Midrange Stuff, OS/400 Edition

Companies looking to take their 5250 or 3270 applications to the Web have a bewildering assortment of technologies available to them today. Even with previous releases of Jacada's Interface Server, users had to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of using Java or HTML for the thin-client interface. Jacada last week launched a new version of Interface Server, which includes many HTML-related enhancements that, officials say, make the Java-HTML decision simpler.

Interface Server is Jacada's core Web-to-host product for iSeries servers and zSeries mainframes. The software lets users separate the traditional green-screen interface from the business logic housed in the host, then deliver a new GUI on top of that logic. The software does not get rid of the underlying 5250 or 3270 data stream, but it does give users the flexibility to update their interface with new technology supported by Jacada, such as wireless, Java, and XHTML, the XML-based variant of traditional HTML.

"In the past, if you were looking for feature-rich GUI, go for Java," says Oren Ezra, vice president of product development at the Atlanta company. "If you were looking for quick download, but less functionality, go for XHTML. Today, there are so many features, we say to prospects, XHTML has come such a long way. It's a tough decision. It's much tougher."

From a Java perspective, the decision of which core technology to base your new interface on is indeed much tougher. Ezra says most of the advantages formerly held by Interface Server's Java GUI have been erased with Version 8.0 of the product. However, from the XHTML perspective, the decision is now much easier. "Unless you have significant integration requirements on the desktop," XHTML is probably your best bet, Ezra says. "If you need to integrate with the client interface, Java is typically the more suitable environment." Jacada's customers that OEM Interface Server--ISVs like Fiserv and Geac which have delivered GUIs on top of 5250 screens--will probably opt for XHTML. Fiserv is already using it, Ezra says.

Jacada has focused on improving the XHTML GUI with this release. "We've taken XHTML to a new level with the features we've added," Ezra says. "Interface Server is capable of providing the user interface capability with XTHML that is on par with Java."

One of the enhancements in Interface Server 8.0 is a new feature called "dynamic content delivery." In previous releases, customers could manually go in and fool around with HTML tags to add, alter, or delete GUI controls, style, data, or event handlers. With Version 8.0, dynamic content delivery presents users a with way to change the way the screen behaves, without having to rewrite the syntax. "We've abstracted the HTML tags," Ezra says. "Now you're dealing with GUI components rather than HTML tags." The new feature is delivered as a server-side Java API, and it works in both Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Microsoft .NET environments.

With dynamic content delivery, Ezra says, Jacada is able to "snap" Interface Server into other applications, such as Computer Associates' CleverPath enterprise portal application. Jacada was chosen by Computer Associates to be the legacy connectivity piece for the CleverPath solution. The company has a similar deal with PeopleSoft for its portal.

The Java client used to have an edge over the XHTML client, in terms of graphical controls, like radio knobs and drop-down boxes. But, now, anything you can do to tweak a Java client, in terms of graphics, you can do to an XHTML client, Ezra says. "There's no gap in the controls."

Jacada's XHTML client previously suffered from poor performance, compared to the Java client, because the entire content of the XHTML screen was constantly being sent back and forth between the server and client; whereas only the data areas--not the page elements--needed to be updated on the Java client. With Interface Server 8.0, Jacada has introduced XHTML compression to streamline the packets of data sent between the server and the client. Further performance gains are expected from the new session-pooling capability in Interface Server. Instead of creating a new session each time a new user logs on, the software will automatically keep a set number of sessions active for people to use, cutting up to 5 seconds off the initial connect time.

Another sign of XHTML-Java parity lies in Interface Server's new support for JavaServer Pages (JSP) or Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. With this release, users have the option to generate XHTML clients, via JSPs, served from a Java-based application servers, such as IBM's WebSphere or BEA's WebLogic, or as an ASP served from Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS).

With Version 8.0, users are also given the option of using different "skins" to alter the color scheme, logos, and basic "look and feel" of their GUI, without programming or assistance from the Interface Server developer.

Interface Server also now features new interaction with Integrator, Jacada's product for developing Web services components out of 5250 and 3270 business processes. Version 8.0 features a new wizard that guides the Interface developer through the process of calling a Web service--developed separately in Integrator--directly from the Interface Server application, in either synchronous mode, where the application will wait for a response from the Integrator Web service, or in asynchronous "invoke and forget" mode.

Jacada is also shipping its own embedded HTTP Web server with Interface Server 8.0. Instead of requiring users to buy and configure their own Web server, Jacada is providing one that is preconfigured to work with Interface Server, although users don't have to use it. Jacada is using the open-source Jetty Web server, developed by Mort Bay. Other new features include heightened integration with software change management applications.

Jacada Interface Server 8.0 is available now. Pricing starts at $37,000. For more information, go to www.jacada.com.