SofTouch Systems announces new release of legacy application enabler; universal back end agent for OS/390 provides automatic 3270-HTML conversion.OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 1997--SofTouch Systems is excited to announce CrossPlex (CPX CPX Command Post Exercise CPX Culebra Puerto Rico (airport code) CPX Cleft Palate, X-Linked CPX Corel Painter X CPX Compare with X (6502 processor instruction) CPX Command Post/Paper Exercise ) universal back end agent Version 1.2 for OS/390 is now available for general delivery. Release 1.2 now provides *automatic* conversion of host-based 3270 application formats to the HyperText Markup Language (hypertext, World-Wide Web, standard) Hypertext Markup Language - (HTML) A hypertext document format used on the World-Wide Web. HTML is built on top of SGML. "Tags" are embedded in the text. A tag consists of a "<", a "directive" (in lower case), zero or more parameters and a ">". (HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. ). The automatic CPX/HTML conversion feature provides an immediate answer for those organizations seeking to WEB enable their legacy applications with no program development or changes to their legacy systems. CrossPlex 1.1, announced last November 1996, established itself as the first software product to offer full-function back end processing agent of 3270 transactions. CrossPlex employs IBM's Front End Processing Interface(tm) (FEPI FEPI Front End Programming Interface ) product to create a virtual environment for the execution of legacy applications. A middleware processing agent instructs CrossPlex to simulate a human operator in order to execute legacy transactions in 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 , IMS (1) See IP Multimedia Subsystem. (2) (Information Management System) An early IBM hierarchical DBMS for IBM mainframes. IMS was widely implemented throughout the 1970s under MVS and continues to be used under z/OS. or other VTAM (Virtual Telecommunications Access Method) Also ACF/VTAM (Advanced Communications Function/VTAM), it is software that controls communications in an IBM SNA environment. applications, and to reformat (1) To change the record layout of a file or database. (2) To initialize a disk over again. 3270 datastreams into usable messages. This middleware product can be developed by the user, provided as a feature of CPX, or developed by another third party. The middleware processor can retrieve the desired information from one or more legacy transactions and present them in a single request as a seamless, integrated application on the WEB. This allows organizations to take advantage of the graphic user interface See GUI. of a WEB browser. According to Larry Akers, Vice President of Research and Development, "WEB enabling of legacy systems is the hottest item in the marketplace today. There are a number of front end products available, but almost none that can handle the back end. Creating a virtual environment to drive 3270 transactions is difficult and working with 3270 datastreams can be a technical nightmare for application programmers." Added Richard Jones, Chief Executive Officer, "We realize that businesses need the many-for-one processing capabilities of a universal back end agent, but they also want immediate access with no requirement to develop a middleware processor. By using Crossplex, our customers can perform the CPX/HTML conversion of 3270 datastreams automatically, and WEB enabled legacy applications can be instantly placed in service ". CrossPlex 1.2 offers two variations of automatic CPX/HTML conversion. The basic translation can perform 3270 to HTML conversion for WEB displays and HTML to 3270 conversion for inbound replies. No development or customization is required using the basic HTML conversion. Enhanced CPX/HTML conversion provides a method whereby individual 3270 displays can be automatically identified and refined with more advanced HTML features, like radio buttons, submit buttons, links, and even graphics. Even with enhanced HTML conversion, there is no programming effort required. CrossPlex UBEA employs a Visual Screen Builder and Recording Capture feature where real-time 3270 datastreams can be captured and saved as screen objects. These screen objects may be modified and enhanced using the Visual Screen Builder. Special attribute codes allow the designation of submit buttons, titles, headings, even mutually exclusive groups of radio buttons with command generation capability. And if that is not sufficient, the user can imbed im·bed v. Variant of embed. imbed Verb [-bedding, -bedded] same as embed Verb 1. HTML commands directly in the screen display area. This feature can be used to insert links or graphics to display on the WEB page. "With the HTML conversion feature," said Lyle Henry, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, "immediate availability of legacy applications from the WEB in one-for-one processing mode is now a reality. Beyond that, the many-for-one capabilities of the universal back end agent offer unlimited possibilities for application integration." CrossPlex is not limited to WEB applications. It functions as a universal back end agent for any front end, such as touch-tone telephone systems, programmable phones, real-time communication, etc. CrossPlex provides a way to separate the presentation logic of legacy 3270 transactions from the business logic, thereby enabling client server applications with no changes to existing programs. CrossPlex operates in MVS (Multiple Virtual Storage) Introduced in 1974, the primary operating system used with IBM mainframes (the others are VM and DOS/VSE). MVS is a batch processing-oriented operating system that manages large amounts of memory and disk space. , CICS/ESA CICS/ESA Customer Information Control System/Enterprise Systems Architecture (IBM) * Version 3.3 or greater. FEPI provides connections to any VTAM target system to drive 3270 transactions. SofTouch Systems has been offering state-of-the-art software solutions since 1982. They are well known for their award-winning CICS-WINDOWS(tm) multiple session software which provide interactive windowing For Northcoast Where we call someone over and then roll our window up on them. Bassline preference. For Example: "Hey, Andi." *insert window being rolled up* "HAHAHA. for 3270 terminals and CICS-RDO/EC(tm) resource definition manager for CICS. For Internet users, SofTouch Systems offers complete information about the company, its products and services, including an on-line demonstration of CrossPlex. The SofTouch home page can be accessed at http://www.softouch.com. * Trademark or registered trademark of International Business Machines CONTACT: SoftTouch Systems Inc., Oklahoma City Richard Jones, 405/947-8080 rjones@softouch.com http://www.softouch.com |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion