WEBENABLING

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• WEB-ENABLING
• legacy NATURAL
• using HTML with EntireX

Steven Price
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About Us

• Steven Price
• Product Director NATURAL Engineer
• SAG products since 1981
• GSL (Generation Systems Ltd) Software AG
• SAG Alliance Partner
• Develop engineering solutions for Adabas
  Natural
• Business
• Software and data re-engineering
• Globally on-site and through services
• Conversions (e.g. Report to Structured) and
  version upgrades
• Technical solutions
• Adabas, Natural and other SAG products
• HTML processing

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Why Web-Enable?

• Services On-line web-enabling services
• NATURAL Engineer must execute on the web

• License Add-on to NATURAL Engineer
• web-enable your own applications on site in your
  own time and with your own resources

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Web-Enabling Approach

• Architecture
• Implement using a flexible and future-proof
  architecture suitable for most sites
• Viable long-term web-enablement solution
• Resulting Web Applications
• Must be maintainable
• Simple and understandable
• Must be enhanceable within a flexible and
  user-friendly structure
• Reuse existing logic
• Logic must not be duplicated
• Automated process
• Reduce time and resources
• Maintain integrity and accuracy

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Web-enabling Requirements

• Legacy application
• Support long transactions
• Application logic must be reused and not
  duplicated
• Enhance application with web-styling and
  functionality no scraping

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Resultant Approach

• Application gateway EntireX
• Runtime objects
• Create runtime objects for ease and simplicity of
  implementation
• HTML page maintenance
• by existing industry software
• e.g. MS FrontPage
• NATURAL application maintenance
• Limit application changes required

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Conversion of NATURAL Engineer

• NEE works in both Mainframe and Windows
  environments
• Most legacy code is on the mainframe
• Mainframe Structured
• Windows Graphical but dialogs

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Environment - Web
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Environment- EntireX

• Use EntireX to communicate

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Environment- Interface

• And have it interface

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Environment- Attach Manager

• Long transactions
• Holding database records over pages

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Environment- HTML

• HTML pages

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Environment Summary- NATURAL Engineer Web
Environment
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The Process

• Generate HTML pages for NATURAL presentation
• Automatic generation from MAP or other
  presentation statements
• Create new subprogram per presentation
• EntireX commands
• Modify application for web execution
• as a long transaction - minimal changes
• Insert CALLNAT to new subprogram

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The Process- Generate HTML

• HTML
• INPUT
• MAP
• WRITE
• DISPLAY
• Create HTML page
• Insert environment code
• Insert text and data items to HTML standard

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The Process- Create Subprogram

• For each presentation statement, generate a
  subprogram for HTML support
• Does the following
• Receives all presentation data
• Formats the EntireX buffer
• Calls EntireX
• Puts data back into PDA variables for return to
  calling object

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The Process- Modify Application

• Modify application for Web
• Insert code into application to access browser
• CALLNAT inserted when an HTML reference is located

• Note use of CONVID
• NULL except when execution is via EntireX

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Statements

• INPUT/MAP
• REINPUT
• PF-KEY
• WRITE/DISPLAY

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Statements- INPUT/MAP

• Static HTML page
• Literals copied to HTML
• Data items placed for run-time amalgamation

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Statements- REINPUT

• Acts like a GOTO statement
• How do you replicate control for web-processing?
• Copy text in REINPUT into HTML field
• Set flag to bypass next INPUT statement
• Execute REINPUT statement

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Statements- PF-KEY

• PF-KEY system variable must be modified
• Runtime library function
• Move web contents of NEEPFKEY into PF-KEY system
  variable

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Statements- WRITE/DISPLAY

• Report/listing output
• More complex than static HTML presentation
• Potential for lots of data to be sent which has
  to be inserted into the page
• Requires an HTML method to support variable data
  receiving lines of data
• Additional run-time logic required

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Statements- WRITE/DISPLAY (cont.)

• Modify more than WRITE and DISPLAY statements
• Write
• Write Title/Trailer
• Display
• At Top of Page
• At End of Page
• Newpage
• The HTML must support all the complex logic

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Statements- WRITE/DISPLAY (cont.)

• HTML page
• Create a table
• Insert data item titles
• Insert data items with group names
• Write Title/At Top Of Page
• outside table at top
• Write Trailer/At End Of Page
• outside table at bottom
• Runtime component to merge static tables and line
  data into final HTML

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Statements- WRITE/DISPLAY (cont.)

• Subprogram
• Use EntireX SENDHOLD instead of CONVERSE
  (MAP)
• Original Object
• Insert At-End-Of-Page logic to support HTML
  CONVERSE via EntireX

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Web Execution Process
Walkthrough
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• Invoke HTML on server
• HTTP//www.gensystems.com/NEE/NEELOGON.HTML

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• CGI script invoked
• Userid Password validated by NATURAL Security

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Web Execution Process

• EntireX called for selected application
• e.g. HOSPITAL
• Attach Manager called to start a new NATURAL
  session
• Start-up program invoked
• HTML subprogram executed

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Web Execution Process

• Runtime data placed in EntireX buffer in XML
  format
• EntireX Broker called
• Broker passes data to CGI Script
• CGI Script
• locates name of HTML template for buffer
• merges HTML template and runtime data
• sends HTML to Browser screen

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NATURAL EngineersWeb-enabling Process
Natural Engineer Repository
Impact Analysis
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NEEs Web-enabling Process- Impact Analysis

• Process Inputs (Search for inputs)
• Process Object-Builder keyword
• Generate line ranges for objects
• Process line ranges for subroutines
• Object-Builder Impact Analysis for HTML

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Web Enhancements

• Graphical tools to improve/modify static HTML
• e.g. MS FrontPage
• Colour, fonts, graphics, etc
• Insert direct link to bypass HTML pages
• Avoid sub-menus by direct link from margin
• e.g. Hospital application left margin has Add a
  Patient
• Insert URL link directly for the HTML page to
  execute other transactions
• e.g. NEEWEB application view source code for
  object in another Browser window

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NATURAL Engineer- New Developments

• XML using Tamino
• Short and long transaction interaction

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Summary Advantages(1 of 2)

• Benefits to your Natural Applications
• Reuses existing presentation layout
• No change to existing business, processing and
  database logic
• Creates only one new subprogram per presentation
• Applies minimal and auditable changes
• Flexible EntireX Broker based architecture
• best use of existing applications
• added benefits of a web environment

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Summary Advantages(2 of 2)

• Benefits of HTML and XML
• Automatically generates HTML pages
• Maintain HTML pages with standard editing tools
  such as MS FrontPage
• HTML display may be modified to
• improve user interface and use templates
• include direct links to application functions
• XML data format transfer between NATURAL and HTML
• available for further interfaces
• Communication with EntireX Broker
• No software on client PC - zero footprint
• Effective mainframe communications and excellent
  speed of execution

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Demonstration

• Test System show web-functionality
• Execute application and show functions
• NEE On the web
• Web-enable simple system to show process