The Micro Focus XDBC data management system is designed to integrate Micro Focus data files into a relational database-like environment. Micro Focus XDBC can operate in either a (Local) or a two-tier client/server configuration.
In a two-tier configuration, the client computer is running the ODC/JDBC enabled application or the xdbcquery command-line SQL query tool. (See chapter Using the Command-line Query Tool for more information.) The data to be processed resides on a remote UNIX or Windows server. With Micro Focus XDBC Server (xdbcsrv) running on the remote machine, your application is able to take advantage of remote server-side processing of the SQL statements.
Remote processing can mean more efficient use of your system resources. Queries often process large amounts of data to construct the result set. Remote processing decreases the amount of data that must be transferred between the client and the server. If the COBOL data files reside on the server where the processing occurs, network traffic can be greatly reduced. In this configuration, only the final result set of the processing is returned to the client machine. In addition, this structure encourages centralized management of your data, cutting down on the duplication of data, IS management requirements, and ensuring that the information returned to the application is up-to-date.
When running in a client-server configuration with Micro Focus XDBC Server, both the system catalog and the Micro Focus COBOL data files reside on the remote server machine.
In most configuration scenarios, you will run exclusively in either Local with Micro Focus XDBC Local or client-server with Micro Focus XDBC Server. In some situations, however, your application may need to perform the majority of its data processing locally, but still have access to some shared COBOL data that resides on a remote machine. In this situation, you can take advantage of the facilities provided by Micro Focus Fileshare to retrieve and process the information in remote COBOL data files.