Go Ahead And Test It, Midrange Dynamics Says

November 19, 2013 Alex Woodie

It’s tough to argue against the importance of testing new and modified applications before rolling them into production, especially with the www.healthcare.gov debacle still unfolding. While IBM i shops aren’t likely to roll out anything as big and complex as that website, they still should perform functional and regression testing, and new tools from change management software vendor Midrange Dynamics can help.

The headliner of the latest release of Midrange Dynamics’ change management software, MDCMS version 7.1.1, is a new feature designed to make it very easy to copy production data to test environments.

According to the vendor, developers can prepare a new or modified app for testing by simply selecting the libraries containing files to be copied and selecting libraries that will store those copied files. The software automatically includes all files in the library, but the developer is free to choose files to exclude. After making the file selection, he simply tells the tool to move the files into the test environment.

The developer won’t have to worry about exceeding the capacity of his test environment, thanks to special features in MDCMS 7.1.1 designed to handle multi member files. This ensures that the maximum number of records and members allowed in a test environment is not exceeded with the new or modified source code, the company says.

When the source code has successfully been moved into the test environment, MDCMS automatically generates a log file and sends it via email. This makes it easy to notify the QA manager that the test environment has been refreshed with the latest build and is ready for testing to commence.

“With MDCMS, test environment refreshes are quick and consistent for the team members involved,” Midrange Dynamics managing director Michael Morgan says in a press release. “Best of all, MDCMS users have this helpful tool available to them for no added cost in version 7.1.1.”

Other areas targeted for enhancement in version 7.1.1 include new distribution options, new e-mail tracking functions, and new compile functions.

Midrange Dynamics says the software update makes it easier to determine the lowest target releases for program compiles. “Simply define the distribution queues for the application,” the company says. “At runtime MDCMS examines the distribution queues across all levels on the local system and automatically determines the lowest target release.”

Customers also get new features for distributing source code changes manually, a feature that will come in handy when MDCMS is not accessible or when a server doesn’t have MDCMS installed. This feature could be used by software vendors to distribute patches to customers, the company says.

Finally, auditors (who, as a general rule, love change management systems) will appreciate the new email tracking functions. With version 7.1.1, the MD Mail component of MDCMS keeps a log of all email activity. The log can be searched, listed online, or exported as DDS, Excel, or PDF files, the company says.

MDCMS is designed to be an easy-to-use change management system that helps developers with various lifecycle management tasks, including source code and object management for RPG, COBOL, and Java; automated code distribution; and installation on production servers. The software is developed by Midrange Dynamics, which is based in Switzerland, and distributed in the United States through Synergivity Software.