Object Cross Reference Utility for NAB

[beckhamrryyaann]

As a company writes more and more apps, it is important for them to be able to know what programs and files are used in Valance NAB. Users of NAB need a cross reference build that lets us give it a program object written in RPG, etc and the utility tell us what NAB widgets/apps use this program and where? This is a huge issue for maintainability. We could put notes in each program telling us but this is not exhaustive and would be prone to errors. A cross reference utility would be awesome. That would be just a start. To expand on this it would be nice to also know what files are used by what NAB datasources.

[DrGadget]

We use Hawkeye here and we feed that thing with information that we scrub out of various VV files. Hawkeye provides an API that lets you add your own cross-references to the repository. I can go into Hawkeye now and do a file-where-used and see all my green screen apps that use it, as well as all Valence apps. For instance File WNPTABLE gives me VALENCE App: Windows - Finished Inventory > Load List. (that's Category > App name), We do program cross references, too, for startup, form and button helper programs. Those things being RPG programs, Hawkeye does its thing over those and will show those programs if they use a file or whatever, but Hawkeye has no clue where I'm using that program so I tell him that through that API. We're currently working on adding field-where-used-in-Valence apps to Hawkeye as well.

I do not disagree with you at all that this would be an awesome feature to have in Valence, but since we will always have a mix of green-screen screens, batch programs and Valence apps, I prefer to see all cross-references in a single view. Somewhat related: I have a need to understand which apps are launched by other apps. That's a Valence-only type of cross reference and I am not sure I want to stick that in Hawkeye. I'm sure once I figure out where that's stored in Valence, I could probably write a Valence utility app for it, but that would be a great candidate to put in NAC... Nitro App CrossReference
:)