What Is a Process and What Is a Function?

A process is a group of related functions.
When used in an interactive environment a process appears to be a menu of associated functions.
When used in a batch environment a process usually consists of only one function or a group of closely related functions (such as related reports).
A function is an executable System i "program" that was defined by a user and created by LANSA.
A function usually manipulates the System i database in some way.
A function must "belong to" or be "owned by" a process
• Both processes and functions must have names. A process name must be unique within the entire LANSA partition. A function name must be unique within the process to which it belongs.
• Functions can be created automatically by using an "Application Template". An application template asks the user a series of questions and then generates the function automatically.
• Functions can also be created manually. In this case the user must manually specify the commands that are to executed within the function.
• All functions contain a series of commands that define the "program" that is to be created. If the function was created automatically then the commands were created automatically, if the function was created manually then the commands must be entered manually.
• The ability to manually define and change the commands associated with a function is what gives LANSA its power, flexibility and speed in creating System i application programs
A function must "belong to" or be "owned by" a process
• Both processes and functions must have names. A process name must be unique within the entire LANSA partition. A function name must be unique within the process to which it belongs.
• Functions can be created automatically by using an "Application Template". An application template asks the user a series of questions and then generates the function automatically.
• Functions can also be created manually. In this case the user must manually specify the commands that are to executed within the function.
• All functions contain a series of commands that define the "program" that is to be created. If the function was created automatically then the commands were created automatically, if the function was created manually then the commands must be entered manually.
• The ability to manually define and change the commands associated with a function is what gives LANSA its power, flexibility and speed in creating System i application programs