Using WebSphere, Java and COBOL to Implement a Business Application

Using WebSphere, Java and COBOL to Implement a Business Application
Iowa State University Ames, Iowa Enrollment: 26,800 Public Land Grant University Larry Newhouse Information Systems Leader Iowa State University ADP Center 2nd Floor ASB Ames, IA 50011 (515) (515) (Fax) Andy Terry Systems Analyst II Iowa State University ADP Center 2nd Floor ASB Ames, IA 50011 (515) (515) (Fax) 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Iowa State University - ADP Center
Major Points ISU and the ADP Center Architecture Goals Existing & New Architectural Model Trials and Tribulations Demo This presentation will follow the evolutionary changes we went through to move from a typical TN3270 development shop to one that has the architecture and staff knowledge to develop web applications and how we were able to coordinate the two development environments. Overview – ISU and ADP Center Review the initiative Golas Take a look at our Existing and New Architecture Model Talk about the T & T of getting there -Demo the Purchase Requisition and Routing System 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

ISU Statistics Established 1858 - 1st Land-Grant College
Fall 2000 Enrollment 26,800 Total Faculty & Staff 6,200 Number of Colleges 9 00-01 Revenues 690,000,000 Campus Acres 2,000 Paid commercial advertisement…. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Staff P&S, 14 Merit, 25 students Support - 43 Networks, PCs 120,000,000 records 10,000 programs Process daily: 250,000 On-line transaction 300 Batch jobs 100 Help Center Calls 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Audience Quiz I know how to code JSP’s, EJB’s, Servlets, and/or XML. I lead/play key role in web development efforts. Quiz time…don’t worry everyone should pass… Give us an idea where you are in Web application development I have some clue – want to learn more. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Architecture/Technology Goals
Hardware independence OS/390, Unix, Wintel(NT) Access to data at its source Application code on appropriate platform Leverage/reuse … Staff experience Existing business logic ADP Strategic directions Basis for Reviewing Model HARDWARE INDEPENDENCE--As much as Possible: Support web development on several platforms. Integrate solutions (Inhouse, vendor products, clients, etc) Access data at it’s source!!! – when ever possible. Main database source today is DB2 on our Center System (Administrative, Student application, Imaging data). ‘data’ exists everywhere. Tap into it at it source (responsible for maintenance). Today’s expertise COBOL on our S/390 system. Leverage application code where most appropriate to develop and execute. Leverage: Solid/knowledgeable development staff. Experts supporting large scale systems. Proven business logic that has been developed ??-- Business Logic –COBOL; development/support staff experienced in the S/390 world…What can we do to leverage what we know best, reused this expertise and logic in driving application development into the future.. Evolution not revolution 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Architecture Data Access / Application Model Next Generation Criteria New Model Next I’ll review our Data Access and Application model as it was prior to this initiative. Take a look at the criteria and decisions behind our next generation Model Review the model we implemented. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Data Access Model TN3270 1800+ clients UNIX 30,000+ clients NT 100+ Clients TN3270 Terminal – 1800 clients - Mature Central System (IBM Multiprise 3000 Mainframe), COBOL, DB2 Proven Standards NT& Active Server Pages – 100 clients –maturing Started WEB BASED interface to a purchased software product NT environment/toolset new to our support and development staff. Longer ‘window of access’ – still need system/application time Unix / CGI – Vendor middleware – 25,000 clients - maturing First WEB platform: initial application Aug 96 Largest client set ever – new challenges here Revisit standards – presents new opportunities and challenges Pilot Environment - Multi-platform Unix, Central System, NT, WebSphere Application server, Java Server Pages, Java Servlets, Java Beans, Visual Age for Java 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Web Applications Financial Aid Award Offer, Status, E-award, Loan History, Job Board Registrar Class Registration, Schedule, Transcript, General Info Resident Hall & Dining Services Contract, Room & Roommate Signup, Select Dining Service Options University Bill Advisee Information Voting Address Change Benefits Sign-up List of web applications that have been developed for our AccessPlus system 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Web Information Requests
Delivered content is escalating each fiscal year Count pages delivering ‘content’. Measuring personal transactions… delivering more results in requests for more 25 years COBOL CICS Administrative applications 4 years web development of CICS personal application Last Aug. DB2 transactions on A+ approached our PRODA (administrative environment) This ‘growth’ provided some insight into potential request for information on the Business application side. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Architecture/Project Initiative
‘Web’ System Development Legacy System Personal Web Business Web Interface with other legacy application processes Upgrade Existing Legacy System Mainframe terminal & Web support Use / Integrate with Existing Web Architecture Review the Architecture/Technology … Purchase Requisition and Routing System Large, existing Purchasing system. Brand new application designed for 3270 deployment (over a year) 1999 Directors retreat it was changed to Web Only… Needed to interface with existing 3270/batch legacy applications processes and databases Final result from redirection was 50 web pages on the server and 50 applications programs on our S/390 system Routing: extended and refined Process approval routing system…3270 and Web page support for shared business logic code Existing access web access model based on vendor middleware – need transparent integration appropriate for the person logging in. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Next Generation Platform Criteria
Who/where are the clients Maintain transactional integrity Interface requirements Strengths: staff application systems standards vendor relationships Training Desktop requirements Had to “LOOK AT…. ----Play into….. Could we continue with existing platform?? NEED to look at new opportunities?? Clients: students/staff in personal role. “request/view”. Now we were moving into the business process arena. New complexity to delivery. Processes more involved. Insure integrity. Process / Data. Beyond request/View transactions. Interface: single presentation issue for TN3270 & Web Reviewed strengths: Development and support staff expertise needed to be leveraged. Who could/wanted to move into the new development areas Redefine future of our application development environment Review/extend existing standards Review vendor relationships, commitments, directions Relied on a few select staff to do web programming Open architecture Training and desktop evolution - mean in new environment 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Mindsets Staff Mindset Analyst Designer Client Application Mindset TN3270 Business Applications Web ‘Request/View’ Applications Web ‘Business’ Applications Mindset changes affect: Analyst – how they design and integrate their systems Design – how information is presented Client – how to build / interface with job process Application mindset Coming from a TN3270 way of doing business Moving beyond the request/view application design Implementing ‘Business’ applications and associated complex processes ---Where to use--- Review Future Architectural Needs New Challenges 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Where do all the pieces fit?
Object-Oriented Design (OO) Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) Java Beans Java Applets Java Server Pages (JSP’s) Look At…. New Terminology – New Languages, Tools, Programs, etc One the our first challenges was to wade through the alphabet soup of technological acronyms, definitions and functionality, and try to determine what we needed and how each of these pieces fit together. There were a lot of issues we had to work through just so we could communicate and develop a clear plan. Java Servlets Enterprise Java Beans (EJB’s) CICS/COBOL 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

It’s usually a long winding road when working with new technology… but we have always found ‘volunteers’ ready to leap into this new world and lead the charge!! 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

The decisions were made!
WebServer: WebSphere Application Server Desktop VisualAge for Java & WebSphere Studio HomeSite/FrontPage 2000 Business logic on the central system Upgrade desktops as needed Identify/develop training Enhance support areas Servers, desktop software, help desk, client Given our IT center direction and staff …. Reviewed: Architecture, Data sources, Access, Application platforms, Clients, Staff, Training and desktop issues….. WAS: initially on Unix platform, Ultimately work toward S/390 Central System Tools…VAJ/WS for servlets, Beans, Version control, desktop testing. Homesite and Frontpage as alternative page developers Business Logic in Cobol / CICS Review requirements: Somewhat larger PC’s….muuuuuuch more memory Varied Formal training areas and issues to be met. New software New development environment Objects. Objects. Objects Source control procedures – New modules to deal with Testing environment Team development environment opportunities 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Architecture Model This is the resulting model: Java server pages for presentation, presentation logic, some editing Connection bean – gateway to Central Server (OS/390) via CICS Transaction Gateway COBOL programs for business logic, Database access, Shared processes 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Model Impact Areas ADP Center ADP Staff Administrative Clients The change to this new ‘Architecture MODEL’ impacted many areas: Trials and Tribulations…. ADP Center ADP Staff Administrative Clients 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-ADP Center-Standards
History of Standards at the ADP Center Balancing – Resources / Requirements Application Environments Procedural Processes Source Control STANDARDS: History of ‘standards’ at ADP. Implemented programming standards that have allowed us to increase transaction throughput while maintaining response time at less the half a second. Now have to extend these ‘standards’ to web applications. Different presentation environment, design thought process. BALANCE: Balance these standards for long term support of all applications with the clients desire to take full advantage of the capabilities the web offers. (screen size, graphics, etc) Application Environment: Past we have had a test/development area and a production area. WEB- needed an area for final QA and client training. The ‘web’ test area was still evolving and much too immature for the stability required for QA and Client Training. Foresee need for ‘TRAINING’ to provide ‘DEMO’ functionality but with masked data values. Procedural Processes: The new environment brought with it another layer of complicity as far as testing and debugging is concerned. We recognized the need to have tools that would help identify loopholes, and bottlenecks in our code. We looked at a variety of packages: Mercury Interactive offers a suite designed to identify web site scalability, and functionality issues, Webtrends has a log analyzing/reporting product, and we developed an in-house stress testing tool, we call ‘The Pounder’. We also used the time tested method of writing timestamped information to a log to determine where bottlenecks were occurring. One thing that we have learned, is that you cannot test applications (especially web applications) too much. Stress testing is a particularly important factor for web applications. Through the use of tools like theses, we were able to improve our design model, identify performance problems, and correct coding errors that had the potential to effect data integrity. The tools helped us to flush out these issues prior to releasing the application to the users. Source Control: 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-ADP Center-Security
How to integrate with existing security on central system Access to CICS programs. Access to CICS systems. Access to functions within CICS systems. How to integrate with security process used in existing web model We felt that it was very important to be able to reuse the security mechanisms that we had in place for our existing systems. We already had tables residing on our host that mapped applications and functions to specific user, and we did not want to have to duplicate that for our web environment. Another security area that needed to be addressed was how to incorporate our purchased middleware application seamlessly with the new Web development. The first layer of security to our system is the frontdoor login. At this point an ID and PIN are entered. Behind the scenes,we authenticate the ID & PIN, translate that ID into the appropriate keys needed to determine the options available for that user (including if they should have access to the existing purchased package system). Our goal was to make this frontdoor security module flexible enough to be able to accept a variety of ID types (Univ ID, SSN, Network ID) and deliver the correct menu options for all cases. We have also tried to modularize the process so that new authentication methods (to a kerberos server for example) can be plugged in seamlessly. At the application level, a security bean was developed and incorporated into the JSP model that accesses the existing tables on the host to guarantee that the user has authority to the data that is requested. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Staff-Strengths
Assessed Strengths Analytical / Business Logic Integrated TN3270 Applications Cobol / CICS / DB2 / ODBC Complex Batch Processes Host Centric Editors, Debugging and control processes “Additional” Skill Sets Required Graphic Designers Component / Object designers Languages Toolsets Analyst know their clients system Written business logic Developed departmental and integrated systems based on TN3270 presentation options Cobol – main language for business logic CICS – On-line transaction vehicle DB2 / ODBC – database access Complex batch processes to support client requirements Host centric: - source control, debugging tools, text program editors Tomorrows skills will be necessary to lead the new development processes “Additional” skills, now replacement Important to keep these skills fresh. Training depends on internal structure. Centralized Java development vs decentralized. Specialists. Business logic model Java Development Tools: VAJ / WebSphere Studio / Notepad HTML Tools: Homesite / Frontpage Modeling tools: Object oriented / pattern design, UML / Rational Rose Wizards: JSP/Record bean 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Staff-Growth Object Design Legacy Mindset Legacy/Web system integration Refreshing Skills Always developed ‘objects’ only they were application specific and probably to involved to be reused. Developing for TN3270 vs web…different results. Integration of TN3270 and web functionality involved. Keep skills fresh… Graphic design staffing component of process Libraries of objects for reuse. Multiple language options for business logic, presentation logic, etc Many more toolsets are offered. More difficult to standardize and support. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Staff-Wizards
Why use code generators? Pre-defined standards Rapid application development Shorter learning curve for staff History of in-house developed code generators and standards Our code generator Input COBOL copybook Generates XML or RecordBean Generates JSP Publishes generated code to work area. To help facilitate the development of this infrastructure, code generators have been developed. ADP has a long history of using code generators for our COBOL development. Generators have many advantages including adherence to standards, rapid application development, and decreasing the learning curve for new users. It didn’t take long to realize that we needed a code generator for the Java code as well. Many hours were spent developing a java code generator that could read the linkage area (which is the data that is passed back and forth, the communication data) from a CICS program and generate a functional Java Server Page including the XML, and/or Record bean and publish the page to your working environment. Using the generator, functional JSPs could be created within a matter of minute, instead of the hours or days it would take to code them by hand. And as a bonus, all of the pages conformed to standards and were much easier to maintain. The generator has recently been upgraded to create the servlets and beans needed to perform system level security checking, menu building and key area displays. So it is now possible to generate an entire functional base web application from scratch in just minutes. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Wizards – JSP/XML/Record Bean Generator
This is what the generator looks like. This version was built with visual Basic, and follows a wizard-like methodology. The first step in the generation of a JSP is to select the copybook that corresponds to the linkage area of the COBOL program. To do this you would click on the ‘Open Copybook’ button, which would in turn open a file explorer, in which you would select the appropriate file. Once a file is selected, an edit box containing the data from the file is opened at the bottom of the screen. You can edit this data on the fly, or just check it to be sure it is what you want. After you have entered the COBOL program Name and verified the path for the output from the generator, the ‘Next’ button would be available to continue. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Wizards – JSP Code When the first page of data is complete, the next page asks you to select the fields you want to use as input. The list of fields that are available (on the left hand side), are all of the fields that are in the copybook you selected on the first screen. The selected fields will be used to build the setter methods in the record bean. The next screen would ask you to select the output fields, and would be used to build the getter methods of the record bean, as well as determining what fields to display on the output JSP. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Staff-Testing & Debugging
Server / Model Site / Activity Analyzer Bottlenecks in model “The Pounder” (site stress testing tool) Application Understanding debugging points End to end debugging The new environment brought with it another layer of complicity as far as testing and debugging is concerned. We recognized the need to have tools that would help identify loopholes, and bottlenecks in our code. We looked at a variety of packages: Mercury Interactive offers a suite designed to identify web site scalability, and functionality issues, Webtrends has a log analyzing/reporting product, and we developed an in-house stress testing tool, we call ‘The Pounder’. We also used the time tested method of writing timestamped information to a log to determine where bottlenecks were occurring. One thing that we have learned, is that you cannot test applications (especially web applications) too much. Stress testing is a particularly important factor for web applications. Through the use of tools like theses, we were able to improve our design model, identify performance problems, and correct coding errors that had the potential to effect data integrity. The tools helped us to flush out these issues prior to releasing the application to the users. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Architecture Model I’ve talked about the road we traveled to our current architecture model, the impact this had and continues to have on the ADP Center and our IT staff. Now I’d like to introduce Andy Terry to talk about the impact to our clients. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Client History with clients Long-term Positive Committed History of Initiative Requisitioning design phase Director’s retreat initiative Client needs to become aware of additional presentation options available in the Web Browser. These additional options cause a longer design phase Graphical not always best for large amounts of plain data entry Data checking immediately after entry vs. TN3270 screen checking No additional software leads to more users wanting access to applications. More users leads to more diverse roles being established Most users will initially use both Web and TN3270 environments Our time-out limits need to be shorter for web applications due to server overhead, security, and number of potential users 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Client Expectations Functionality More intuitive, more options, more access Costs Lower Client needs to become aware of additional presentation options available in the Web Browser. These additional options cause a longer design phase Graphical not always best for large amounts of plain data entry Data checking immediately after entry vs. TN3270 screen checking No additional software leads to more users wanting access to applications. More users leads to more diverse roles being established Most users will initially use both Web and TN3270 environments Our time-out limits need to be shorter for web applications due to server overhead, security, and number of potential users 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Impact-Client Outcome Functionality More intuitive, more options, more access Costs Not lower Client needs to become aware of additional presentation options available in the Web Browser. These additional options cause a longer design phase Graphical not always best for large amounts of plain data entry Data checking immediately after entry vs. TN3270 screen checking No additional software leads to more users wanting access to applications. More users leads to more diverse roles being established Most users will initially use both Web and TN3270 environments Our time-out limits need to be shorter for web applications due to server overhead, security, and number of potential users 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Results Success! Positive Satisfied Excited Exciting and challenging process More complex than expected Required a great deal of cross departmental cooperation and commitment Standardization is very important Through the development of a sound application model, robust application generators, and effective development guidelines, we feel we are strongly positioned to develop efficient and dynamic web-based systems for today and tomorrow. We feel very good about the groundwork that we have laid, and are eagerly looking forward to opportunities that are ahead. Today, we have two business applications running in a limited production mode. Currently there are around 50 users, totaling around a thousand hits a day, with an average response time of < .5 seconds. The number of users and hits is ramping up daily. We will soon be moving these applications to a more powerful server (hopefully decreasing response time). What have we learned… Coming from basically ground zero in the OO/Java world to where we are today…we’ve learned A LOT! But we realize that what we know is just the tip of the iceberg. Some the the biggest items we’ve learned is the importance of modularization, standardization, and testing; as well as being flexible enough to change. Our immediate plans are to continue learning, expand the training available to the staff, and to continue to develop and improve applications for the web environment. Purchasing alone has identified 8 additional phases of the requisitioning system. Two other applications are under design. A couple of things looming on the horizon are personalizing the web experience, as well as integration of Wireless technology. And now I’d like to open it up to any questions you may have. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Today What we learned Complex Commitment Standardization Modularization Flexible Exciting and challenging process More complex than expected Required a great deal of cross departmental cooperation and commitment Standardization is very important Through the development of a sound application model, robust application generators, and effective development guidelines, we feel we are strongly positioned to develop efficient and dynamic web-based systems for today and tomorrow. We feel very good about the groundwork that we have laid, and are eagerly looking forward to opportunities that are ahead. Today, we have two business applications running in a limited production mode. Currently there are around 50 users, totaling around a thousand hits a day, with an average response time of < .5 seconds. The number of users and hits is ramping up daily. We will soon be moving these applications to a more powerful server (hopefully decreasing response time). What have we learned… Coming from basically ground zero in the OO/Java world to where we are today…we’ve learned A LOT! But we realize that what we know is just the tip of the iceberg. Some the the biggest items we’ve learned is the importance of modularization, standardization, and testing; as well as being flexible enough to change. Our immediate plans are to continue learning, expand the training available to the staff, and to continue to develop and improve applications for the web environment. Purchasing alone has identified 8 additional phases of the requisitioning system. Two other applications are under design. A couple of things looming on the horizon are personalizing the web experience, as well as integration of Wireless technology. And now I’d like to open it up to any questions you may have. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Future What’s next? Continue learning Expand staff training Add Web applications Personalize Web experience Include Wireless Technology Exciting and challenging process More complex than expected Required a great deal of cross departmental cooperation and commitment Standardization is very important Through the development of a sound application model, robust application generators, and effective development guidelines, we feel we are strongly positioned to develop efficient and dynamic web-based systems for today and tomorrow. We feel very good about the groundwork that we have laid, and are eagerly looking forward to opportunities that are ahead. Today, we have two business applications running in a limited production mode. Currently there are around 50 users, totaling around a thousand hits a day, with an average response time of < .5 seconds. The number of users and hits is ramping up daily. We will soon be moving these applications to a more powerful server (hopefully decreasing response time). What have we learned… Coming from basically ground zero in the OO/Java world to where we are today…we’ve learned A LOT! But we realize that what we know is just the tip of the iceberg. Some the the biggest items we’ve learned is the importance of modularization, standardization, and testing; as well as being flexible enough to change. Our immediate plans are to continue learning, expand the training available to the staff, and to continue to develop and improve applications for the web environment. Purchasing alone has identified 8 additional phases of the requisitioning system. Two other applications are under design. A couple of things looming on the horizon are personalizing the web experience, as well as integration of Wireless technology. And now I’d like to open it up to any questions you may have. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Application Demonstration
AccessPlus – existing front door for students and faculty. Logical place for Web Administrative systems. Users enter either SS# or UNIV ID along with a pin# to gain access to their applications. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Initial AccessPlus Menu with dynamic columns of functions based on status within the University. ADIN – administrative Information Systems Students - Faculty General Maintenance 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Access Plus Navigation Key Fields AccessPlus Navigation – carry over from initial AccessPlus apps. Menu, help, and logout. One bean for every function of every system. Key fields – carry-over from TN3270 apps. Data in these fields work in conjunction with functions in the Menu area. One bean for each System. Menu area – Functions are defined in existing Systems control. One bean per system used to dynamically build this area based on Login ID and System ID. Data Entry – Each function in menu area ties to corresponding JSP and COBOL programs. JSP is the presentation piece and the COBOL deals with the business logic. Reference area – link to departmental contact plus general information. Data Entry Reference Menu 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Simple Display/Update function – Pull down selection box System menu always present Messages at bottom at file time. Key fields populated as well. Missing or incorrect data fields are turned red. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Browse Function – Sort options in column headings Selection with button at left of row to bring up detail screen. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

DEMONSTRATION And now I’d like to open it up to any questions you may have. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Questions? And now I’d like to open it up to any questions you may have. 12/7/2018 Iowa State University - ADP Center

Using WebSphere, Java and COBOL to Implement a Business Application

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Using WebSphere, Java and COBOL to Implement a Business Application

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