Unveiling

Against the backdrop of the CU2 conference this month, Compuware introduces UNIFACE Seven, a significant new version of the UNIFACE development environment that enables developers to build and deploy complex business-critical applications. UNIFACE Seven features enhanced application modeling, a new deployment architecture providing component-based partitioning and support for Internet deployment, and special aids to jump-start development.

‘With the introduction of UNIFACE Seven, we’re moving aggressively to fulfill the promise of the UNIFACE in 3-D strategic framework,’ says Frank Slootman, general manager of the UNIFACE product line. ‘UNIFACE Seven builds on the proven strengths of UNIFACE to better prepare organizations to manage volatile business and technology requirements.’

Enhancements to development and delivery in UNIFACE Seven help organizations to build strategic applications that closely mirror business functionality more effectively and with even greater productivity. Enhancements on the deployment side enable organizations to view deployment technologies and architectures as tactical considerations rather than strategic ones. UNIFACE Seven is scheduled to start field testing this month.

Development

Enhanced application modeling. A cornerstone of UNIFACE is the model-driven development paradigm. In UNIFACE Seven, this paradigm is extended to increase the overlap between business and implementation, a critical consideration for strategic applications which need to weather the increasing pace of business and technology change. With UNIFACE Seven, developers are able to model at the business object level and therefore work at an even higher level of abstraction. To achieve this, UNIFACE Seven introduces a new type of object - the Application Service - which becomes the main unit of work for development and deployment.

A service encapsulates the functionality of a real-world object, such as an ‘order’ or ‘customer.’ To create an order, a developer might combine data entities for ‘order header,’ ‘order line’ and ‘customer’ with business rules that govern orders. Then the developer would reference the ‘order’ service from each form that involves an order. Whenever business rules change, the developer returns to the service and updates it. Developers no longer need to paint each order-related entity on every form separately and add business rules to every form separately.

Another new object is the Report. A report is like a form, but is intended to run on a server as a batch function with report output. Users can offload large print jobs onto a server while continuing to work on their local client. This provides extra productivity at deployment time.

Forms, reports and services, now known as ‘UNIFACE Components,’ can be interfaced with, through the use of operations and make the final process of assembling the application a ‘snapping together’ of building block-like components.

Templates. In line with the objective of facilitating large-project delivery, the UNIFACE template mechanism has been extended from entity and field templates to forms and application service templates. Developers are able to define characteristics common to multiple forms or services in templates, thereby increasing productivity and ensuring conformity. Developers might, for example, create a graphical layout and coding standards for the look of a pop-up screen. This form template, shared by a team of developers, would serve as the starting point for creating several pop-up screens with different purposes. The templates also facilitate the production of object libraries by Compuware application partners.

The introduction of forms, services and reports in UNIFACE Seven creates a clear split between presentation logic and application logic. It is now possible for forms to contain only user interface logic while services contain business logic. This is important at deployment time as it is one of the main properties of the new UNIFACE Universal Deployment Architecture (UDA).

Deployment

Universal Deployment Architecture. Previously, UNIFACE was independent of underlying technologies such as hardware, DBMS, CASE tools and networks. UNIFACE Seven is also totally independent of underlying architectures such as host-based and client/server. The introduction of the Universal Deployment Architecture makes this possible. In addition to the architectures already supported by UNIFACE, the UDA supports dynamic multi-tier client/server and the Internet. Significantly, organizations can now migrate seamlessly and effortlessly from one architecture to the other as their needs change.

Three key products make up the UDA:

• UNIFACE PolyServer, UNIFACE’s data and file server product

• The UNIFACE Application Server, a new product for executing services and reports

• The UNIFACE WebEnabler that supports Internet deployment.

Component-based partitioning. The clear split between presentation and application logic permits component-based partitioning. Partitioning an application allows organizations to achieve better and more dynamic use of computing resources, reduce network load and improve application performance. At runtime, developers can deploy the presentation logic to the client and distribute application logic either on local clients or across multiple servers. In keeping with UNIFACE’s infrastructure independence, these servers can represent a mixture of platforms. Developers use a Graphical Partitioning Manager to manipulate the UNIFACE application components on the network. A name server makes it possible to manage UNIFACE services from a central place, easing management of a large distributed environment.

Support for business-critical applications. UNIFACE Seven also introduces new features designed to better handle the demands of business-critical applications. These include support for synchronous and asynchronous processing, a message passing mechanism and support for parallel transactions.

Enterprise capabilities. UNIFACE Seven extends UNIFACE’s reach across the enterprise. In addition to supporting deployment on the Web, UNIFACE provides native access to data stored on the mainframe in DB2, IMS and VSAM.

Delivery

Jump starting development. UNIFACE Seven includes aids to help developers and Compuware application partners get started on an application and produce consistent, high quality applications. These include new start-up packages and standards and guidelines.

Start-up packages are libraries of objects already built with the new UNIFACE templates. In addition, Compuware’s application partners are incorporating their expertise in particular horizontal (for example, financial, human resources) and vertical (e.g., manufacturing, government) markets in these off-the-shelf libraries. These partner libraries eliminate the need for developers to start from scratch and provide ‘best of breed’ functionality.

The standards and guidelines cover such subjects as coding and user interface standards. These guidelines help developers apply the UNIFACE technology successfully and help ensure the quality and consistency of applications produced with UNIFACE. UNIFACE Seven provides significant new features within the development and deployment environments, and by including effective start-up capabilities, UNIFACE Seven shows how the UNIFACE in 3-D strategic framework eases the delivery of strategic applications that allow organizations to manage a future based on change.

To learn more about UNIFACE Seven, please contact your local Compuware representative.

What’s New in UNIFACE Seven

• Enriched application model
• Form Templates
• Enhanced development workbench
• Component-based partitioning
• Component interface through operations
• Multiple instances for forms, services and reports
• Name server
• Universal Deployment Architecture
• Message-based communication
• WebEnabler for Internet/Intranet deployment
• Non-modal forms
• Synchronous and asynchronous processing
• Graphical Partitioning Manager
• Database drivers for DB2, IMS, VSAM
• PolyServer for MVS
• Support for parallel transactions
• UNIFACE Application Server
• Standards and Guidelines
• Start-up Packages