New Micro Focus family of products bridge COBOL to fourth generation tools; BridgeWare leverages the productivity of PowerBuilder and VisualBasic with the strengths of COBOL.PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 1995--At its seventh annual User Conference, Micro Focus(R) announced the BridgeWare(TM) family of products, the first suite of development and runtime tools to provide seamless access from GUI (Graphical User Interface) A graphics-based user interface that incorporates movable windows, icons and a mouse. The ability to resize application windows and change style and size of fonts are the significant advantages of a GUI vs. a character-based interface. (graphical user interface graphical user interface (GUI) Computer display format that allows the user to select commands, call up files, start programs, and do other routine tasks by using a mouse to point to pictorial symbols (icons) or lists of menu choices on the screen as opposed to having to ) fourth-generation languages (4GLs) such as PowerBuilder and VisualBasic to Micro Focus COBOL COBOL: see programming language. COBOL in full Common Business-Oriented Language. High-level computer programming language, one of the first widely used languages and for many years the most popular language in the business community. (TM) and CICS (Customer Information Control System) A TP monitor from IBM that was originally developed to provide transaction processing for IBM mainframes. It controls the interaction between applications and users and lets programmers develop screen displays without applications. BridgeWare generates a complete interface from 4GL applications to COBOL with no manual coding, rewriting or retesting required. It extends 4GL client/server applications with true multi-tasking, server-based business logic for development and deployment on a wide range of environments, including Windows, OS/2, DOS and a range of popular UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). platforms. The BridgeWare family of products includes Micro Focus DeskTop BridgeWare(TM) (PowerBridge(TM) and VisualBridge(TM)) and the Micro Focus BridgeWare Server Enabling Kit, both ideally suited for rehosting and partitioning COBOL and CICS applications for reuse within a client/server architecture An environment in which the application processing is divided between client workstations and servers. It implies the use of desktop computers interacting with servers in a network in contrast to processing everything in a large centralized mainframe. See client/server. . BridgeWare generates complete external function calls, including all 4GL presentation logic, from existing legacy and newly developed COBOL source without requiring developers to reengineer or rewrite the program interface. DeskTop BridgeWare DeskTop BridgeWare is a windows-based, client/server "code-construction middleware" toolset that generates API requests, in the form of 4GL script language See scripting language. "external function calls." Unlike other middleware architecture solutions which require developers to manually code script, BridgeWare generates all 4GL script necessary to provide access to COBOL from GUI 4GL applications in a single, non-procedural (point-and-click) development process. This allows programmers to maintain the productivity level expected of the native PowerBuilder or VisualBasic development environment. Applications developed using Desktop BridgeWare may be deployed as single-user or Windows clients on any 4GL-COBOL supported platform across the enterprise without requiring additional runtime license fees. DeskTop BridgeWare expedites the process of creating COBOL-Windows Dynamic Link Libraries (.DLLs) through a GUI Administration System that allows developers or project administrators to customize their COBOL-Windows executables and organize the COBOL and CICS components. A GUI compile and link facility generates Windows .DLLs in a simple point-and-click process. This simplifies and automates the process of building and properly organizing executable libraries, effectively circumventing potential version control and copy book problems which could arise. DeskTop BridgeWare includes a single-user, general-purpose, multi-program COBOL application server which enables developers to test GUI-COBOL access and execution running completely on the desktop. This standalone development environment further enhances the productivity, flexibility and ease-of-development offered through the BridgeWare products. BridgeWare Server Enabling Kit The BridgeWare Server Enabling Kit allows developers to connect PowerBuilder and VisualBasic client applications to networked COBOL application servers and offload cpu-intensive processing in a true scalable, distributed-processing environment. The BridgeWare Server Enabling Kit requires DeskTop BridgeWare and Micro Focus Transaction System(TM), a multi-user, multi-tasking, multi-platform online transaction processing See transaction processing and OLCP. (OLTP (OnLine Transaction Processing) See transaction processing and OLCP. OLTP - On-Line Transaction Processing ) system, providing a flexible environment for designing and deploying distributed client/server systems. Alternatively, it is also possible to interface with IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) CICS for OS/2 for OLTP support. The Server Enabling Kit allows Windows-based PowerBuilder and VisualBasic applications to access COBOL and CICS processes and associated legacy data on the operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. and hardware platforms Each hardware platform, or CPU family, has a unique machine language. All software presented to the computer for execution must be in the binary coded machine language of that CPU. Following is a list of the major hardware platforms in existence today. See platform. supported by Micro Focus Transaction System, including host-based mainframe systems. Pricing and Availability Micro Focus Desktop BridgeWare is currently available for $399 per programmer. The Micro Focus Server Enabling Kit requires Desktop BridgeWare and will be avaiable in June for $500 per server. Micro Focus DeskTop BridgeWare, PowerBridge and VisualBridge solutions are also currently available coupled with consulting services for $7,500. Customers will receive ten copies of DeskTop BridgeWare and four days of onsite consulting services which include BridgeWare installation, configuration, integration and product training for up to 10 developers. Micro Focus is located at 2465 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, Calif. 94303. Telephone: 415/856-4161. CONTACT: Micro Focus, Palo Alto Nancy Genovese, 415/496-7175 or A&R Partners Lisa Auslen, 415/363-0982 |
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