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Run your client/server application in a browser

WebClient

The new WebClient product is an exciting new addition to the isCOBOL Evolve family. It allows existing isCOBOL Client/Server applications, both graphical and character based, to run unmodified in a web browser.
WebClient and webDirect can both create web applications, but they differ in how this is accomplished. webDirect allows the use of external CSS stylesheets and javascript files to spicy things up the application, while WebClient is an easy way to render isCOBOL user interfaces in a web browser, retaining the look and feel of a desktop application. A WebClient server can host several isCOBOL applications, and users can be granted access to them individually. The isCOBOL program user interface is rendered on the browser, and user interaction, such as mouse moves, clicks and keyboard events, are sent back to the server for processing by the isCOBOL program. Communication between WebClient and the browser is handled using web sockets, and communication between the WebClient application and the isCOBOL program is handled by the isCOBOL Application Server through isCOBOL Thin Client.

WebClient offers powerful capabilities such as:

  • User interaction with the application is the same as it was a regular desktop application.
  • Session resuming allows user to reconnect to the same session after a lost connection or a switch to another device, allowing to switch, for example, from a desktop PC to a tablet without requiring a new session.
  • Administrators can monitor running applications in real time, viewing important information such as memory usage, CPU usage and response times.
  • Administrators can provide assistance to end users by using the built-in session mirroring, that allows them to view exactly what the end user is seeing, and allows them to take control of the session and help the user accomplish a task or troubleshoot a problem.
  • Multiple servers can be easily be administered in a clustered cloud environment
  • Load balancing allows multiple servers to handle increasing load dinamically

WebClient architecture


Deploy a WebClient cluster


WebClient cluster architecture

WebClient cluster

WebClient now supports balancing through clustering; separating WebClient into modules that can be divided into multiple instances on multiple servers to enable you to handle larger loads.

  • WebClient Cluster Server which handles web requests
  • Application pool which handles running COBOL applications
  • Admin Console which handles the server administration pages.

A minimal installation requires 1 cluster server and 1 session pool, and more cluster servers can be added for redundancy

Session pools can be scaled dynamically, based on the number of connected users or resource usage. Cluster Server is a stateless web server, which means that if you have multiple Cluster Servers it doesn't matter which server you connect to from the browser, even on refresh, the browser connection will always find the way to its application instance

Inside Cluster Server is a built-in mechanism - a Session Pool balancer. This mechanism is responsible for finding a free Session Pool where a new instance will be started. The WebClient balancer uses a round-robin algorithm.

Modules inside a Cluster deployment are connected through WebSocket, and communication is secured by configuring a secret key to prevent malicious servers from connecting to your cluster servers.


COBOL Web Enablement

Enhance and expand your online presence by modernizing COBOL application user interfaces

isCOBOL Evolve offers several options to leverage COBOL applications across the Web.

Highlights

Take applications straight to the Web with isCOBOL Application Server

Developers do not need to be familiar with Java technology in order to work with the isCOBOL Compiler. All development and debug processes are performed using COBOL. The isCOBOL Compiler is compatible with ANSI 85 COBOL standards and includes support for several COBOL-2002 extensions, including Object-Orientation and Unicode. The isCOBOL Compiler supports modern COBOL dialects, JavaBeans graphical controls, as well as common elements of legacy COBOL dialects that are typically found in real-world application code.


Transparent COBOL-to-Java process

isCOBOL Application Server, available standard with the isCOBOL Runtime Environment, offers a fast, efficient way to open up existing COBOL applications to the Web. With isCOBOL Application Server you can launch a COBOL application from a web browser running on any supported platform such as Windows, MacOS, UNIX® or Linux. This process requires no code changes or recompiling.

In thin client mode, only the user interface runs on a desktop, your application and data stay under your control on the server. With isCOBOL Application Server, an application runs exactly the same way across a network or over the Internet as it does when running locally. Java Web Start technology deploys the thin client and launches the COBOL application. The first time a user visits the web page on a particular machine, Java Web Start will ask whether the user trusts the web site, and will then proceed to launch the application in thin client mode. On subsequent visits, the application will launch immediately. There are no additional download, installation or application execution steps required of the user.

To enable this functionality, simple JavaScript is added to a web page to detect the presence of a JRE on the user’s machine and download and install a proper version if necessary. Veryant provides clear step-by-step instructions for setting up the web site and Java Web Start to get your COBOL applications quickly to the Web.


Deliver zero-client, fully interactive online COBOL applications with isCOBOL webDirect

isCOBOL webDirect leverages AJAX technology to allow you to create and run a fully interactive COBOL application GUI inside a web browser in a "zero" client solution. Zero client in this case meaning that the only technology required by an end-user to view an application is a web browser -- no plug-in, ActiveX, Java or other software needs to be installed on the client machine.

With isCOBOL webDirect, the user interface can run on PCs, Macintosh, X Windows, Mobile Devices or any other system that includes a web browser. User login is simplified through single sign-on and state is maintained throughout an entire user session without special programming or an external state server database.

Developers create web applications entirely in COBOL with isCOBOL webDirect by leveraging COBOL graphical screen section syntax and event paragraphs. In addition, developers can use the isCOBOL IDE's screen designer and webDirect launcher features to design and test screens and logic in the web user interface programs without ever leaving the IDE. The application logic, user interface and the event handling are all written with COBOL statements, providing true interactive web applications without having to learn JavaScript, HTML or any other web tools or languages. Since isCOBOL webDirect preserves the main structure of the COBOL application, your application does not have to be split up into standalone CGI programs or web services.

With isCOBOL webDirect, applications are hosted centrally using a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Offer the convenience of single sign-on and take advantage of n-tier architectures and secure transport such as https. From a security perspective, the web server is the only port open in the firewall, and with https the communications are encrypted and secure. From an administrative perspective, the application and data are hosted centrally which makes deploying patches and upgrades to the application transparent. The system is scalable because the back-end servers and instances can be load-balanced and increased if necessary without requiring changes to application code.


Produce 100% portable, modern COBOL application GUIs

The isCOBOL Evolve application GUI is completely portable and can run anywhere -- from mainframe to mobile devices. The portable GUI produced by isCOBOL software runs character-based as well as graphical programs, enabling you to easily modernize the look and feel of your GUI environment to meet the expectations of today’s online users.

isCOBOL Evolve provides support for unique graphical capabilities in COBOL such as:

  • Including Java Swing or 3rd party JavaBeans technology graphical controls in screen sections.
  • Using HTML (conforming to v3.2 with some 4.0 extensions) instead of plain text in any graphical control that displays text (e.g. TITLE property).
  • Displaying graphical controls in grid cells.
  • Allowing users to sort a grid by clicking on column headings, or drag-and-drop grid columns to move them with a simple one-line code change.
  • Utilizing LM-SCALE layout-manager to automatically adjust application appearance for different screen resolutions and resized windows.
  • Allowing users to rename items in-place, similar to how items are renamed in Windows Explorer, using Tree-view control.
  • Adding bitmap images for automatic mouse-rollover functionality in push-button, radio-button and check-box controls.
  • Displaying animated GIF files.
  • Displaying bitmap images in menu-items and combo boxes.
  • Allowing the ability to combine text labels and images on check-boxes, push-buttons, and radio buttons.