ClientSoft Ships .NET Integration Tool for iSeries Apps

by Alex Woodie

ClientSoft has started shipping a new development tool that will bring OS/400 and mainframe applications closer to Microsoft's .NET fold. ClientSoft's new ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET, announced two weeks ago, is a plug-in for Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET development environment that allows .NET developers to convert OS/400 and mainframe applications into reusable components that are compatible with the .NET framework, without modifying the legacy code.

ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET runs on a Windows PC and requires Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET integrated development environment. The software features a series of wizards to help .NET developers access legacy applications, via the 5250 or 3270 data streams, and convert the screens into a series of .NET-compatible components. Developers can choose to generate several types of components using ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET, including XML-based Web services and Active Server Pages (ASPs), or ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET class libraries, windows, and custom COM+ components.

Fields from several 5250 or 3270 screens can be integrated into a single screen that is developed using this software. Similarly, both mainframe and OS/400 applications can be accessed from the same application built using ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET. Other features of interest to developers include dynamic session pooling, support for all .NET-supported languages, disconnected playback mode for continued development even when the host is not available, and automatic generation of code for describing host screen, field layout, and screen navigation.

ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET has been a while in coming. A year ago, ClientSoft joined Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET Integration Program, made up of a collection of software vendors that are building support for the .NET framework in their applications and development tools. By joining the program, ClientSoft was committing itself to delivering a plug-in that connected its OS/400 and mainframe screen-rejuvenation software and integration middleware--which is the Miami, Florida, company's core competency--with Microsoft's integrated development environment for .NET. ClientSoft is one of several middleware and development tool vendors in the OS/400 midrange space that have chosen Microsoft's .NET route over Java, although Java remains a more popular choice for software companies.

While Microsoft has yet to ship the new server operating system designed to run the first generation of .NET applications, developers, software vendors, and Microsoft business partners have been getting familiar with the core .NET integrated development environment, Visual Studio .NET, since Microsoft made it available in February. Although Microsoft's server operating system for .NET won't be available until at least next year (Microsoft renamed the Windows 2000 Server kicker "Windows .NET Server 2003" this summer. See "Whistler Is Now Windows .NET Server 2003"), ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET does not require the .NET version of the Windows operating system to run, a spokesperson for the company said. The runtime component of ClientSoft's software runs on any Windows 2000 or Windows XP machine.

ClientBuilder for Visual Studio .NET is available now. Software licenses start at $89,000, which includes some installation services. For more information, go to www.clientsoft.com.

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