Zen v15 | Overview

Zen Help Library > Overview

Overview

The Zen online help library provides three areas of reference: General, Advanced, and Developer.

General

General content is intended for all levels of users and cover such topics as using the database management system, configuring settings, and performing tasks with the Zen utilities.

Book	Description
What’s New in Zen	Documents the additions and updates to the current version of Zen
Getting Started with Zen	Documents installation of the Zen database engine, client, and initial configuration
Zen User's Guide	Documents Zen utilities and common tasks
Status Codes and Messages	Documents the status codes and messages returned by the Zen components

Advanced

Advanced content is intended for users with strong technical backgrounds in data processing and related disciplines. This content allows users who are already familiar with Zen to gain more in-depth information on how to use the product. Specialized tools, such as DDF Builder, and specialized IT infrastructure such as hypervisor environments are discussed in this section.

Book	Description
Advanced Operations Guide	Documents database and maintenance procedures for more experienced users
DDF Builder User's Guide	Explains the utility used to view, create, and change Zen data dictionary files (DDFs)

Developer

Developer guides are intended for developers creating applications that use the Btrieve (transactional) interface, the relational interface, or a combination of the two. Some access methods such as Delphi and C++ Builder provide APIs for both interfaces.

Overview of Programming Methods

Book	Description
Zen Programmer's Guide	Explains the Btrieve (transactional) and relational interfaces from an application development perspective

Administrative Methods

Book	Description
Distributed Tuning Interface (DTI) Guide	Explains interface for configuration, monitoring, and diagnostics of Zen components
Distributed Tuning Object (DTO) Guide	Explains the COM wrapper for DTI
Installation Toolkit Handbook	Explains how to integrate a Zen product installation with another application installation

Database Access Methods

Access Method	Document	Description
Btrieve API	Btrieve API Guide	Explains how to use the Btrieve API for transactional applications
SQL	SQL Engine Reference	Covers the query language syntax, functionality, and limitations of the Zen relational engine
ODBC	ODBC Guide	Documents the ODBC API conformance
ADO.NET	Data Provider for .NET Reference	Explains how to use ADO.NET with Zen
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)	JDBC Driver Guide	Explains how to use JDBC with Zen
Java	Java Class Library Guide	Documents classes for the Zen Java interface
Delphi and C++ Builder (PDAC)	Zen Direct Access Components (PDAC) Guide	Explains the set of components that allow direct access to Zen data from the Delphi and C++ Builder environments

Third-party Methods and Solutions

For Zen developer-related white papers, sample code, components, and up-to-date news, see the Zen website.

Contacting Actian Corporation

You can find information and obtain help at the Actian website:

• To join a community forum discussion or search for knowledge base topics, visit the Actian Community and Customer Portal and select Actian Zen from the Products menu.

• To log a support case or purchase support services, visit Actian Support and Services and select an option from the Support menu.

This Documentation is for the end user’s informational purposes only and may be subject to change or withdrawal by Actian Corporation (“Actian”) at any time. This Documentation is the proprietary information of Actian and is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. The software is furnished under a license agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of that agreement. No part of this Documentation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or for any purpose without the express written permission of Actian. To the extent permitted by applicable law, ACTIAN PROVIDES THIS DOCUMENTATION “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND ACTIAN DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. IN NO EVENT WILL ACTIAN BE LIABLE TO THE END USER OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE, DIRECT OR INDIRECT, FROM THE USE OF THIS DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, GOODWILL, OR LOST DATA, EVEN IF ACTIAN IS EXPRESSLY ADVISED OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE.

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Actian, Actian DataCloud, Actian DataConnect, Actian X, Avalanche, Versant, PSQL, Actian Zen, Actian Director, Actian Vector, DataFlow, Ingres, OpenROAD, and Vectorwise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Actian Corporation and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

This product includes software developed by Powerdog Industries. © Copyright 1994 Powerdog Industries. All rights reserved. This product includes software developed by KeyWorks Software. © Copyright 2002 KeyWorks Software. All rights reserved. This product includes software developed by DUNDAS SOFTWARE. © Copyright 1997-2000 DUNDAS SOFTWARE LTD., all rights reserved. This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (www.apache.org).

This product uses the free unixODBC Driver Manager as written by Peter Harvey (pharvey@codebydesign.com), modified and extended by Nick Gorham (nick@easysoft.com), with local modifications from Actian Corporation. Actian Corporation will donate their code changes to the current maintainer of the unixODBC Driver Manager project, in accordance with the LGPL license agreement of this project. The unixODBC Driver Manager home page is located at www.unixodbc.org. For further information on this project, contact its current maintainer: Nick Gorham (nick@easysoft.com).

A copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is included on the distribution media for this product. You may also view the LGPL at www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/lgpl.html.

Last modified date: 11/06/2023