build smarter user interfaces for legacy applications with ibm rational host access transformation...

IBM Innovate 2012Build Smarter User Interfaces for Legacy Applications with IBM Rational Host Access Transformation Services

Kenny SmithPrincipal Consultant, Strongback [email protected]@smithkennyPWR 1302

© 2012 IBM Corporation2

The Premier Event for Software and Systems Innovation

About Us: Strongback Consulting

IBM Advanced Business Partner

– Rational, WebSphere, Lotus, Information Management certified

– Strongly focused on Enterprise Modernization and application lifecycle management

– Key Industries Served: Finance, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing

– Rational Design Partner for HATS and other Rational enterprise modernization technologies



Why modernize my green screen?

“If it ain’t broke…”

“Only our call center uses it. … “

“It’s a 3rd party app”

“I’ve used it for 20 years.. Nothing wrong with it!”

“We don’t need to integrate it”

“Too much invested in it to throw it away”

“But it has all our business rules!”

“We’re going to all .NET …..next month”

“We spent too much training everyone on thissystem”

“Joey retired and we lost his member files”

“I’m retiring next year, what do I care?”



Business Challenge: Data Entry Errors

Terminal Apps offer poor data entry controlsTerminal Apps offer poor data entry controls

Garbage in – garbage outGarbage in – garbage out

Poor data entry results in:Poor data entry results in:

– Inaccurate business intelligenceInaccurate business intelligence

– Giving the customer or patient the wrong orderGiving the customer or patient the wrong order

– Longer call timesLonger call times

– Loss of productivity due to data re-entry, or data correctionLoss of productivity due to data re-entry, or data correction

– Having to purchase additional software to correct errors (i.e. Infosphere QualityStage, Optim, etc) Having to purchase additional software to correct errors (i.e. Infosphere QualityStage, Optim, etc)



Business Challenge: Longer Training Time

Non-intuitive interface– No tool tips, context sensitive help, coded fields, abbreviations, etc.

Current generation knows the web

–Does NOT understand ‘field exit’, ‘clear’, etc.

–“Where is the PF3 key?”

Training is often a neglected item in IT budgets– Isn’t that what consultants are for?

Average annual turn over in a call center is 33%*

–Longer training required == less productivity, greater cost per resource

*http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globalcallcenter/research/unitedStates.html



Business Challenge: User Frustration

Poor field labels

No ‘hints’ on field controls

Lack of access to documentation

Complex navigation

User workflow that does not make sense

Post-it notes around the monitor as ‘documentation’

Multiple windows

Poor printing capability



Business Challenge: Lack of Access to Source Code

Columns . . . .: Edit

SEU ___________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Common with COTS applications

Legacy apps from acquisitions

Required use of a partner, vendor, or parent company application

Developer lock out

– You fired the guy who had the code, he deleted it as he walked out

Changes to source may involve costly risks

– “Everything is tied to our ERP!!”

==================================================================

__________________________________________________________________

02/009



Business Challenge: Need a modern experience NOW!!!

• Rip and replace requires prohibitive or catastrophic spendingRip and replace requires prohibitive or catastrophic spending

• Low ROI on rip and replaceLow ROI on rip and replace

• Time to market is of the essenceTime to market is of the essence

• Can’t access new marketsCan’t access new markets

• Trying to pivot a battleshipTrying to pivot a battleship

• Large application audienceLarge application audience

• Heavy load on testingHeavy load on testing

• Large cost involved in retrainingLarge cost involved in retraining



Overview of HATS 8.0

Web 2.0

– Dojo

• HATS Dojo widgets

• Transform for Dojo editing

• Dojo for IOs

– New templates

– RESTful web services

JSR286 Portlet support

iPad support

Support for the latest runtimes

Support for the latest development tools

Support for Apache Geronimo 2.1.7

Support for Android devices (default browser 2.3.4 +)



10

Web 2.0: Templates

Research, industry, and medical

Benefit: Modern look and feel- tabs, menus, highlighting, fading, rounded corners



Dojo Widgets: Enhanced Grid

Allows advanced manipulation of tabular data

Available components: Table, Table (field), Table (visual)

No widget setting

Enables both Nested Sorting and Multiple Rows/Columns Drag&Drop features by

default

In HATS Version 8, the table rendered by the Enhanced Grid widget is read-only



Dojo Widgets: ValidationTextBox

Allows for user-side validation of text data

Available for Input field component

Use Regular expressions to define the validation rule

Helpful prompt message

Invalid message when the user types it wrong



Dojo Widgets: Date Text Box

Allows either typing or choosing a date from a pop-up calendar

Available for Input field component

Pass in common date formatting elements (MM/dd/yyyy)

Prompt for invalid data



Dojo Widgets: Filtering Select

Allows users to type or select an option

Available components

– 1. Selection list

– 2. Input field with hints

– 3. Command line

– 4. Input field

– 5. Item selection

Note that for 3-5, items are from the

Fill from strings widget setting.



Eclipse based development: HATS as a perspective on RAD/RBD

• Similar IDE experience as Rational Developer for POWER

• HATS toolkit plugs into existing IDE



Improving data entry accuracy

Calendar drop downs ensure date formatting

Radio buttons eliminate non-valid values

Drop downs give the user legible options

– Avoid post-its around the monitor to decipher field label values

Dojo enabled widgets

– Easy to inject client side validation

– Type ahead features make it easier to find values in long lists



Improving the user experience

Macros improve navigational flow

Replace acronyms, & codes with real legible field labels

Clickable buttons & links replace function keys

The more intuitive the interface, the less demand for documentation (or the less it gets used)

Dojo layout widgets better organize the screen

– Tab, accordion, stacked containers organize fields appropriately

Print directly from the browser

– Use “print” style sheet where needed



Reducing training time

Leverage web browser familiarity

Make it intuitive

Make labels & field options readable

Client side validation give instant feedback.

Reduce training time by up to 75%

Anyone ever taken 3 months to train on Facebook, Gmail, or other popular site?

– Anyone ever seen the documentation?



Build the solution RAPIDLY

Initial application transformation in under an hour

Gradually improve the application as you go

– Default rendering handles the bulk of the screens

– Global rules to further enhance default rendering

– Custom transformation for the most used / busiest screens

<image of iterative screen develop – need recent image, not the previous boiler plate ones>



No need for access to RPG/COBOL code

Rendering engine transforms the Data stream on the fly

– 5250 , 3270, VT100

Does not access display files, or file members

Multiple panes of data – not a screen scraper

– Text, Field, DBCS, Color, Extended Attributes, Grid



About DMS Systems

ISV, selling System I based ERP software

Rocky Mount, NC

ISV Focused on ERP and CRM packaged applications

Also an IBM Premier Business Partner

DMS Systems Corp. is an established and leading supplier of integrated Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) Solutions for Automotive, HD Truck, RV, Marine Parts and other hard-goods Distributors in the U.S. and Internationally.



DMS Systems: Need to Modernize Yesterday

Rapidly changing customer base

– Economic downturn costing customers

– New customers want a Web UI (not 5250)

Pressure from customers for cloud based solutions, mobile solutions

– Competition readily available, but not yet mature for this industry

Deep investment on IBM i, RPG based 5250 application

Screen logic tied in closely with business logic

Need integration with other systems & databases

– Web Catalog

– CRM



DMS Solution: HATS Transformations

Quickly used default rendering to transform the interface

Adjust global rules and add screen transformations as needed

Dojo Widgets control data entry where applicable

– Radio buttons for 1-3 options

– Drop downs (filtering selects) for >3 options

– Validation rules on certain text boxes

Call out to DB2 tables to populate common drop downs

Develop iteratively

– Use RTC to capture stakeholder request for enhancements

– Prioritize, and release regularly



Before ….

Remember theItem number!

What’s The MFR Code??



After…

Elegant template done with CSS, and carefully selected images

Populate dropdowns via JPA calls from Business Logic

Display using Dojo widgets for optimal Experience.



About PBD Worldwide

Fulfilment and distribution services

System I back end ERP

Based in Alpharetta, Georgia

Maintains full PCI Compliance

Ships in excess of 4 million packages for its clients each year. With an accuracy guarantee of 99.8% on all shipments.

– Fulfillment - pick, check, pack, and ship

– Distribution and Transportation Services

– Customer Contact Center

– Accounting Services

– Information Technology and eCommerce Services

– Dedicated Account Management

– Implementation Project Management

– Accessible Reporting



PBD Example: Change the workflow

Customer uses JDE 5250 version

Customer order workflow was bass-ackwards

– Get the payment type, then payment, then order data, then customer info

Lack of access to source code (JDE)

Solution: Use business logic & macros to reverse the flow

– Business logic is Java

– Access to all the API of the underlying Host On Demand environment

– Ability to enter data, capture data stream elements and more

– Call business logic from Screen Customizations

– Also use BL to call XPCML calls for IBM RPG Web Service calls for additional add on functions



About Arlington Heights Parks District

Government Municipality

Public park and recreation agency

Located in Arlington Heights, Illinois,

Largest community in Chicago's northwest suburban corridor

Operate 5community centers with outdoor pools, Olympic Indoor Swim Center, two tennis clubs, two public golf clubs, Lake Arlington, Arlington Heights Historical Museum, Senior Center, an outdoor skate park and 58 parks including a sports complex, playgrounds, picnic shelters and much more spread over 715 acres of land and 16.2 square miles



AHPD Example: Legacy VT100 (COBOL on AIX)

Telnet VT100 (a true dumb terminal)

Government entity (i.e. limited budget)

COBOL UI was only method of access

Rip and replace was extremely cost prohibitive

– Application in place for decades

– ERP deeply hooked into it

SOLUTION: Use HATS macros to create web services

– JAX-WS standard, means any client can consume

– New front end with elegant workflow written to integrate with existing Lotus Notes application



AHPD – Macro Driven

Visual Macro editor shows you the visual navigation

Drag and drop screens in the desired order

Add actions as needed (extracts, prompts, if-else, etc)

Macros then get wrapped in JAX-WS

– Java API for XML Web Services

– Wizard generated deployment

Web Services consumed by other apps

– Lotus Domino web site in this case



Lessons learned, recommendations, tips and techniques, etc.

Develop your HATS apps iteratively

– Don’t spend 6 months waiting on the big bang

– Gather feedback with each iteration

– JPA 2.0 and WAS 8.0 makes RDBMS integration simple

Version your assets

– HATS apps are Java EE apps

– A file system does NOT make a version control system

You don’t have to, but you CAN do very complex things with HATS

– Business Logic is Java, and at the heart of how HATS and HOD work

– Macros have their own language elements

– Custom widgets/components can make your site unique

Utilize a designer to help you with UI for maximum benefit

– The latest HATS templates are very good

– Dojo Widgets greatly simplify client side validation and data entry

– Custom branding needs a designer



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For more information on how we can help you improve your interfaces, increase user productivity, and accelerate your SOA, contact us at [email protected], or call us at 904.351.6658.

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