Aldon Delivers New Plug-Ins for WDSc, Eclipse

January 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

System i developers should gain better control over their development environments as a result of new utilities revealed by Aldon last week. The change management software vendor unveiled new plug-ins that connect its Lifecycle Manager software with the Eclipse and WebSphere Development Studio Client (WDSc) development tools, and which bring new compare and merge capabilities, promotion of code functionality, and better navigation, among other enhancements.

Over the last few years, developers of programmer utilities have evolved their product packaging to take advantage of the new Eclipse-based integrated development environment (IDE) that has become predominant on the platform. In the case of change management tool vendors, this adjustment has constituted creating plug-ins that allow developers to access the range of change management functionality directly from within the IDE, thereby minimizing the number of programs and screens developers must navigate to manage source code, keep track of versions, put new code in production, and other activities. Aldon has done this in much the same way as other change management vendors.

Aldon, which last year was acquired by the venture capital group Marlin Equity Partners, last week announced two new plug-ins that connect its flagship System i change management suite, Lifecycle Manager System i Edition (LMi), with WDSc and any other Eclipse-based IDE.

The new plug-ins also bring new features. For example, LMi plug-in users now have the capability to select any active object for comparison purposes within the Remote System Explorer (RSE) component of WDSc. By giving developers additional flexibility to compare objects, whether they reside in other releases, the central repository, testing stages, or in other IDEs, Aldon is helping them see the “big picture” that includes prior work and leads to more intelligent merges, the company says.

Another new RSE feature enables developers to promote code from within RSE at any stage of development, thereby speeding up development times and creating a streamlined process, Aldon says.

Finding tasks and objects in LMi from within the RSE is also easier, thanks to a new capability that allows the developer to identify the task or object by entering a general name or by pulling up a list, Aldon says.

Finally, the new plug-ins make it easier to create customized default settings and assign task parameters, thereby ensuring that the developer has the right check-ins and check-outs, and ensuring developers have the necessary resources.

System i developer productivity will increase as a result of the new plug-ins, Aldon president and COO Matt Scholl says. “Access, control, and visibility of code are major benefits for developers and managers alike, and it’s what Aldon is consistently delivering,” he says. “These plug-ins represent our continued efforts to enhance the Aldon System i offering and ultimately increase developer productivity.”

The plug-ins for LMi are available now. For more information, visit www.aldon.com.