Transcript N otes - Educause

WebSphere, Wizards, and the Web:
Hiding the Complexity of
Application Development
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
Enrollment: 27,823
Public Land Grant University
Larry Newhouse
Information Systems Leader
Iowa State University
ADP Center
2nd Floor ASB
Ames, IA 50011
(515) 294-8290
(515) 294-0290 (Fax)
[email protected]
Dennis McCarville
Systems Analyst II
Iowa State University
ADP Center
2nd Floor ASB
Ames, IA 50011
(515) 294-0217
(515) 294-0290 (Fax)
[email protected]
Iowa State University Statistics
Established 1858 - 1st Land-Grant College
 Fall 2001 Enrollment
27,823
 Total Faculty & Staff
6,157
 Number of Colleges
9
 01-02 Revenues
$728,265,000
 Campus Acres
2,000
ADP Center Overview

Staff -
86 P&S, 14 Merit, 25 students

Support -
54 Networks,
2579 PCs
115,000,000 records
9,400 programs

Process daily:
273,000 On-line transaction
300 Batch jobs
100 Help Center Calls
Quiz
I write my own JSP’s, Servlets,
and/or XML in notepad.
I’m learning and can use all the help I
can get.
Overview
 Development Environment
 Changes / Education
 Details of applications
 Future
Data Access Model
NT
100+ Clients
UNIX
30,000+ clients
TN3270
1800+ clients
Web Application Model
Analyst Desktop
Central Server
Server
Central
WebSphere
Application Server
Batch/COBOL
Batch/COBOL
Programs
Programs
HTTP Server
Model View
Controller
JSP Browser
Java
JSP
JavaServer
Small
Server
Html
Pages
Pages
Java
JSP Server
WML
Pages
CICS/COBOL
CICS/COBOL
T T
C C
C
P P
T
/ /
G
I I
P P
Application
Application
Router
Router
Program
Program
Business
Logic
Connection
Bean
Presentation
Logic
Development
Tools
Development
Tools
Application
Application
Program(s)
Program(s)
Development
Development
Tools
Tools
DB2
Production/
DB2
Database
Security
Database
AccessPlus
Your personalized secure university information
resource allowing students, faculty, and staff to
access frequently requested university information
and services.
Current AccessPlus screenshot
Next version of AccessPlus
Sections
Menu
Navigation
Application Data / Keys
Dual Platform Integration
Delivered Content
AccessPlus
(accessplus.iastate.edu)
16,000,000
14,000,000
12,000,000
10,000,000
8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
96/97
97/98
98/99
99/00
AccessPlus Transactions
00/01
01/02
Question of Structure!
 Do we change the
organization Structure?
 Do we modified the
‘roles’ of existing
Staff?
 Do some of both
Tuning Staff Structure
Computer and
Network Systems
Application
Development
New Technology
Internal
Systems
Office
Information
Systems
Understanding Mindsets
 Staff Mindset
 Analyst
 Client
 Designer
 Application Mindset
 TN3270 Business Applications
 Web ‘Request/View’ Applications
 Web ‘Business’ Applications
Choices, choices…
Object-Oriented
Design (OO)
Enterprise
Java Beans
(EJB’s)
Java
Database
Connectivity
(JDBC)
Decisions Made
 WebServer:
 WebSphere Application Server
 Desktop
 VisualAge for Java & WebSphere Studio Family
 HomeSite/FrontPage 2000




Business logic on the central system
Upgrade desktops as needed
Identify/develop training
Enhance support areas
 Servers, desktop software, help desk, client
First stop: Training
 Self taught
 Process & Reference Information
 In-house WebSphere Class
 In-house Experts
Process & Reference Information
 Standards
 I/O limits, page size limits, transaction size
 Many applications on shared platform
 Shared code, generators




Application Development Check List
Generators / Wizards: COBOL, JSP & Data Streams
Source Control process
Website/Application: Help System
 Application Developer Resources
 Web, Books, Magazines, Videos, In-house Library
Application Developer Resources
 Code Examples
 Javascript library
 How do I…




Connect to AccessPlus from external pages
Link to an external page from AccessPlus
Format numeric data
Pass data between pages
 WebSphere training
 References
 HTML, JSP, Javascript, Servlets, etc.
 Educational links
WebSphere Training Plan
 Introduction to WebSphere
 HTML
 Components / Process Overview
 Wizard and VisualAge for Java tool
 (Now WebSphere Studio Application Developer)
 Testing and Publishing to Server
Expectations for staff in training
 Immediate project assignment
 Group development discussion / interaction
 Feedback on available resources
 Suggest new
 Contributions: Libraries (Java Script, templates,
procedures)
 Wizard Improvements
Next Steps …
 Accomplished:




Platform / model decision
Development tools
Training
Graphic assistance
 Now we need to:
 Unhide the code
 Streamline the processes
 Enhance debugging options
WEB Design Application Challenges




Data Dictionary
System Documentation
Business Logic
DB2
WEB Design Presentation Challenges
 Screen Size
 Browsers
 Accessibility / ADA compliance
 Americans with Disabilities Act
 Mockups
Systems Development Checklist
Application View
Exploded View
A+ Navigation
Key Fields
System
Menu
Data Presentation
Wizard Expectations




Standard Code
Rapid Application Development
Shorter Learning Curve
Source Language
 Occurs
 Redefines
Staff-Wizards
 Why use code generators?
 Shorter learning curve for staff
 History of in-house developed code generators
and standards
 Our code generator
 Input COBOL copybook
 Generates RecordBean
 Generates JSP
 Creates Help framework
The Wizard – Servelets/JSPs & Record Beans
Initialize Page
Display Heading
Display
Footing
Data Translation
Once per COBOL copybook
Maps the copybook fields to the JSP
Let’s take a tour of our
wizard
Process Flow: JSP to COBOL
Process Flow: COBOL to JSP
Anatomy of an ADP JSP
JSP Flow of Control Before the COBOL

Beans Instantiated
<jsp:useBean id="CONN" class="connect.CicsConnBean"
scope="session"/>

Initialize Connection Bean
CONN.cicsCreateCommarea(R4920V1C.getICommareaLength());

Initialize Record Bean
R4920V1C.setR4920_VRSN(CONN.getDatatrans(), "01");

Execute COBOL
CONN.cicsExecute(strProgram);
Anatomy of an ADP JSP
JSP Flow of Control After the COBOL

Local Java Variables Loaded
R4920_T_SUB =
R4920V1C.getR4920_T_SUB(CONN.getDatatrans());

Session Key Variables Set
session.putValue("r490studentssn",R4920_STDNT_SSN);

Data is Presented
<td>Student Name <%=R4920_STDNT_NAME%></td>
Debugging Points




Connection (Data Passing)
COBOL Business Logic
Java Script
JSP – Java Server Page
 System.out.println
 Debugger
Session Values
Completing the Process





Integrating the check-in/check-out process
Know who’s working on the code
Team development!!!
Validating code (HTML, JSP, etc) prior to check-in
Defining the ‘package’ that makes up the transaction
 COBOL
 JSP
 HTML
 Record Bean
 Servlet
Developer’s Resources
Continued improvements




Model Evolution
Impacts on Application Development!
Wizards
Complexity
 Make it easier to Develop
 Make it easier to understand
 Make it easier to Deliver
 Training, training, training,…
What does to future hold?
 Implementing the New AccessPlus Look
 Single Sign-on
 E-commerce
 ISU portal pilot
Questions?