Application Migration and Coexistence

L

LBiddiscombe

New Member
We are attempting to scope out a possible future project.

We currently have a Progress 4GL application running 1800 remote sites (stores). Each site has a server and a number of clients (some wireless PDAs).

We have the following installed in our stores store;
  • 9.1d workgroup database
  • 9.1d client networking
  • 3.1d webspeed transaction server
We would not be looking to upgrade our store configuration if possible.

One possible future requirement is the integration of a C# .NET based store application that, over time, will replace certain elements of the existing 4GL application.

Our investigations so far have raised the following "problems" to overcome;
  1. P4GL procedures calling C# .NET procedures
  2. P4GL procedures referencing an external SQL database
  3. C# .NET procedures calling P4GL procedures
  4. C# .NET procedures referencing the Progress database
I would like to know our options for each "problem", both from a technical perspective and a licencing one. We would not be looking to upgrade our store configuration if possible.

Can you help? Thanks in advance.
 
LBiddiscombe said:
We are attempting to scope out a possible future project.

We currently have a Progress 4GL application running 1800 remote sites (stores). Each site has a server and a number of clients (some wireless PDAs).

We have the following installed in our stores store;
  • 9.1d workgroup database
  • 9.1d client networking
  • 3.1d webspeed transaction server
We would not be looking to upgrade our store configuration if possible.

One possible future requirement is the integration of a C# .NET based store application that, over time, will replace certain elements of the existing 4GL application.

Our investigations so far have raised the following "problems" to overcome;
  1. P4GL procedures calling C# .NET procedures
  2. P4GL procedures referencing an external SQL database
  3. C# .NET procedures calling P4GL procedures
  4. C# .NET procedures referencing the Progress database
I would like to know our options for each "problem", both from a technical perspective and a licencing one. We would not be looking to upgrade our store configuration if possible.

Can you help? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

You can have 4GL and .NET applications working together using Web Services. But it will probably require upgrading atleast to 9.1E, although, I think there was a proof of concept example done with 9.1D. You could probably also incorporate an uptodate appserver that will bridge between the older v9 clients. In a service oriented architecture (SOA) you can out source or take on application services.

I would imagine you're an application partner and a big enough customer to work directly with Progress. You could also take in a consultant that will have a look at the architecture. You'll find web events, test cases recordings, whitepapers etc. on SOA @PSDN. There were also a couple of recent big SOA projects with Volvo and Selexy. I'd recommend also posting the question @PEG that might be more suitable to provide you with answers.
 
You have a number of different options and one would need to know more to provide a detailed response, but, some things you should consider:

1. You can quite easily use .NET clients against AppServer, giving you a clear boundary between .NET and ABL portions of the application. This might be cleaner than the WebServices option, but the two are certainly not mutually exclusive.

2. In a future release, probably next year, you can have a completely .NET UI, but ABL logic, which might make for an easier transition.

3. With a large network of stores, if there is consolidation to headquarters, I would strongly recommend looking at bringing in an ESB and gradually migrating to a service-oriented structure.
 
Happy to help ...
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Consulting in Architecture-Driven Modernization and Transformation
 
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