Developers Benefit from New Visual LANSA Framework Features

by Dan Burger

Developers using Visual LANSA get a shot in the arm now that LANSA has introduced Visual LANSA Framework, a design framework that company sources say will help developers create Windows and Web applications without the steep learning curve associated with some other development languages, Java in particular. The key features of this framework are the easy-to-use and easy-to-deploy Microsoft Outlook-style approach, and the capability for rapid prototype, design, implementation and deployment of common, commercially focused applications.

"Many developers have told us that they find it difficult to migrate 5250 applications to client/server or the Web successfully," says Don Nelson, director of customer support at LANSA. "They also find client/server and Web applications complex and hard to deploy. Visual LANSA Framework offers a complete lifecycle development environment that makes Windows and Web applications much easier to implement."

In addition to providing the framework to develop and deploy Web pages, LANSA has taken the step to integrate multilingual business applications across iSeries, Windows, and Unix platforms, Nelson says. Visual LANSA uses LANSA's Object Repository and 4GL to develop both client and server programs.

One of the primary benefits of the framework is that application prototypes can be quickly defined. These prototypes provide a vision of an application's look, feel, and navigation, and a method in which applications can be evaluated by developers and users before any of the code is written. Because the application is browser-based, these prototypes can be e-mailed to other developers and users, and the feedback can begin quicker, and without as much money being invested in preparing a prototype.

In this development process, LANSA officials note, the prototype is not thrown away. Rather than developing in two separate environments for the product and the prototype, development is accomplished in one environment and is gradually converted from prototype to real application by using a snap-in architecture.

Code Assistants, which function like templates, can be used to generate much of the code required for the user interface. The variable in this depends on how the 5250 code was originally written, but in most instances the code of items such as pricing routines and freight costs can be reused. Also helping to streamline the process is a library of "Fast Parts" that make it easier to build components such as radio buttons, drop-down lists, and grids, and reduce dependency on HTML or JavaScript knowledge.

The built-in security provides a simple way to manage users and their authority within the applications.

Users can personalize applications by rearranging them according to their work preferences, including the use of Cascading Style Sheets to support three separate appearances: classic Windows, classic Web, and Windows XP. Developers can deploy all three choices and let the user decide which one to implement.

Visual LANSA Framework will most likely be used in typical line-of-business production applications, such as ERP, CRM, or EIS applications, as opposed to a shopping cart or a B2C application. LANSA officials say the framework is best suited for those who use the application frequently and require a fast response time, frequent task switching, and high-volume processing.

Pricing is tier-based and ranges between $5,000 and $20,000, based on the number of developer seats required. The framework is bundled with the Visual LANSA development system and is free to Visual LANSA customers as part of the maintenance package.

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