Client/Server File Access FAQ

What does Client/Server File Access do?

In most cases, using client/server file access reduces overall network traffic and improvess application performance.

When a COBOL program on a client machine accesses data on a server without client/server file access, multiple parts of the index and data files must be moved back and forth to allow the Runtime on a client machine to look up and access a record. One COBOL operation results in multiple requests to the server and multiple responses. This generates significant network traffic.

When client/server file access is used, the same operation can be accomplished with a single request to the server and a single response.  This greatly reduces network traffic. In most cases, this provides a performance boost to the whole network and particularly to the COBOL application. The drawback to this approach is that OPENs to files that have just been closed are slower.

Note: The ICLINK facility can be used to map non-client/server OPEN names to client/server OPEN names, so that the change to client/server file access can be accomplished without modifying the application code.

See the ICOBOL Client/Server File Access product description for more information.

[ General | Capabilities | Client/Server | ODBC | License Server | Runtime | Debugging | Windows-specific | Linux-specific |  Network-specific | What Is? ]