Re: alternative to WebFacing

["Nathan M. Andelin" <nathanma@xxxxxxxxx>]

> I'm not a fan of scrapers, emulators and such.

Me neither.  But like predecessor screen scrapers, Webfacing is bound to DDS
formats.  There is a fairly complex flow for Webfacing.  Much of the
complexity is due to the mapping of I/O between the legacy program and the
browser.  I think the user interface flow goes something like the following:

Legacy Program <==> Workstation Manager <==> Virtual Terminal Server <==>
Webfacing TCP/IP Server <==> Java Bean <==> Java Server Page <==> Java
Servlet <==> Websphere Application Server <==> HTTP Server <==> Browser.

Its not only resource intensive, but each interface has its limits.  Its
really a remarkable that Vendors are able to make it work.  Actually their
degree of success is arguable.

> My original question is because IBM has added a function very appealing to
the low end of the user community, with an easy to swallow price (almost
free except the labor)

No changes to the legacy program is VERY appealing!  Unfortunately, people
returning from Webfacing workshops are less than pleased with the results.
The problems range from unsupported DDS, to not having access to the User's
Profile, to restrictions on the browser, to understanding and managing the
various application components, and more.

> But a processor requirement that cuts out the ENTIRE low end of the
community.

Much of the high-end of the community is cut out too.  You could have a
million dollar, 3 year old, model 650, with twelve 125 Mhz Apache
Processors, and you'd still be very disappointed with Websphere's
performance.  Websphere is highly reliant on CPU speed.

> I'm not looking for a quick fix, but a reliable and reasonable method for
low end.

My answer to that is to have a comprehensive framework of ILE API's and
servers that simplify Web development.

Nathan M. Andelin
www.relational-data.com



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