By Bramhananda Reddy
During the 1980s, there were several small and medium sized companies operating in all the major domains. There was a need for a machine that was not as large and as expensive as that of Mainframe and at the same time, the new machine was to be easy to install/use without compromising on the performance and security. IBM observed this need and introduced a new family of machines - System/400. Today, legacy technology can be broadly classified in System Z and System I. System Z (or zSeries) stands for Mainframe system and System I (or iSeries) stands for AS/400 system. Reason for this nomenclature is – Z stands for Zero down time and I for integrated.
In the earlier blog "Mainframe Communicates with the Outside World", we discussed the modernization technique for System Z. In this blog, we will explore the modernization technique for the iSeries system.
Current Trend
Since the launch of IBM iSeries machines, this midrange computer has been very successful and used by small/intermediate size companies for their business processing. In 1988 alone, IBM was able to sell 250,000 systems worldwide, making it the most preferred midrange computer. As the industry started moving towards digitization, it created a wave of serious road blocks for iSeries application owners.
The next best solution would be to take the existing application and host it as a web application. The new iSeries machines are loaded with the following features -
User sends the request through browser with respective port number to IBM iSeries. With the help of TCP/IP and HTTP API, IBM iSeries receives this request and sends the associated HTML to the browser. At the same time, RPG/COBOL program gets activated and waits for the user response through a browser. Once this user response is received, the data is processed by the corresponding COBOL/RPG program.
Conversion Samples
The below snapshot demonstrates vanilla conversion of iSeries onto the web. In this example, two screens from iSeries are converted and displayed as a single screen on the browser. Apart from this, we can also include graphics and features that can make the webpage more attractive and user friendly.
Benefits:
Time to market
Based on the above discussion, we can say that the CGI tool kit is a handy software, wherein web applications can be developed and deployed on a rapid scale with minimal risk.
In the earlier blog "Mainframe Communicates with the Outside World", we discussed the modernization technique for System Z. In this blog, we will explore the modernization technique for the iSeries system.
Current Trend
Since the launch of IBM iSeries machines, this midrange computer has been very successful and used by small/intermediate size companies for their business processing. In 1988 alone, IBM was able to sell 250,000 systems worldwide, making it the most preferred midrange computer. As the industry started moving towards digitization, it created a wave of serious road blocks for iSeries application owners.
- Character based screen meant that traditional iSeries application could not offer a better user experience
- Applications had to be accessed only through workstations with a 5250 emulator
The next best solution would be to take the existing application and host it as a web application. The new iSeries machines are loaded with the following features -
- Capability to run TCP/IP and web server with the help of ILE (Integrated Language Environment) and IFS files (Integrated File System)
- Users can run all the up-to-date web technologies and programming languages like PHP, Java, Apache HTTP services and web frameworks
One of the ways to succeed in this endeavor is by using CGI (Common Gateway Interface) Development tool kit. CGI tool kit is an open source software that can be downloaded from www.easy400.net. The tool is constantly revised and re-published as per the need. The CGI standard establishes the way a program should be invoked from a remote web browser, and is fully supported by iSeries. There are two kits available –
The following diagram depicts an architectural implementation of a web application on IBM iSeries with help of CGI Tools.
- CGIDEV2 for RPG language
- CGICBLDEV2 for COBOL language
The following diagram depicts an architectural implementation of a web application on IBM iSeries with help of CGI Tools.
User sends the request through browser with respective port number to IBM iSeries. With the help of TCP/IP and HTTP API, IBM iSeries receives this request and sends the associated HTML to the browser. At the same time, RPG/COBOL program gets activated and waits for the user response through a browser. Once this user response is received, the data is processed by the corresponding COBOL/RPG program.
Conversion Samples
The below snapshot demonstrates vanilla conversion of iSeries onto the web. In this example, two screens from iSeries are converted and displayed as a single screen on the browser. Apart from this, we can also include graphics and features that can make the webpage more attractive and user friendly.
Benefits:
Time to market
- Existing iSeries application can be quickly converted to a web application
- CGI tool kit is an open source software
- By enabling the HTTP services on iSeries, the same machine can also work as a HTTP server
- Since the business rules are untouched, the risk is greatly reduced
- Changes done are only related on how the data is received and sent from programs
- Enhanced user experience
- Applications can be accessed from several devices
Based on the above discussion, we can say that the CGI tool kit is a handy software, wherein web applications can be developed and deployed on a rapid scale with minimal risk.
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