQL,
Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...
, sequential, random access,
XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...
and
JSON JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, pronounced ; also ) is an open standard file format and data interchange format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and arrays (or other ser ...
files. All the constructs of modern programming languages have been incrementally added to the language. PL/B also has the ability to access external routines through COM, DLL's and .NET assemblies. Full access to the .NET framework is built into many versions. Several implementations of the language are capable of running as an Application Server like
Citrix Citrix Systems, Inc. is an American multinational cloud computing and virtualization technology company that provides server, application and desktop virtualization, networking, software as a service (SaaS), and cloud computing technologies. C ...
, and connecting to remote databases through a data manager.


Source code example

IF (DF_EDIT
TEM Tem or TEM may refer to: Acronyms * Threat and error management, an aviation safety management model. * Telecom Expense Management * Telecom Equipment Manufacturer * TEM (currency), local to Volos, Greece * TEM (nuclear propulsion), a Russian ...
= "PHYS") STATESAVE MYSTATE IF (C_F07B != 2) DISPLAY *SETSWALL 1:1:1:80: *BGCOLOR=2,*COLOR=15: *P49:1," 7-Find " ELSE DISPLAY *SETSWALL 1:1:1:80: *BGCOLOR=7,*COLOR=0: *P49:1," 7-Find " ENDIF STATEREST MYSTATE TRAP GET_PRO NORESET IF F7 ENDIF IF (SHOW_FILTER AND THIS_FILTER AND C_CUSTNO <> "MAG") LOADMOD "filter" PACK PASS_ID WITH "QED ",QED_ID1,BLANKS MOVE " FILTER DISPLAY (F6) " TO PASS_DESC SET C_BIGFLT CALL RUN_FILT USING PASS_ID,PASS_DESC,"432" UNLOAD "filter" CLEAR THIS_FILTER ENDIF


References


External links


Sunbelt implementation of PL/B

ANSI PL/B Standards Committee





Databus Simplified User Guide
{{ISO standards Procedural programming languages Cross-platform software Programming languages created in 1972 Structured programming languages