• CMS Bites the Bullet and Overhauls ERP Suite

  January 13, 2004 Alex Woodie

  Screenscrapers didn’t do it. WebFacing couldn’t take them there. If there was an easy way to give its RPG-based ERP suite a fully functional GUI that competed head-to-head with Windows-based ERP vendors, CMS Manufacturing Systems would have found it. Absent a quick-fix converter, the Markham, Ontario, software vendor bit the bullet and this week announced its intention to rewrite more than 10 million lines of RPG IV code to separate core business logic from presentation logic. The iSeries is well-known as a bullet-proof platform on which to base mission-critical applications, but its native 5250 interface has given it an undeserved

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• Linoma Boosts Tools’ Compatibility with Windows, Excel

  January 13, 2004 Alex Woodie

  Linoma Software has issued new releases of its graphical database utility and its data transfer software that work better with Microsoft‘s popular operating system and spreadsheet software. Surveyor/400, which puts a graphical face on the DB2/400 database, received new capabilities to import and export DB2/400 data into Excel, while the Transfer Anywhere tool is now supported on the Windows NT operating system. Transfer Anywhere is a Java-based data-replication program that can handle a range of tasks, including database-to-database conversions, distribution of spool files through e-mail or FTP, and loading data into OS/400’s Integrated File System or another network file

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• Celcorp Offers Upgrades, Discounts on 5250 Emulator for Macintosh

  January 13, 2004 Alex Woodie

  As Apple celebrated the 20th anniversary of its venerable Macintosh computer last week, software developer Celcorp announced it would offer discounts of up to 20 percent on its line of terminal emulation software, which lets Macintosh users access OS/400 and mainframe servers. While Macintosh maintains a paltry minority on the world’s desktop scene, the legion of Mac users is actually growing, and some companies are adopting it anew. The Celview for Macintosh product line is a mature emulation package that provides Telnet 5250 and 3270 emulation, FTP, and host printing for Macintosh computers. Celview has a long lineage and is

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• Ultra Density Optical One Step Closer to Reality on iSeries

  January 13, 2004 Alex Woodie

  Plasmon last week announced general availability of its new line of iSeries-compatible optical libraries, which sets the stage for bringing ultra density optical (UDO) technology to the platform later this year. Plasmon’s 5.25-inch G-Series optical libraries currently feature magneto optical drives, but with the next release of OS/400, these G-Series libraries will also support new UDO drives, which promise higher capacities and lower costs for companies trying to meet strict “write once” archiving requirements. UDO is being heralded as the successor to 5.25-inch magneto-optical technology, which had set the standard for long-term storage and archiving for years. With 30 GB

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• UCCnet Compliance Ensures Steady Supply of Booda Bones At Wal-Mart

  January 6, 2004 Alex Woodie

  Wal-Mart’s UCCnet compliance deadline of January 1 has come and gone, but you should still be able to find your dog’s favorite Booda Bone snacks at your friendly neighborhood superstore. In late December, Booda Bone maker Aspen Pet Products connected its product data to the UCCnet GLOBALregistry, using software from Inovis. This put Wal-Mart and Aspen on the same page about details of Booda Bone shipments, but more important, it kept the tail of the world’s largest retailer wagging. Wal-Mart doesn’t have to come out and say it, but its suppliers know the deal: Comply with our (AS2, UCCnet, RFID)

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• IBM Gives HATS the Nod As Host Publisher Is Retired from HIS

  January 6, 2004 Alex Woodie

  As expected, IBM has eliminated Host Publisher with the latest release of the iSeries and multiplatform editions of WebSphere Host Integration Solution. Host Publisher was the odd tool out as IBM sought to simplify a confusing array of competing Web-enablement tools. This paves the way for Host Access Transformation Services (HATS) to become the true Blue aficionado’s tool of choice for screen rejuvenation jobs, for legacy OS/400 and Unix applications. WebSphere Host Integration Solution is a collection of software for accessing, integrating, and publishing application screens for OS/400, Unix, and mainframe applications. While Host Integration Solution contained other Web-enablement tools,

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• IBM Says ISV Adoption of iSeries Was Strong in 2003

  January 6, 2004 Alex Woodie

  IBM sought to improve the iSeries’ image as a stodgy legacy server over the Christmas holiday, when it announced that more than 300 applications were ported to the iSeries by independent software vendors during 2003. While traditional RPG and COBOL applications make up the vast majority of workloads on the OS/400 server, the 300 new applications IBM helped bring to the iSeries are Java and Linux applications, including a new transaction processing system from S2 Systems. At one point, the AS/400 was reported to have something on the order of 30,000 applications, a number that IBM touted as the

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• Quadrant Launches New High Availability Line of FastFax Servers

  January 6, 2004 Alex Woodie

  Quadrant Software, a provider of electronic document distribution systems for OS/400 servers, is rolling out a new line of rack-mountable FastFax servers that include high availability features such as RAID disk protection and redundant power supplies. FastFax implementations typically include a Wintel box on which Quadrant preloads the FastFax fax and e-mail software. With the new line, the boxes have been beefed up to cope better with failed disk drives and power supplies. Faxes and e-mail have become critical means of communications for many businesses. According to a recent survey by e-mail security services firm Postini, more than

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