Without screen-scraping or re-architecting the application, Profound UI shines in legacy modernization challenge.

Profound Logic's solution impressed attendees at the National iSystems User Group (NiSUG) after the company participated in the group's Application Modernization Code Shoot-Out, the firm announced today.

Software vendors from across the United Kingdom, Europe, United States, and Canada were invited to take part, but the rules were simple: Within 24 hours, modernize a green-screen application using your proprietary technology.

There were no official winners or losers at the end, but Profound Logic says it was the only vendor to prove that native IBM i modernization is possible without the limitations of screen-scraping or a laborious overhaul of an existing system.

Nigel Lothian, director of Logicmate, represented the Profound UI team at the event. “Some vendors at the event chose to ‘screen-scrape’ the legacy application. Others opted to re-engineer the application from scratch, with all the potential inherent problems such an approach entails," said Lothian. "Profound UI takes a different approach. We make it possible to reproduce the sample application as a modern Web application in seconds, thus providing customers with a fast, native solution that is complementary to their skill set and comfort zone.”

Profound UI enables RPG developers to:

• Leverage IBM's RPG Open Access to support all RPG screen-related operations
• Deliver browser-based applications based on the same RPG code that developers use
• Eliminate ties to the 5250 character-based protocol with DDS conversion
• Enhance converted interfaces or develop new ones with over 125 pre-packaged widgets

The Profound UI solution proved popular throughout the event and gained significant attention from the attendees, according to Lothian. Steve Bradshaw, managing director of Rowton IT Solutions, Ltd. and moderator of the Code Shoot-Out, said, “Profound Logic goes beyond simple screen-scraping to provide a solution for true 5250 modernization. Logicmate’s modernization of the sample application using Profound UI was excellent and presented an approach with which RPG developers will be comfortable,” he said.

About NiSUG

Formed in 1993, NiSUG has been around nearly as long as the System i itself. It is a not-for-profit organization that meets up to four times per year for a one day conference. This offers members the opportunity to listen to top-level speakers from IBM, IBM Business Partners, vendors, and users and gathers real information to assist in key decision-making about IT and business. From the AS/400 through the iSeries, on through System i and Power Systems, the group's members are kept up-to-date on IBM thinking and emerging technology that is relevant to their businesses. Learn more at: http://www.nisug.org/nisug.