Abstract: A NETWORK ELEMENT TERMINAL DATA INTERFACE (NETDI) system and method incorporating a terminal user interface which permits manipulation of network elements using a hardware-specific control language is disclosed. The present invention teaches automatic generation of on-line help directly from I/O manual specifications and translation of operator commands into network element specific protocols via the use of a network element database and associated XML repository. Various preferred embodiments of the present invention incorporate the use of TL1 composer/parsers to permit the automatic generation of Translation Language 1 interfaces between an operator console and a wide variety of telecommunication network elements.

Abstract: A system for code generation and data access which overcomes many of the problems in conventional database and spreadsheet applications. A user is able to build up program steps, having available, as needed, information on the permissible operations, on the fields present in the data files in use, and on the actual contents of pertinent fields in the data files. When setting up a selection statement, for example, the user is able to view in real time a concordance of contents of a field; in the concordance display the actual contents are shown in sorted sequence and with duplicates suppressed. The display allows the user to generate code without any need for repeated referral to lists of fields. Duration from start to finish of generating workable code, including meaningful selection statements, is greatly improved.