OpenEdge Advanced Business Language: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Business application development language}}

{{Infobox Software

{{Promotional|date=January 2023}}

|name = OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (ABL)

{{Infobox Software software

|screenshot =

| name = OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (ABL)

|caption =

| logo = File:OpenEdge_logo.png

|developer = [[Progress Software Corporation]]

| screenshot =

|latest_release_version = OpenEdge 11.7

| caption =

|latest_release_date = {{start date and age|2017|03|31}}

| developer = [[Progress Software Corporation]]

|operating_system = [[Cross-platform]] (see below)

| latest_release_version = OpenEdge 1112.78

|genre = [[Relational database management system|RDBMS]]

| latest_release_date = {{start date and age|20172024|0301|3121}}

|license = Proprietary

| operating_system = [[Cross-platform]] (see below)

|website = http://www.progress.com

| genre = [[Relational database management system|RDBMS]]

| license = Proprietary

| website = http{{URL|https://www.progress.com/openedge}}

}}

'''OpenEdge Advanced Business Language''', or '''OpenEdge ABL''' for short, is a business application development language created and maintained by [[Progress Software|Progress Software Corporation]] (PSC). The language, typicallyTypically classified as a [[fourth-generation programming language]], usesit utilizes an English-like syntax to simplify software development.<ref name="p2">Campbell, John, ''Programmer's Progress, a guide to the progress language.'' white star software, 1991</ref> The language was called '''PROGRESS''' or '''Progress 4GL''' up until version 9, but in 2006, [[Progress Software Corporation|PSC]] changed the name to OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (OpenEdge ABL), in order to overcome a presumed industry perception that 4GLs were less capable than other languages.<!-- year? --><ref name="introABL">Salvador Vinals, Introducing OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (ABL), PSC whitepaper, 2007</ref> A subset of the language, called ''SpeedScript'', is used in the development of web applications.<ref name="webspeedcomplete">Crawford, G. ''WebSpeed Complete'', Innov8 Computer Solutions, {{ISBN|0-9718679-0-9}}</ref>

OpenEdge ABL helps developers to develop applications optionally using its own integrated [[relational database]] and [[programming tool]]s. These applications are portable across computing systems and allow access to various popular data sources without having to learn the underlying [[data access]] methods. This means that the [[end-user]] of these products can be unaware of the underlying architecture.

By combining a fourth -generation language and relational database, OpenEdge ABL allows the use of the [[Rapidrapid Applicationapplication Developmentdevelopment]] (RAD) model for developing software. A programmer and even end users can do [[rapid prototyping]] using the integrated and GUI tools of the development environment.

==History==

The original Progress 4GL was designed (in 1981) as an architecture -independent language and integrated database system that could be used by non-experts to develop business applications by people who were not computer scientists but were knowledgeable in their business ___domain. At thethat time, business applications were often written in [[COBOL]] (for machines like corporate [[IBM]] mainframes) and sometimes in [[C (programming language)|C]] (for departmental minicomputers running the UNIX operating system). When the IBM PC became popular, thereit developed a need for business software that could be used on those and other inexpensive computers. The Progress system was created to be used on both IBM PC machines running DOS and on a variety of computers that could run UNIX and [[minicomputer]] operating systems such as [[OpenVMS]].

==Syntax and semantics==

Progress ABL is a strongly typed, late-bound, [[English-like programming language]]. Although initially designed as a procedural language, starting with version 10.1 it was enhanced with [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]] grammar elements, which can be mixed with the original procedural style. A block of code may have a transaction scoped to it, in which case database changes will be committed when it completes. An error raised within such a block will undo these changes. These defaults may be overridden by the programmer.

Simple programs run without a Graphicalgraphical Useruser Interfaceinterface, but there is syntax to create one programatically;programmatically, or programmers can use the provided tools to build one.

==Examples==

===Hello Worldworld===

{{mainMain|Hello world program}}

{{main|Hello world program}}

The following ABL code creates a window with the text "Hello, World!" and a button labelled "OK".

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="progress">

DEFINE VARIABLE w AS HANDLE NO-UNDO.

Line 40 ⟶ 42:

HEIGHT = 5

MESSAGE-AREA = FALSE

STATUS-AREA = FALSE.

CURRENT-WINDOW = w.

Line 54 ⟶ 56:

WAIT-FOR "CHOOSE" OF btnOK.

DELETE OBJECT w.

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

A message-box can be used to achieve the same effect:

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="progress">

MESSAGE "Hello World!"

VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX INFO BUTTONS OK.

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

Also, you can useThe <code>ERRORINFO</code> parameter controls the message icons, and can be replaced with <code>WARNINGERROR</code> instead ofor <code>INFOWARNING</code> tofor changedifferent the message iconslooks.

The simplestmost basic "Hello, World" program, though, is this:

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="progress">

DISPLAY "Hello World!".

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

===SQL <code>SELECT</code> equivalent===

The [[SQL]] statement:

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="sql">

SELECT * FROM customer;

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

(along with your chosen language connection and display procedures) can be expressed in Progress / ABL as:

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="progress">

FOR EACH customer NO-LOCK:

DISPLAY customer.

END.

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

The END statement is optional in a program of this level of simplicity.

===SQL <code>UPDATE</code> equivalent===

The SQL statement:

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="sql">

UPDATE customer

SET salesman = 'Fred'

WHERE custno = 14;

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

(again, along with your chosen language connection and display procedures) can be expressed in Progress / ABL as:

<sourcesyntaxhighlight lang="progress">

FOR EACH customer WHERE customer.custno = 14 EXCLUSIVE-LOCK:

ASSIGN customer.salesman = 'Fred'.

END.

</syntaxhighlight>

</source>

..

(Some assumptions have been made about indexing, locking and transaction scoping in order to keep this example simple.)

Data access in the ABL is record-based, in contrast to the result-set-based processing found in traditional SQL languages. While SQL operations typically act on sets of records, ABL processes one record at a time, similar to using a cursor in SQL.

==Notes==

Record-based processing provides a fine-grained locking model, allowing the developer to apply different lock levels (e.g., EXCLUSIVE-LOCK, SHARE-LOCK, or NO-LOCK) when accessing records.

This approach can offer predictable memory usage, especially in environments using shared memory connections, where the application and database reside on the same host. In client-server (networked) deployments, however, each record or block of records fetched typically involves a network round trip. For example, with a default prefetch size of 50 records and a network latency of 50 ms, retrieving 1,000,000 records may result in up to 1,000 seconds of latency. This illustrates a potential drawback of record-by-record access in high-latency environments.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==Application areas==

{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2020}}

The language is used in a wide variety of application areas, some examples:

* Mortgage and auto loan origination at US banks

* Rental car reservation systems

* Manufacturing ERP

* Wholesale distribution ERP

* Warehouse systems

* Transportation systems

* Commercial service force dispatching

* Security card systems

* Gaming systems (think Las Vegas, not video)

OpenEdge can be used for:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-26 |title=Use Cases of Progress OpenEdge 2024 |url=https://www.trustradius.com/products/openedge/reviews?qs=product-usage |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=www.trustradius.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

* Microsoft Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface)

* WWW programming (Unix and Windows)

* CHUI (CHaracter User Interface) (Unix and Windows)

* JSON and XML appserver programming (Unix and Windows)

* as well background process programming (Unix and Windows).

==Notes==

<references/>

==References==

* Sadd, J. ''OpenEdge Development: Progress 4GL Handbook'', Progress Software Corporation, {{ISBN|0-923562-04-4}}, {{ISBN|978-0-923562-04-5}}

* Kassabgi, G. ''Special Edition : Using Progress'', Que Publishing, {{ISBN|0-7897-0493-5}}

== External links ==

* {{Official Website|https://www.progress.com/openedge}}

* [https://community.progress.com/community_groups/openedge_general OpenEdge Community]

* [https://docs.progress.com/category/openedge-information-hub OpenEdge Resource Hub]

* [https://www.progress.com/openedge/whats-new What’s New in OpenEdge]

* [https://riptutorial.com/progress-4gl Getting started with progress-4gl]

[[Category:Object-oriented programming languages]]

[[Category:4GLFourth-generation programming languages]]

[[Category:Data-centric programming languages]]

[[Category:Articles with example code]]