Using RDMI to Integrate Legacy Data |
With RDMI it is possible to access programs running on a different kinds of machines such as a mainframe or an AS400 system. For example, for the COM architecture Microsoft's CEDAR project allows access to IBM's CICS and IMS programs running on an MVS mainframe as if they were COM components running on the local machine. For the client of the COM component, in our case USoft Developer, there is no difference between the defining and using of such a COM component and a component which has been specifically developed in Visual Basic. Users can re-use their existing COBOL software to access data on a mainframe, or synchronize that data whenever changes occur in the local database. Again, USoft constraints can be used quite easily to guard this, so that the SPOD principle is not abandoned. This also gives users the option to upgrade more gradually from a mainframe COBOL to a client/server USoft environment. |