IBM Systems Application Architecture - Common Programming Interface (CPI)

Common Programming Interface (CPI)

The Common Programming Interface attempted to standardize compilers and application programming interfaces among all systems participating in SAA, with the objective of providing "a common programming interface for the entire IBM computer product line - PCs, System/3x, System/370. This implies that under SAA, a program written for any IBM machine will run on any other".

CPI included a number of pieces:

  • Programming languages — PL/I, COBOL, Fortran, C, RPG and REXX.
  • Application generator — IBM Cross System Product (CSP).
  • Database access — SQL.
  • Query interface — QMF.
  • Presentation interface — the OS/2 Presentation Manager was a full implementation of the SAA presentation interface. IBM Graphical Data Display Manager (GDDM) provided compatible SAA graphics support for MVS and VM.
  • Dialog interface — ISPF represented the text mode dialog interface; OS/2 represented the full graphical interface.

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