Informix-4GL Developers: Improve Productivity using FourGen
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Informix User Forum 2005 Moving Forward With Informix Atlanta, Georgia December 8-9, 2005 Informix Informix- 4GL Developers: Improve 4GL Developers: Improve Productivity using FourGen CASE Tools Productivity using FourGen CASE Tools Syed Kamal, CEO Syed Kamal, CEO [email protected] Ravi B, Technical Development Manager Ravi B, Technical Development Manager [email protected] Gillani, Inc. Gillani, Inc. (formerly FourGen) (formerly FourGen)
Transcript of Informix-4GL Developers: Improve Productivity using FourGen
Informix User Forum 2005 Moving Forward With Informix
Atlanta, Georgia December 8-9, 2005
InformixInformix--4GL Developers: Improve 4GL Developers: Improve Productivity using FourGen CASE ToolsProductivity using FourGen CASE Tools
Syed Kamal, CEO Syed Kamal, CEO [email protected]
Ravi B, Technical Development Manager Ravi B, Technical Development Manager [email protected]
Gillani, Inc. Gillani, Inc. (formerly FourGen) (formerly FourGen)
www.gillani.com
i How many Informix 4GL programmers present?
i How many have used any RAD tools to develop 4GL apps?
i How many have used FourGen CASE tools, aka Informix-4GL “FORMS”, “Menu’s”?
Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity Using FourGen® CASE Tools on IDS and DB2
www.gillani.com
FourGen CASE Tools Highlights
i Form Painteri Screen Code Generatori Featurizeri Report Generatori Menu’ing Systemi iDesktop (Windows GUI front-end or
browser-enabled front-end)i Source Code Control Systemi XML based Schema Management Tools
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FourGen® CASE ToolsCode Generation Path
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Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity Using FourGen® CASE Tools on IDS and DB2
§ Increased productivity over 3GL development
i Ten times faster than hand-coding in 4GL i Speeds up initial development AND
reduces ongoing cost of program maintenancei Over 80% of the cost of software applications
is ongoing maintenance
i Facilitates user/developer communication
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Why FourGen® CASE Tools?
i Structured Codei Automatic Code Documentationi Code Design Standardsi User Interface Standardsi Version Controli Generated code is Modifiable By Design™
(MBD)i Multi-language Code Generation
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Why FourGen® CASE Tools?
i GUI & Character user selected interfaces
OR
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FourGen® CASE ToolsForm Painter
i Create new or update existing formsi Creates 100% Informix 4GL compatible .per’si Various types of forms supported – header,
header/detail, query, zooms etc.i Easy to define zooms, lookups & validation
functionalityi Link many forms – easily & effectivelyi Developer-friendly interfacei Detail Explosion – Present additional detail
data on same screen
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i 100% Informix 4GL Codei “Hooks” in generated code allow
developers to add custom codei Organizes code into separate .4GL’s
namely i globals.4gl, main.4gl, header.4gl, detail.4gl,
midlevel.4gl for input screens
i Dynamic arrays for line items – no more arr_max hassle
i Automatically generates GUI Code
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Program Main – Header
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Program Main – Header / Detail
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Browse Form
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Zoom
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Query
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Extension Form
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Add-on Detail
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FourGen® CASE ToolsScreen Code Generator
i Add-on
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FourGen® CASE ToolsFeaturizer
i Merges generated code & custom codei Generated code remains untouchedi FourGen® Featurizer reads instructions in
extension files to modify source codei With Block commands you place code based
on the inserted block tagsi Add new business logic or customize flow
logic without modifying original source codei Change in a screen or schema, just regenerate
code to reapply your changes
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FourGen® CASE ToolsReport Code Generator
i Create Informix 4GL reports programs using report image file
i Organizes code into separate .4GL’s namely i globals.4gl, main.4gl, report.4gl, midlevel.4gl,
lowlevel.4gl for report programs
i Includes the following sectionsi Layouti Attributesi Selecti Languagei Schedulei Concurrency
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FourGen® Report Output Rendered in MS Word Format
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FourGen® Report Output Rendered in MS Excel
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FourGen® Report Output Rendered in PDF Format
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FourGen® Report Output Rendered on Browser
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FourGen® CASE ToolsMenu’ing System
i FourGen® Menusi Menu options can be single or multiple
characters with descriptioni Flexible menu option formati Each menu & submenu has its own directoryi Menu option can use hotkey optioni Predefined structure can be utilized for
Enterprise Applicationi Windows Explorer-like Menu interface available
via iDesktop for GUI
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FourGen® CASE ToolsiDesktop
i Windows based GUI generatori Reads database for screens that make up a programi Generates VB Forms from Informix Formsi Creates GUI Executables from VB Forms
i GUI menu program presents menus in WIN Explorer-like format
i SSH communication for added securityi Report output rendered in Browser, MS Word, MS
Excel & PDF format
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FourGen® CASE ToolsiDesktop Code Generation Path
Win 2000
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FourGen® CASE ToolsSource Code Control System
i FourGen® SCCS originally developed in mid 1980’s
i Builds on top of sccs utilities in UNIXi Advantages
i Extremely robusti Easy to usei Tight control of codei Included in FourGen® CASE Tools
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FourGen® CASE ToolsSchema Management Tools
i FourGen DBmergei Allows you to control schemai Provides audit trail of schema changes when
used with FourGen® SCCSi All schema information & standard data stored
in XML format
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ü Dynamic Array Model – No more hard coding of # of array elements.
ü User Defined Notes on Screens – Multiple note types and notes for each line of detail.
ü Add-on hdr/dtl, add-on view hdr/dtl, extension hdr/dtl etc. are few of new Form Types
ü Detail Explosion – Detail to Detail line for hdr/dtl screens
ü Grids replace temporary tables – index ‘em, random access ‘em, unload ‘em even in .csv formats
ü Primary Keys instead of Row ID’s
ü Function Metrics – Trace your program control within functions
ü DB Merge Utilities Made Easy – Supports XML formats
ü Defer or force referential constraints using Library Functions
ü Encryption Functions available – handy for securing your data
ü Report outputs rendered in Browser, MS Word, MS Excel or in PDF format
ü iDesktop – GUI Front-End now available with secure shell (SSH) communication protocol for added security
ü Document attachment feature available with GUI Front-End
ü Archive & Purge - Set your own selection and rejection rules and save them as catalogs for successive runs or run these programs as batch jobs
ü Support of native databases like DB2 UDB, DB2 Express, IDS V10
FourGen® CASE ToolsFEATURES in FourGen CASE Tools V8.2
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Applications Developed using FourGen CASE Tools V8.2
Gillani’s iDistribute and Financials v8.2
• iDistribute - A complete end-to-end Supply Chain/Distribution Management solution (formerly FourGen/Endura SCM) delivering extraordinary business results for users since 1983.
• iDistribute - The system provides advanced Order Management capabilities, integrated with a comprehensive Warehouse and Branch Inventory Management, Purchasing and Replenishment System.
• Financials - An Integrated ERP, Accounting System (formerly FourGen Accounting, FourGen Enterprise, Endura Enterprise) providing GL, AP, AR, FA, Budget Management, Credit Management and Financial Reporting functionality.
WRITTEN USING FOURGEN CASE TOOLS !
CORNERSTONE OF “MODIFIABILITY BY DESIGN™” CONCEPT !
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FourGen CASE Tools V8.2
Beta Testing of the 4GL to EGL Conversion Tool with IBM.
- Successfully converted program modules withFourGen CASE Tools to EGL
- Currently EGL supports conversion of 4GL Forms toTUI (text based interface) only
- Browser-enable your 4GL apps
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Platform Compatibility
ü AIX ü SuSe LINUXü Red Hat LINUXü HPü SUNü DECü SCO
Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity using FourGen® CASE Tools on IDS and DB2
Informix User Forum 2005 Moving Forward With Informix
Atlanta, Georgia December 8-9, 2005
Syed Kamal, CEO Syed Kamal, CEO [email protected]
Ravi B, Technical Development Manager Ravi B, Technical Development Manager [email protected]
Gillani, Inc. ( formerly FourGen) Gillani, Inc. ( formerly FourGen) (877) 424 8500(877) 424 8500
InformixInformix--4GL Developers: Improve 4GL Developers: Improve Productivity using FourGen CASE ToolsProductivity using FourGen CASE Tools
