by Dan Burger

Expanding businesses to the Web has many company executives scratching their heads as they consider enterprise-level processing power, robust security, rapid and full integration with back-end corporate and legacy systems, and easy customization to integrate enterprise business rules. One of the successful software companies that has provided businesses with a productive way to modernize and extend their programs is Magic Software Enterprises, which has just introduced version 2 of its eMerchant product.

Magic eMerchant v2 is a catalog presentation management system with customizable capabilities that allow companies to publish dynamic data, static data, and unstructured content within the same page templates. It also permits presentation sections with their own built-in logic to be moved and changed dynamically without coding.

Its product configuration engine allows online product configuration based upon rules, product attributes, or product components. In addition, it enables customers to receive up-to-date pricing and details based upon customer specifications generated on-the-fly.

The multi-tier architecture supports multiple business units, stores, outlets, and branches, and its multi-level administration ensures that the host corporation can keep track of site use, while giving each separate site control of its own processes and products--benefits typically associated with more costly, custom-built systems.

Underlying eMerchant's functionality and flexibility is Magic's core technology, called eDeveloper. The eDeveloper for iSeries provides access to native iSeries data, programs, and system facilities. It also allows modifications to eMerchant without coding.

The technology is platform- and database-independent. For development purposes, it uses a GUI interface, which is known for its comparatively low cost, quick implementation, easy integration, scalability, and flexibility. Development work calls on RPG and COBOL programs, which in turn call on Magic components that can be deployed on other platforms.

The eDeveloper for iSeries Server enables concurrent access to Internet and workstation clients, and provides partitioning capabilities. One of the benefits realized is that server- based batch processing reduces the workload on the client and provides access to remote printers.

In terms of flexibility, Magic servers can be configured to work with MQSeries application servers, and Magic clients can work alongside MQSeries clients regardless of whether they are 3GL, Java, ActiveX, MAPI, Lotus Notes, or Web browsers. The servers support Netscape Server API, Internet Server API, and CGI.

Applications interface with Lotus Domino for email and workflow processes while maintaining interaction with legacy applications, including native RPG, COBOL, ILE/C, and MQSeries.

eMerchant also supports the Linux operating system on the iSeries platform, which Magic and IBM hope will be a good marriage with a bright future.

According to Magic Software, companies are using eMerchant worldwide in a wide variety of industries, including retail, manufacturing, and distribution.

The cost of the eMerchant software varies depending on the platform that runs it. Sources at Magic Software say the cost for implementation on an AS/400 or iSeries would be $20,000. However, eMerchant is a framework, as opposed to a solution. Companies generally require professional services around Magic eMerchant in order to customize the product for their individual business rules. A good estimate for a highly functional e-commerce solution that builds upon and integrates existing legacy systems is $250,000.

by Alex Woodie

Computer Associates has started shipping its latest release of COOL:Plex, an application development environment for midrange OS/400 and Windows servers. COOL:Plex 5.0 features several enhancements geared toward interoperability with existing applications as well as other products in the CA product line. It is also designed to integrate with future applications that are based on XML, Java, and .NET development constructs.

COOL:Plex is a proprietary development environment and code generator that makes extensive use of "software patterns," predeveloped and reusable templates that solve common development productivity challenges. COOL:Plex generates RPG code for AS/400 and iSeries machines, and C++ code for Windows, and it allows users to deploy the applications using DB2, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server database management systems.

With the release of version 5.0, CA has added two software patterns: one for XML and another for developing portals. The XML pattern allows COOL:Plex developers to add XML capabilities to OS/400 and Windows applications. The pattern for portals streamlines the integration of COOL:Plex-generated applications with CA's portal product, the Jasmine Portal.

COOL:Plex 5.0 also features a "drag and drop" compatibility with the Jasmine Integration Server, which is CA's enterprise application integration platform. This innovation allows developers to more easily link COOL:Plex-developed applications with the range of adapters and interfaces that the Jasmine Integration Server brings to bear. The adapters are compatible with enterprise packages from SAP, Siebel, and PeopleSoft, as well as with various XML, Enterprise JavaBean, Component Object Model, and CORBA interfaces.

The third major enhancement made to COOL:Plex pertains to change management and impact analysis. This enhancement permits teams of developers, working in different locations, to identify changes being made to an application as they occur, and to monitor the effects of those changes on other applications. By adding object dependencies, CA hopes to reduce the debugging cycle for COOL:Plex users.

Characterizing version 5.0 as the "XML" release of COOL:Plex, Wasim Ahmad, CA's vice president of marketing for application development, provided a glimpse of how the entire COOL line of products will change in the months and years to come. It is important to note how companies such as CA--which bought Sterling Software's high-level 4GL development tool for the AS/400 several years ago--embrace new technologies. Their customers have invested millions of dollars in these development tools and rely on the companies to keep them current with the latest viable technology.

Ahmad said the next major release in the COOL product line--which, in addition to COOL:Plex, includes COOL:2e, for AS/400 development; COOL:Joe, for Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) development; and COOL:Gen, for mainframe and Unix development--will see the integration of J2EE capabilities into the entire product line. This will involve absorption of the COOL:Joe product into the other three COOL products, he said.

And while CA will be providing its customers with expanded support for enterprise Java, as well as compatibility with IBM's WebSphere Application Server, the next release, which is expected to occur at the CA World annual conference in April 2002, will also give its customer base new capabilities for developing applications using Microsoft's .NET program.

Bringing its COOL clients forward simultaneously with Java and .NET will pose a bit of a balancing act, Ahmad said. "We haven't announced our .NET strategy yet," he said. "We're looking at different pieces of the .NET puzzle. Our approach will be taking it through phases."

One argument in favor of heavy .NET interoperability with CA's AS/400 development tools concerns the development trends Ahmad has seen in CA's AS/400-using installed base. "We're seeing a lot of companies that have an AS/400, but their primary push is on the [Windows] NT side. They're building the next generation of applications with NT in the picture," he said. "RPG is not strategic at all."

And while .NET has already gained quite a bit of momentum--even though Microsoft's .NET development environment, Visual Studio.NET, won't be available until early next year--CA will still need to continually enhance its development tools' Java capabilities. This will be CA's big COOL announcement next April.

Both technologies will probably see greater use in corporate IS departments. Ahmad says customers will likely rely on Java technologies for corporate servers and enterprise applications, while .NET technologies will see their biggest use in customer-facing solutions. CA aims to make the coexistence of the two technologies easier on its customer base, which is one of the most diverse of any software company in the world. "I don't believe Sun is going to help integrate Java with .NET, and I don't believe Microsoft is going to help integrate .NET with Java," Ahmad said. "Our goal is going to be to bridge those two together."