ABL Re-emerges to Launch OS/400 Emulator for Smart Phones

Published: November 21, 2006

by Alex Woodie

We haven't heard much from ADVANCED BusinessLink (ABL) for a few years, but last week the company broke its long silence to introduce a new product designed to provide users with access to OS/400 applications from smart phones, PDAs, and sub-compact notebooks. Called Strategi mobileACCESS, the OS/400 host-based emulation solution introduces new technology that addresses some of the pitfalls of mobile computing, such as navigating host applications with small screens, the lack of function keys, and dealing with dropped sessions due to spotty wireless network coverage.

Strategi MobileACCESS is a host-based emulation solution that enables people working in the field to access their OS/400 applications from mobile devices with a wireless connection (either cellular or 802.11 WiFi). The product works with ABL's flagship OS/400-based Web server, called Strategi, and includes a very slim Java-based emulator that resides on the client device.

One of the hallmarks of MobileACCESS is that it doesn't require any modifications to the OS/400 host applications before users can access them in the field. Once it's been installed and configured, users have the same level of access as they would from a desktop emulator, although they'll be working with the applications in slightly different ways.

While there are other 5250 emulators for small mobile computers, MobileACCESS opens up some new possibilities for mobile computing, says ABL chief executive Chris Lategan. "The main thing is there has been such a large proliferation of smart phones, such as the MDA, the XDA, and the Motorola Q," he says. "People weren't considering those to run mobile applications on the '400. We think they're great terminals to run all those applications."

MobileACCESS will appeal to organizations looking to equip their mobile sales people and customer service representatives with host access from the field, Lategan says. "If they're going to buy them all a laptop or ruggedized device, and set them up with wireless card, it's going to cost them $2,000 to $3,000 minimum per representative. That would become a major project requiring board-level approval. Whereas what MobileACCESS is going to allow them to do is use a smart phone to have them on line with the host application." In many cases, the costs will be even less because organizations have already issued their field personnel with smart phones.

However, while the new generation of smart phones deliver a cacophony of handy features--including fold-out keyboards, touch screens, and powerful processors-- there was one big hurdle before users could start navigating their OS/400 applications from their smart phones: They lack the screen real estate generally required to display a 5250 screen. ABL went into the lab to research this problem, and came up with a series of clever techniques to overcome the screen problem.

Instead of trying to show the entire 5250 screen, which would make fonts so small they would be practically unreadable, ABL elected to display only the portion of the 5250 screen that's being used. This technology, called SmartPanning, automatically displays a portion of the screen based on where the cursor is. Users can also scroll around the screen by using the touch screen or other pointing device.

MobileACCESS also comes with a feature called Intelligent Screen Compaction that eliminates wasted screen space to maximize the viewable data. It also automatically selects the best font size for the two screens involved (the PDA or smart phone's screen, and the OS/400 screen).

Also, because smart phones and PDAs don't (generally) come with function keys, ABL came up with a feature called Dynamic Function Icons to replace the function keys found in a typical emulation environment. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that no key mapping is required. "We created a very smart engine that does it on its own without having to specify," Lategan says. "It magically picks all the right icons. It's quite a novelty with users. They say, 'How did you do that?'"

The product also streamlines system and application navigation by automatically generating hotspot links on the screen. The product's Hotspot Navigation feature, like the Dynamic Function Icons, are designed to work with touch screen devices.

Finally, MobileACCESS is also able to deal with spotty network connections. Because it runs on the server, terminal emulation sessions are not automatically dropped when the network connection is dropped. Instead, the software simply displays a message asking the user to move back to an area with a network connection. Users could be out of range for more than half a day and pick up right where they left off when they regain connectivity, Lategan says.

ABL considers roving salespeople and customer service reps to be the sweet spot for MobileACCESS. But the company also considers two other classes of users to benefit from the software, including system administrators desiring full featured remote connectivity to the iSeries, and employees working in areas with frequent WiFi dead zones, such as warehouses, equipment yards, and hotels and casinos.

ABL also sees MobileACCESS being used on small notebook computers, such as some of the ultra portable Fujitsu Lifebook PCs that have 9-inch diagonal screens. "These are very capable enterprise devices, but they're running cut down versions of Windows," Lategan says. "They're not a full-powered, fully capable device by any means, and it would run slow with a traditional emulator. The features in this product make it the emulator of choice for the mobile laptop user."

MobileACCESS runs primarily on the OS/400 server, and therefore enforces OS/400 security rules. Connections to the client devices are password protected and use SSL encryption to protect the datastream. The client portion of the product will run on any mobile platform equipped with a modern Java runtime environment; this primarily means Windows and Linux, and eliminates Palm OS, Lategan says.

MobileACCESS is one of several new products ABL is expected to launch in the near future. This will be quite a change of pace for the Kirkland, Washington, company, which has been operating in stealth mode for the last four to five years, according to Lategan, who says the company had its hands full with large services contracts since 2001. "To keep the brand intact, we decided to go dark from a product standpoint. But we've come to a point where we're going to re-launch in the market," he says. "We have created a new product roadmap, and we're at that point where we're re-engaging the market."

Licenses for MobileACCESS start at $5,000, which includes a license for a scaled-down version of its OS/400-based Strategi software. For more information, visit www.businesslink.com.