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Converting existing applications
If you are creating a browser interface for an existing application, then
the fastest most productive way to create the Web interface is with the
WebFacing Tool. A normal business application with under 200 screens can be
converted and published to WebSphere Application Server for test in under 2
hours. One company converted a major ERP application with over 18,000
screens in under 3 months. With the latest version of the WebFacing Tool,
they were able to convert all but five screens without changing any display
file DDS. The five remaining screens required some minor changes.
Creating new Web applications
If you are creating brand new "browser-based" applications, then you have
several choices. If you are going to run the applications on the iSeries
server, then you should write the modular business logic as batch
applications in ILE RPG or ILE COBOL. ILE RPG and ILE COBOL are the most
efficient languages for writing business logic for OS/400.
If you are writing applications to execute on multiple servers, then you
should write your business logic in Java.
The performance of the applications will be dependent on your programming
skills in the language chosen but RPG and COBOL applications will probably
execute slightly faster than Java because Java is an OO language and will
have more instructions for the same application. The differences should
only be marginal.
Since you have created a callable batch application (one without a user
interface)in either RPG, COBOL or Java, you can now choose the application
interface. You would typically develop a browser interface with the Web
development tools included in WebSphere Development Studio for iSeries. The
Web development tools come with wizards to generate a Web interface to
iSeries programs and data. You now have a browser based application that
runs in batch mode and doesn't require any interactive cycles to execute.
With a batch application, you have the freedom to modify your application
interface. You can access your logic from a Java application, a Web/browser
interface, or a Web services application. Your application just became a
lot more flexible.
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MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC
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