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Case Study: Jacada's Studio for iSeries

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For years, iSeries shops have uncovered many ways to add a graphical Internet front-end to their green-screen applications. These various iSeries modernization tools and techniques can certainly deliver the "point-and-click" environment today's Internet-savvy users have come to expect in an application, but from a developer's perspective, there is always an underlying reliance on the green-screen itself. In addition, many of the tools and techniques require RPG and COBOL developers to learn new programming languages in order to create GUI applications.

Jacada has addressed this need within the iSeries development community by launching a new application development tool designed specifically to allow RPG and COBOL programmers to build thin-client graphical applications for the IBM iSeries--without building green-screens and without the need to learn new programming skills. Mixing the simplicity and clarity of "interactive style" programming with a graphical result instead of a green-screen, Jacada Studio for iSeries allows iSeries developers to produce graphical applications that can be deployed over the Web.

HTE Enhances iSeries Applications

Utilizing the iSeries platform for application development, independent software vendor HTE Inc. continues to modify and enhance an impressive array of enterprise solutions that handle the administrative processing needs of its state and local government customers. Using the Jacada Interface Server, Jacada's traditional legacy extension software, HTE has modernized and Web-enabled its suite of NaviLine applications. As an early adopter of Jacada Studio for iSeries, HTE has used the tool to further enhance the NaviLine applications by adding new functionality in the form of Java-based graphical windows. This new functionality was added without having to develop the corresponding 5250-based functionality, allowing the NaviLine applications to run in batch mode and providing a tremendous cost savings.

"As a valued strategic partner, Jacada has delivered a tool set that brings value to HTE and our customer base," said Gil Santos, Vice President and CTO for HTE. "With a large number of RPG developers, it is important to us to maximize their skill sets. Jacada Studio for iSeries allows our developers to build compelling and efficient graphical Internet applications without having to learn new programming languages."

Complete Development and Deployment Architecture

Jacada Studio for iSeries is both a development and deployment architecture, providing a "What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get" (WYSIWYG) graphical client designer, a host-resident API for communicating with the generated Java or HTML clients and the supporting middleware, and a built-in HTTP server for managing a TCP/IP and sockets-based connection between the client and the host application.

Jacada Studio for iSeries application development focuses on creating graphical interfaces that are managed with host-based presentation coding, very similar to the way iSeries applications have been built for years. Graphical client design is accomplished through a workstation-based Interface Development Kit, which consists of a graphical standards repository; a drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG design environment; and a code generator that produces Java or HTML client source code.

Jacada Studio for iSeries also generates RPG or COBOL copybooks that define the client data exchange buffers as iSeries Special Files, along with complete RPG or COBOL shell programs with the Special File definitions and basic presentation I/O already built in. Programmers can then enhance the shell code with business logic and data management to produce conversational RPG and COBOL business applications that interact with Web clients over TCP/IP. The development paradigm is identical to green-screen development, where RPG and COBOL code performs business logic, manages data, and drives presentation.

Jacada Studio for iSeries automatically implements highly scalable sockets-based communication between the host and the graphical clients, which does not require an application server, Web server, servlet or JSPs, or any Java Bean administration. Jacada Studio for iSeries includes a built-in session listener that automates connectivity and does not employ CGI. Although Jacada Studio for iSeries applications are interactive in nature, they execute in a batch subsystem with no requirement for iSeries interactive processing support. In this way, dependency on the iSeries 5250 data stream is completely eliminated, not only from a programmatic aspect but also from a runtime deployment perspective.

Although Jacada Studio for iSeries is primarily focused on delivering graphical applications, the tool is also capable of front-ending newly built applications with programmatic interfaces in the form of XML, Java, or COM APIs, which enable the creation of Web-ready iSeries business transactions.

FREE 30-Day Downloadable Evaluation

A free 30-day evaluation version of Jacada Studio for iSeries with free technical support is available for download at www.jacada.com. Pricing starts at $995 per development kit; deployment licenses are additional.

Anna Convery is the Vice President of Marketing at Jacada.

http://www.mcpressonline.com/articles/images/2002/Jacada%20iSeries%20News%20AdvertorialV400.png

www.jacada.com
800-773-9574

Jacada is a registered trademark of Jacada Inc.
NaviLine is a trademark of HTE Inc.

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