Working with Dictionaries

Dictionaries contain mappings between JSON message objects and binary IPMs expected by NonStop applications. The mappings enable LightWave Server™ to automatically convert alphanumeric values in JSON requests to their appropriate integer, decimal, floating point and string (with appropriate character set encoding) NonStop equivalents. Likewise, responses are automatically converted from NonStop data types to JSON format. Dictionary type definitions are referenced in the API editor when defining mappings between JSON payloads and NonStop Server application messages.

Data type definitions are stored in LightWave Server's Dictionary Repository. The LightWave Server Console allows application developers to manage the dictionary definitions. If NonStop DDL dictionaries already exist for a given NonStop application, the dictionary definitions may be imported directly into a LightWave Server dictionary.

The following sections describe the structure of the LightWave Server dictionary repository and how to manage application dictionaries.