Archive for November, 2007

Transaction Enabler functionality

I know that this is a little bit specialised, but those people that use TE in a Unix or Windows environment will know that there are some bits of functionality that can be done via the command switches (-p, -m etc etc) and some stuff that can only be done with aefc (such as locking load modules in memory).

I think that ALL functionality should be available from the command line.

For example, preloading load modules into memory is something that is sometimes done at the start of an online day to improve performance, as is locking load modules in memory, to stop them being paged out.

In a Unix environment, this could be done by adding new command line switches, or reading from a file (yes – I know that it can be done by an aefc script, but that seems a little clunky, using two tools to accomplish what should be done by one).

Maybe this will change in a future release of the product, maybe to a GUI configuration tool – bearing in mind, the estate to which I am attached is on Gen 7.0 (moving to 7.6 soon)…..

Maybe this is food for thought……

New Resources to try!

Try the new Gentalk Forums -based at forums.gentalk.biz (or click the link on the menu bar)  like all thing on the Gentalk site, I try these things out for a while, and if they take off, then I keep them, otherwise, I take them down.

The forums are not designed to compete with EDGE forums, but are form Gen people to comment on whatever they want – these forums are just like Gentalk.biz – independant, non-biased toward or away from the tool, just trying to present an honest, straightforward view of it, for better or for worse !

Also, the Gentalk Shop is up at shop.gentalk.biz (or click the link at the menu bar)- this site is funded by me, and as such, I thought I’d start selling Gentalk mugs and T-Shirts and so on – not to make any profit, but to fund the site, and keep it going and enhance and develop it as the readership requires.

Lastly, should anyone want to link to Gentalk (many thanks to the ARIKAN Productivity Group, , Jumar Solutions and Response Systems for doing this!) there is a button which can be used on your own websites:

Simply download it, and link to http://gentalk.biz !!! Thanks!

If we build it, they will come – IBMs AIX 6.1

Since IBM has now released AIX 6.1, they state “binary compatibility” with prior versions of their OS. Presumably this means that Gen applications will run un-recompiled from AIX 5.3 and earlier releases. They state that applications will run on 6.1 IF they don’t use any of the “non portable programming techniques” that are detailed in this document.

I wonder if any of the code generated by the Gen generators contains examples of coding like these. If not, then all users of Gen can upgrade to 6.1… or can they ?

Has CA issued a statement of support for Gen applications running under 6.1 ?

Not that I know of – but to be fair, it is a little early, since the GE of AIX 6.1 was quite recently.

WILL CA support Gen apps running under 6.1 soon ?

Hopefully, but if not, then those customers that use AIX as a strategic OS will have to wait a little to upgrade

Actually that’s not quite the way the quote reads in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams,” or in the W.P. Kinsella novel, “Shoeless Joe,” on which the movie was based. In its original form it was, “If you build it, he will come.”

Basically, if enough people go out and upgrade to AIX 6.1, then CA should follow suit and support it. Hopefully, they will……..soon !

Gentalk Interview #1 with ARIKAN Productivity Group

The first of many Gentalk interviews is with Mustafa Arikan of the ARIKAN Productvity Group.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Mustafa kindly gave his time to explain what APG is, what they do, and about their vision for Model Based Development and their tooling to vastly enhance Gen’s capabilities.

Listen and enjoy !!
or
Download the interview here (Part 1) , (downloaded times),
and here (Part 2), (downloaded times) ,to listen later and share with others.

(These files are quite large, so be patient. If you have problems downloading them, please let me know using the Contact Page)

Visit their site 

The ROI of Developing Applications with CA Gen

Here is a whitepaper on CA’s site. It details how CA Gen-generated applications have achieved massive Return Of Investment (ROI), and how that ROI can be extended and maximised.

I agree with pretty much all it says in the post, but what it doesn’t say is that ROI can be maximised only if you’re astute enough to design your applications with future platforms and technology waves in mind, such that they don’t need changing when those platforms come out. The ROI can be FULLY maximised if you’ve done that, but only ALMOST maximised if you haven’t.

I suppose what the point here is that whereas an application component (or complete application) will return the maximum ROI if there are absolutely no changes to be carried out when technology paradigms change (such as batch to online, or client/server to web), or when a platform upgrade is required, such as a mainframe to a distributed system.

This leads to the point that when any change is being considered, the benefits that Gen can give are reduced slightly – NOT, it has to be said, by a failing in Gen! – No – those benefits are reduced by the very act of changing paradigm.

This, of course has to be tempered with the big ROI that Gen has in the first place – quoting from the paper itself:

“When compared with hand-writing COBOL, CA Gen takes 40 percent of the time to develop any application.

And when compared with Java IDE’s, CA Gen J2EE development takes just 60 percent of the time.

Compared to IBM/Rational development tools, CA Gen is more robust, reliable and reduces overall project costs.”

Mr. Pipalwa COO, Stringray Technologies

Therefore, the big “hit” in terms of ROI with Gen, you’ll get at the start of an application’s life (and continue to reap the rewards as the application evolves, due to the similar productvity gains). But, that will be eroded by a technology change, ONLY WHEN TECHNICAL CHANGES ARE REQUIRED TO SUPPORT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY OR PARADIGM. When changes aren’t required, then that ROI is completely maximised.

I suppose that I got to thinking about this sort of stuff because I am aware that there are lots of “upgrading” and “platform change” type projects going on in the Gen world right now – I suppose that those people that have taken part in these sort of projects have done so, only after considering the advantages and disadvantages of a complete rewrite versus reusing the Gen components (see here and here).

Wrapping up, then, I think that if someone were to construct a graph of a piece of code’s value, plotted against time, compared with other languages (COBOL, Java, as stated above), the value of a Gen action block would go down slower than that of a COBOL module over time, due to the lower initial cost. But, come a change in technology, the COBOL module would be thrown away, resulting in zero value, whereas the Gen action block would increase vastly – 100% in fact - since it wouldn’t need to be rewritten – even if it did, it would still be worth (say) 75% more than before a technology change!

Does this mean that the value of a Gen component actually grows over time ??????