AB Solution

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AB Solution
03/20/03 Pisa
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Our History
Customized Applications
Software Packages
PC spread - integration
Integration among platforms (Cad, Schedulers,
Workflow, Post)
The Internet diffusion starts
Limits
Graphical interface
Multiplatform
Multidatabase
Open to the Internet
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The World
FIREWALL
SOCKET
OS/2
AS/400
RPG
MULTIDATABASE
JAVA
APPLICATION SERVER
STANDARD
C
TCP-IP
SAN FRANCISCO
MOBILE
PROXY
CLIENT SERVER
SAA
BROWSER
MULTIPIATFORM
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What we learned from our experience
San Francisco
C
Client Server Generators
Java
JWalk / Gui / Webfacing
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.a forced choice
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Comparisons
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The Technological Environment
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Java
A simple, object oriented, distributed,
interpreted, secure, architecture neutral,
portable, high performance, multi threated and
dynamic language

• Java is the basis of the portable applications
  that can be installed on different platforms.
• The portability of Java is only the basis a
  common denominator among different applications
  must be found.
• The specifications that were adopted by many
  vendors solved the problem J2EE.

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J2EE
Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE TM) is a set of
programming rules allowing the development, the
installation and the management of a multi-level
application on one server.

• Java 2 Enterprise Edition is the answer to the
  always more urgent requests to
• Reach a large number of direct and indirect users
  (Internet)
• First consequence is the high service
  availability request (low down-time)
• The almost unlimited variety of the users to be
  served (scalability)
• Integration possibility among different
  applications

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Application models comparison
Application logic and data
Terminal
Traditional Model
Application logic and data
User Interface and application logic
Client-Server Model
Distributed Applicat. Logic
User Interface
Data
Multi-tier Model (multi-level)
Services
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J2EE

• It is an index of different specifications
• Requires a given number of services
• Supplies a development model
• Guarantees portability
• Guarantees compatibility among different
  applications
• Each version indicates in detail the version of
  the relative sub-specifications

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J2EE

• J2EE V 1.3 foresees
• EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) V 2.0
• JSP (Java Server Page) V 1.2
• Java Servlet Specification V 2.3
• JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) V 2.1
• JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface) V 1.2
• JMS (Java Message Service ) V 1.0.2
• JTA (Java Transaction API) V 1.0.1
• JTS, JAF, JAAS, JCA, JAXP, JAAS, CORBA

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The J2EE philosophy

• J2EE foresees the development for Components
• Takes advantage of the spiral development
• Isolates the business logic from the
  presentation logic
• Takes advantage of the development of
  applications with a Web-based GUI
• Guarantees and requires the use of the
  transactional logic
• Guarantees the applications distribution

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Application server

• Usually it is a Java application which supplies
  the services required by the applications
  specifications and performs the J2EE
  implementation
• An Application Server is a server that implements
  the J2EE specifications
• The server is tested and officially certified by
  J2EE Compatibility Test Suite

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The Application Server role
Appl J2EE
Appl J2EE
Appl J2EE
EJB Container
WEB Container
Various Services
Application Server

• Operation System
• OS/400
• Windows
• Linux
• Others..

JTA
JNDI

• WebSphere
• WebLogic
• JBoss
• others

• Hardware
• Intel
• PowerPC
• Others..

• DBMS
• DB2/400
• UDB
• Oracle
• Others..

JDBC
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Summary

• The Application Server is responsible for the
  encapsulation of the hardware, the operating
  system, and the database
• Supplies standard base services (JDBC, JNDI, JTA,
  )
• Supplies two containers (WEB and EJB Container)
  in which it encapsulates its working modules to
  the application

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J2EE Application

• A J2EE application consists of
• Tables, indexes, and etc., that maintain the data
  from one session to another
• Some EJB contain the business logic of an
  application through services available by the
  application server
• Some static or semi-static HTML pages, which may
  contain complex or semi-complex Java classes,
  present più o meno statiche accompagnate da
  classi Java più o meno complesse che si occupano
  di presentare quanto la business logic prevede
  usando i servizi messi a disposizione dal server

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J2EE Application the scheme
Application J2EE
JSP Object
Servlet
Client
Java class
EJB Component
EJB Component
EJB Component
EJB Component
Web Container
JNDI
EJB Container
JTA
Application Server
JDBC
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WebSphere Application Server

• The J2EE 1.3 version is supported by the Version
  5 of WebSphere Application Server
• Several products are available with the version
  5
• WebSphere Application Server Express
• WebSphere Application Server
• WebSphere Application Server Network Deployer
• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Edition
• WebSphere Application Server Express
• IS NOT SUFFICIENT !

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A modern application is

• Multiplatform
• Not only Windows or AS/400
• Multidatabase
• Multi Options (Free to Choose)
• Based on SQL (at least SQL 92)
• Object Oriented
• Improved Maintenance
• Web based
• Light client browser ? PC, Mac, PDA, Phones
• Transactional Server

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A modern application

• Lives with other applications
• XML
• Web Services
• Business Intelligence
• Based on well-known standards
• J2EE
• Multilanguage
• Technically documented

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A modern tool

• Supports the development of a modern
  application
• Isolates the application problems from the
  technologies
• Has short development times
• Supports the application needs as batches,
  printouts, authorizations, application locks
• Does not create mandatory links to the tool itself

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What is AB Solution

• Approach close to the current know-how
• Based on well-known standards
• Flexible and scalable
• Isolated from technology and from its evolution
• Very high productivity
• Natively multiplatform
• Creates a code that can be modified and performed
  without the tool

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AB Solution Modules

• Database and J2EE application used by the
  programmer to define the information
• Java Application for the generation (creation)
• Base module for the generated code optimized
  performance
• Java application for the technical documentation
  creation
• Module for the user interface customization
• Other tools for different situations

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What does AB Solution do

• The code generator creates
• The necessary java source and compiles them
• The result, as described in the J2EE
  specifications and adds the required description
  by WebSphereTM, WebLogicTM and JBoss
• The XML file used by the User Interface part of
  the base module
• The SQL script of the linked table and
  creates/updates the same table on the application
  database
• The on-line help HTML file

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What does AB Solution do

• The generator of the technical documentation
  creates sophisticated HTML-XML pages that explain
  in details the currently developed application
• This kind of tool solves one of the biggest
  problems of a generalized application to have an
  updated technical documentation for the product
  maintenance improvement

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What does AB Solution do

• The base module runs
• User interfaces
• Batch functions
• Batch and interactive printouts
• Menu, actions and authorizations handling
• Multilevel application lock handling
• Multilanguage handling

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Why is it strategic?

• It is easy to learn because the class content
  definition is based on the know-how of the
  company or of similar environments
• It does not need the writing of repetitive code
• The non-repetitive code logic is written with a
  language similar to English and isolates the
  programmer from the technology
• The user interface is immediately available, so
  it is possible to immediately test

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Why is it strategic?

• Each improvement to the current J2EE
  specifications is an improvement for the
  application
• Regardless of those standards and languages that
  are constantly updated, the application can still
  be easily updated by the programmer, unlike other
  languages
• The development logic has all of the advantages
  of Object Oriented concepts but not of the costs
  of its evolution and rapid growth

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Who are the competitors?

• The competitors products are able to do what AB
  Solution already does
• Create for the first time an EJB object
• Re-create the object by simply adding attributes,
  methods, or relations (also against the
  modification of relationed objects)
• Create and update a table, by keeping already
  existing data
• Create readable code
• Contains all required functions (batches,
  printouts, menus )

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Therefore

• All the IDE environments are excluded by the
  following competitors
• JBuilder (Borland)
• Fortè (Sun)
• WSAD WebSphere Studio Application Development
  (IBM)
• Visual Cafè

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Differences

• The potential competitors are using case tools,
  such as Cool Plex, Rational XDE
• Cool Plex
• The generated code cannot be read
• It does not use a well-known standard, but
  proprietary standards
• Rational XDE
• The development environment is only for Windows
• Requires an integrated IDE for writing the Java
  code
• It is very expensive

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Ab Solution The evolution
AB Solution birth
2000
First release
February 2001
Now Project
Logistic Area
March 2001
2 years 12 people
First sale in the U.S.A.
July 2002
eRP.TEX Web Order Management
October 2002
Easy Group development of a vertical
November 2002
February 2003
First sale in Italy
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The Results
Use of the existing competencies Rapid
reconversion of RPG experienced personnel with
application know-how

• AB Solution instead of Java
• Technological Independence
• Code lines from a ratio of 101
• Automatic creation of technical documentation

From scratch to OS/400