Newsletter March 2019

Successful Assessment for Replacing VORELLE

The assessment for the replacement and consolidation of decision table generators has been completed successfully. Delta Software Technology assessed, for a large insurer, the possibility of an automated conversion from VORELLE to DETAB but also to Plain COBOL.

Read more about replacing VORELLE with reduced test effort here ...

Decision tables simplify the software development

Many of our customers are convinced by the decision table technique. Decision tables simplify the software development and enable an implementation with a clear source code. They are an important method for the clearly structured description of complex facts and the related rules.
The development and maintenance of a complex rulebook in native COBOL or PL/I code is too time-consuming and inefficient for our customers, that is why they have been using decision table generators for a long time.

Consolidate or replace decision table generators?

Many companies use several generators, e.g. VORELLE (gadiv, formerly mbp), LF-ET (Lohrfink), Delta DETAB (Delta Software Technology) etc. for COBOL and PL/I.

If the maintenance of applications is transferred to new developers, they have to adopt the different techniques. So, it makes sense to consolidate generators that fulfil the same task.
In addition, many generators are already at the end of life and the maintenance would have to be performed on the generated code in the future. This generated code is very complex, nested and barely legible. Therefore, the code is hard to understand and to maintain. An automated consolidation into a table generator that will remain in maintenance in the future, prevents an increase in complexity, thus facilitating the maintenance.

Assessed possible strategies

In an assessment for a large insurer we have assessed possible strategies if and how an automated transfer from VORELLE to DETAB is possible. For that purpose, all COBOL and Delta ADS sources that contain decision tables, have been analysed and evaluated with respect to their use. In addition, a test strategy was developed, which keeps the test effort low and yet proves the correctness.

Results of the assessment

The result of the assessment was clear:

• An automated transfer from VORELLE to DETAB is possible.
• The syntax of the two generators is very similar: A re-training of previous VORELLE users is not or only minimally necessary.

Different solution variants

As a result of the assessment, possible solution variants were proposed to the customer how the VORELLE tables can be transferred. Most of the tables can be automatically converted into almost identical DETAB tables. In addition, the customer has the option to transform smaller tables directly into easily readable code. For the transformation our AMELIO Modernization Platform can be adopted to fit the customers’ need.

Reduced testing effort

AMELIO automates the changes – 100%. Thus, it is not necessary to test all transformed programs. Instead, the rules for the changes are tested in advance according to the principle of meta-level testing. In this way, the test effort can be drastically reduced compared to conventional test methods.

“AMELIOs Meta-Level Testing verifies the transformation rules - not the transformed programs."

Conclusion

The automated transfer from VORELLE to DETAB or native Cobol code is possible and the test effort remains manageable.

As a further result, we were able to create an individual project and financial plan for the customer in order to minimize risks and to present costs transparently.

The desire of the customer to bring about a consolidation of the generators can be met - and is also clearly our recommendation.

And your decision table generator?

If you also plan to consolidate, replace or modernize your decision table generators, then contact us directly.

Aquila Heywood introduces ADS on Eclipse

Aquila Heywood improves its Delta ADS software development by moving to Eclipse and Update to Delta ADS 6.

Aquila Heywood develops and maintains its “Altair” pensions administration package with Delta ADS for COBOL for decades. During these years the development has been performed using the SCOUT² development environment provided by Delta Software Technology.

As most of the other software development at Aquila Heywood is done in an Eclipse environment already, the decision was made to migrate the Delta ADS development to Eclipse too. Delta Software Technology provided the Plug-in to support the Delta ADS generation process and the resulting object types. With this change to one single development platform Aquila Heywood want to improve the productivity of its development. The extra functionality that is provided with the Eclipse Plug-in contributes to that.

ADS on Eclipse

Delta’s Eclipse Environment, ADS on Eclipse, facilitates the development with Delta ADS by integrating Editor, Generator and the Post-Generation debugger under Eclipse. The modern environment enables better understanding of the application as the generator provides more information about the use of the components that contribute to the application. It also provides all modern handling like chroma coding, code folding and coding assistance as well as extensive documentation possibilities. In addition, it allows a seamless integration of the development with ADS in the overall development process.

“After installation of the Plug-in we tested the generated output and it was 100% identical. Therefore we will go productive with the Delta ADS development on Eclipse in the beginning of 2019. As developers we can now work in one environment without having to switch between SCOUT² and Eclipse.”
Graham Dohren - Senior Developer at Aquila Heywood

About Aquila Heywood

Aquila Heywood is the largest provider of life, pensions, and investment policy administration platforms in the UK and Ireland, and the fifth largest across the EU. More than 200 commercial and public sector organisations use its highly scalable administration platform to manage the lifetime financial security of over ten million working pensions members, and make over 20 million payments a year to retirees.

IBM IMS/DB? Modernization Now!

"If it wasn’t for IBM IMS/DB, we would have re-platformed our applications already"

Fast and reliable used to be the key factors for selecting IMS/DB as database system for mission critical data. During the last decades SQL databases have become as performing on a whole range of (cheaper) platforms. Also, the knowledge of IMS/DB is dwindling while at the same time SQL DBA’s are easier to find. The data however, that is stored in those mainframes databases, is nowadays needed and used in a much wider range of applications. These applications are running on mobiles and in the cloud. Providing the data from your existing IMS/DB applications to such modern apps is not an easy task. SQL databases are better equipped for it but that means a continuous replication of data.

The real solution would be to keep the implemented business logic but have the data in a SQL Database. For this major exercise a lot has to be changed in your applications. All these changes of the data access architecture and logic means a lot of work and risk of errors. Hence a lot of testing is needed.

Automation could minimize many of these efforts. It is this task that AMELIO Modernization Platform can perform for you: 100% automatically with only a short freeze period and a limited test impact.

Automatic Transformation

AMELIO Modernization Platform provides a fully configurable Software Modernization Factory. It imports and analyses all your source code. All relevant issues are identified and the factory is prepared for a modernization according to your wishes. Selected parts of the application, that cover all the identified issues, are modernized to validate the future situation. After extensive Meta-Level testing of these selected parts, the rest of applications are fed into the factory and the final modernization is performed.

This strategy enables you to adapt your future environment to new wishes or effects discovered during testing without redoing anything. It also enables normal maintenance during most of the modernization project. Only shortly before the final migration a short freeze is necessary. This enables you to adjust the outcome of the final modernization until very late in the project without the risk of running out of time and budget.

Meta-Level Testing
If an 100% automated process performs a task we can assume that, in contrast to human intervention, it always performs this task in the same reliable manner. It is therefore not necessary to test the outcome of all individual tasks that have been performed by an automated process. In our case a representative subset of the applications changed is enough to prove the correct functioning of the factory. This is what Meta-Level testing is about.

Here you find more information about AMELIO Modernization Platform and its extremely power for automated modernization of your applications. Get in touch right now – we are ready to help.

Let's meet Delta

We wish you a Happy New Year 2019!

Following you will find some great events that we recommend and at which you can meet us and our partners:

• SVA: Mainframe Dayz | 19.-20.02.2019, Wiesbaden, Germany
• IBM: Application Development Days 2019 | 12.-14.03.2019, Boeblingen, Germany
• Micro Focus Universe | 26.-28.03.2019, Vienna, Austria #MicroFocusUniverse
• GSE European Modernization Working Group Meeting | 01.-03.04.2019, Prague, Czech Republic

Please give us a call to schedule a date. We are looking forward to seeing you.

https://delta-software.com/link.php?en=6955

Support information: New Product Versions available

Today we have released new versions of the following products:

• ADS for COBOL (6.3.0)
• ADS on Eclipse (7.0.0)
• ADS on Micro Focus EDz (7.0.0 Beta)
• Generator Engine for Windows (6.3.0)
• Generator Engine for IBM z/OS (6.3.0 Beta)
• ADS on Visual Studio (1.1.3)

You can find more information about new features and fixes in the release notes at the support area of our website:
https://delta-software.com/link.php?en=6837

New Delta Training Courses: Register Now

Anyone using tools to automate software development needs in-depth knowledge of the methods, modes of operation, and capabilities of the tools. And not just "in principle", but in relation to the concrete environment and task.

Our training courses and workshops help you to use Delta tools efficiently and to optimise the development of your applications: Practice-oriented and taking into account your main areas of interest.

ADS Basics - ADS for Administrators - ADS Refresher - ADS on Eclipse - ADS What's new

Here you will find the new dates:

• 05.03.-07.03.2025 and 17.09.-19.09.2025 - ADS Basics
• 12.03.-14.03.2025 and 25.09.-26.09.2025 - ADS for Administrators
• 20.03.-21.03.2025 and 09.10.-10.10.2025 - ADS Refresher
• 03.04.-04.04.2025 and 29.10.-30.10.2025 - ADS on Eclipse
• 08.04.2025 and 06.11.2025 - ADS What’s new
• 29.04.2025 and 13.11.2025 - Delta DETAB

Learn more about our trainings and workshops ...

Contact us to discuss your requirements for a customised training.