Re: Green-screen versus browser

On 4/25/05, Reeve <rfritchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The customer, a big multinational corporation, already has a large IT
> operation for the U.S. with several (6?) boxes (supporting several
> hundred locations) installed at a central location.  There are a
> couple of new management faces and I'd like to make sure the senior
> management team has a current view of the platform.

sounds like a great opportunity!  The customer uses windows on all
their desktops and also back office applications?  If so, why not show
the customer that the iSeries can be integrated into their existing IT
infrastructure?

.NET and Visual Studio are great at working with web services.  Couple
that with client access managed provider and you can quickly link your
iSeries RPG applications with all the web services available on the
internet.  Your RPG application would talk using sockets or data
queues to a C# or VB.NET application on a Windows .NET PC.  That .NET
PC would in turn handle all the back and forth with the web services.

In this scenario, all the business logic and database files reside on
the iSeries. .NET is effectively just another set of API calls that
your RPG programs have access to do the work your customer demands.

-Steve

> 
> -reeve
> 
> On 4/24/05, Reeve <rfritchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Hi Steve,
> >
> > Thanks for your comments.
> >
> > Well, let's face it: IE has been a major target of the virus and
> > spyware writers.
> >
> > I'll restate my interest in browser-based applications primarily
> > because I can do so much more with them.  And I don't give a hoot
> > about cross-platform capabilities; my applications handle high volumes
> > (25,000 invoices entered, priced, and delivered every day, and then
> > all those 25,000 transactions go through another operations process of
> > equal complexity) and I need a robust batch environment to support
> > that process and lots of reporting.
> >
> > I am considering refactoring tools, 4GL's, and .net solutions.  I'll
> > spend all I have to to get the right one, which will utilize a single
> > black box sitting in a locked, lights-out room.
> >
> > -reeve
> >
> > On 4/24/05, Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > On 4/24/05, Reeve <rfritchman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > > I'm writing a management paper for a customer (in support of the
> > > > iSeries but trashing the WebSphere "solution" and the lack of native
> > > > browser support) and working on a concise description of the
> > > > green-screen vs. browser question.  The context is to explain why the
> > > > iSeries, in spite of all its greatness (performance, low TCO,
> > > > reliability), isn't known to and/or accepted by a large portion of the
> > > > IT community.  One factor is IBM's previous marketing failures (no
> > > > other word for it, sorry; well, maybe "absence"); another reason is
> > > > the preponderance of the green-screen UI, my current topic.
> > > >
> > > > Here's what I have so far:
> > > >
> > > > "The problem with green-screen is that the programmer is limited to a
> > > > fixed font size, a limited color palette, essentially no support for
> > > > graphics, only 132 columns (across), only 27 lines (down), and the
> > > > requirement to use a non-standard, usually non-free terminal emulation
> > > > program (Client Access, etc.), which means you can't talk directly to
> > > > many new communications devices like PDA's.
> > >
> > > telnet is just as standard as the browser.  and why would management
> > > care about the small cost a of Client Access equipped device when they
> > > are paying 10s of thousands of $$ for the employee using the device?
> > > The advantage the browser has over green screen is that it is just a
> > > lot better ... in all categories.
> > >
> > > > "There is nothing innately good about browsers; except for Firefox,
> > > > they're bloated with generally useless features, each has its own
> > > > unique characteristics (meaning it doesn't work exactly the same as
> > > > other browsers), and many continue to be a gateway ("Gates way"?) for
> > > > viruses and spyware.
> > >
> > > Reeve, if you write this to management, they are likely to see you as
> > > an as400 luddite more concerned with grinding his "MS sucks" axe
> > > instead of solving business problems. IMO, of course :)
> > >
> > > >
> > > > "The benefit of browsers is that the programmer has much greater
> > > > control over what the user sees and how the screen works...but it
> > > > takes a lot more programming effort to deliver a browser-based
> > > > application.  The basic tradeoff is balancing time-to-deliver (low for
> > > > green-screen, high for browser), function (low for green screen, high
> > > > for browser), and performance (relatively high for green-screen,
> > > > relatively low for browser).
> > >
> > > Only on the as400 is this true.  In windows a competent programmer can
> > > deliver asp.net, browser based functionality in a fraction of the time
> > > it takes to write a desktop application.
> > >
> > > > Am I missing any points meaningful to senior management?
> > >
> > > tell them, if they want to leverage the value of their as400
> > > applications and database, that they should move as quickly as
> > > possible to a setting where asp.net and windows forms are the front
> > > end to the business objects and whatever on a state of the art iSeries
> > > server.
> > >
> > > good luck!
> > >
> > > -Steve
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Reeve
> > > >
> > > > --
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