Using ABF in a Multi-Developer Environment
When you create a database object, such as a table, form or report, Ingres recognizes you (that is, your account) as its owner. In this way, Ingres protects the integrity of an individual user's objects in a common database.
However, this also means that other developers cannot use your objects in their applications. For example, a frame that you create cannot use a table created by another owner.
Another developer can access an application that you created, but cannot use your tables or forms to run it.
You can access objects created by another user (that is, another account) only when those objects are created by the DBA for the database. All users can access objects owned by the DBA.
Therefore, use the following method to create objects that all ABF developers can share:
1. The system administrator creates a new user account, and then the system administrator creates a new user account with the same name.
2. Each developer accesses ABF by logging into this account rather than a personal account.
Any objects that a user creates in this account become available to all other users of the account. Be aware that there is no way to tell what a specific user of the account does.
3. Each developer creates a separate application that corresponds to a tree of the main application.
Because each of these applications has a source code directory, you can avoid the problem of having ABF recompile frames that other developers have been editing.
4. Have one developer integrate the application components as follows:
a. Copy all source code to a single directory.
b. Create the main application.
c. For each frame or procedure in each developer's application, create a frame or procedure in the main application with the same name, form, and source file.
d. Recompile the application and create a new image.