ABF provides easy access to the Ingres tools you need to create an application, such as the VIFRED and the system editor.

The FormEdit operation places VIFRED at your disposal for creating a form that can accept user input or display data from the database. When you finish, VIFRED returns you to ABF.

The Edit operation provides access to your system editor to code 4GL source files. When you create 4GL specifications for user-specified frames, ABF automatically compiles any newly created or revised 4GL files before running your application. ABF stores the source file in the directory you designate, and it incorporates the compiled version into the system catalogs.

These operations are described in more detail in Building Applications, and ABF Development Example.

ABF also allows you to incorporate Ingres tools such as QBF and RBF into your applications, and make Ingres tools available to the application user.

You can use ABF without worrying about the location and management of source files, object files, linkage programs, compilers, editors, and the other tools of conventional programming. ABF keeps track of the names and locations of all the files related to your completed application.

You can debug and test the application during development. ABF allows you to test the application in small, manageable pieces—a much easier process than testing the entire application at one time.

ABF provides default actions if the application tries to access the values in an undefined object. For example, if the application tries to access a frame that is undefined, ABF provides a message that says that the specified frame is undefined, and gives the user several options on how to continue.