Before you start ABF, a parent directory must be established on the system for application subdirectories. Typically, the system administrator sets up the parent directory by defining ING_ABFDIR. For further information, see ABF Architecture.

Once the parent directory is created, ABF establishes an object code subdirectory to store the compiled versions of each application's components. This subdirectory is established when you choose Create from the Applications Catalog menu (described in How to Create the Application on page 22). This guide refers to this subdirectory as the application's object code directory.