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4GL DEVELOPERS, IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY: FourGen ® C ASE Tools and FourGen ® Accounting software (Session 5 @ Forum 2004)

4GL DEVELOPERS, IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY: FourGen ® C ASE Tools and FourGen ® Accounting software (Session 5 @ Forum 2004). Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity: FourGen ® C ASE Tools and FourGen ® Accounting Software. Syed Kamal Gillani, Inc. (formerly FourGen)

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4GL DEVELOPERS, IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY: FourGen ® C ASE Tools and FourGen ® Accounting software (Session 5 @ Forum 2004)

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  1. 4GL DEVELOPERS, IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY:FourGen® CASE Toolsand FourGen® Accounting software(Session 5 @ Forum 2004)

  2. Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity:FourGen® CASE Tools and FourGen® Accounting Software Syed Kamal Gillani, Inc. (formerly FourGen) Email: kamal@gillani.com Phone: (972) 918-0400 URL: www.gillani.com

  3. Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity:FourGen® CASE Tools and FourGen® Accounting Software • How many Informix 4GL programmers present? • How many have used any RAD tools to develop 4GL apps? • How many have used FourGen CASE tools, aka Informix-4GL “FORMS”, “Menu’s”?

  4. FourGen® CASE ToolsHighlights • Form Painter • Screen Code Generator • Featurizer • Report Generator • Menu’ing System • iDesktop (Windows GUI front-end or browser-enabled front-end) • Source Code Control System • Object Oriented Design • XML based Schema Management Tools

  5. FourGen® CASE ToolsCode Generation Path

  6. Advantages of using FourGen CASE Tools • Increased productivity over 3GL development • Many times faster than 4GL coding • Speeds up initial development AND reduces ongoing cost of program maintenance • Over 80% of the cost of software applications is ongoing maintenance • Facilitates user/developer communication

  7. Why FourGen® CASE Tools? • Structured Code • Automatic Code Documentation • Code Design Standards • User Interface Standards • Version Control • Generated code is Modifiable By Design™ (MBD) • Multi-language Code Generation

  8. Why FourGen® CASE Tools? • GUI & Character user selected interfaces OR

  9. FourGen® CASE ToolsForm Painter • Create new or update existing forms • Creates 100% Informix 4GL compatible .per’s • Various types of forms supported – header, header/detail, query, zooms etc. • Easy to define zooms, lookups & validation functionality • Link many forms – easily & effectively • Developer-friendly interface • Detail Explosion – Present additional detail data on same screen

  10. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • 100% Informix 4GL Code • “Hooks” in generated code allow developers to add custom code • Organizes code into separate .4GL’s namely • globals.4gl, main.4gl, header.4gl, detail.4gl, midlevel.4gl for input screens • Dynamic arrays for line items – no more arr_max hassle • Automatically generates GUI Code

  11. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Program Main – Header

  12. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Program Main – Header / Detail

  13. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Browse Form

  14. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Zoom

  15. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Query

  16. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Extension Form

  17. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Add-on Detail

  18. FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Add-on

  19. FourGen® CASE Tools Featurizer • Merges generated code & custom code • Generated code remains untouched • FourGen® Featurizer reads instructions in extension files to modify source code • With Block commands you place code based on the inserted block tags • Add new business logic or customize flow logic without modifying original source code • Change in a screen or schema, just regenerate code to reapply your changes

  20. FourGen® CASE ToolsReport Generator • Create Informix 4GL reports programs using report image file • Organizes code into separate .4GL’s namely • globals.4gl, main.4gl, report.4gl, midlevel.4gl, lowlevel.4gl for report programs • Includes the following sections • Layout • Attributes • Select • Language • Schedule • Concurrency

  21. FourGen® CASE ToolsMenu’ing System • FourGen® Menus • Menu options can be single or multiple characters with description • Flexible menu option format • Each menu & submenu has its own directory • Menu option can use hotkey option • Predefined structure can be utilized for Enterprise Application • Windows Explorer-like Menu interface available via iDesktop for GUI

  22. FourGen® CASE ToolsiDesktop • Windows based GUI generator • Reads database for screens that make up a program • Generates VB Forms from Informix Forms • Creates GUI Executables from VB Forms • GUI menu program presents menus in WIN Explorer-like format • SSH compatible for added security

  23. FourGen® CASE ToolsiDesktop Win 2000

  24. FourGen® CASE ToolsSource Code Control System • FourGen® SCCS originally developed in mid 1980’s • Builds on top of sccs utilities in UNIX • Advantages • Extremely robust • Easy to use • Tight control of code • Included in FourGen® CASE Tools

  25. FourGen® CASE ToolsSource Code Control System • FourGen® SCCS primary programs

  26. FourGen® CASE Tools Schema Management Tools • FourGen DBmerge • Allows you to control schema • Provides audit trail of schema changes when used with FourGen® SCCS • All schema information & standard data stored in XML format

  27. FourGen® CASE Tools Schema Management Tools • FourGen Dbmerge programs

  28. FourGen® CASE ToolsNEW FEATURES in FourGen CASE Tools V8.1 • Dynamic Array Model – No more hard coding of # of array elements. • User Defined Notes on Screens – Multiple note types and notes for each line of detail. • Add-on hdr/dtl, add-on view hdr/dtl, extension hdr/dtl etc. are few of new Form Types • Detail Explosion – Detail to Detail line for hdr/dtl screens • Zoom picker function standardized • Grids replace temporary tables – index ‘em, random access ‘em, unload ‘em even in .csv formats • Primary Keys instead of Row ID’s • Global elements reduction – scratch, sql_filter, sql_order removed – p & q variables moved to header.4gl & detail.4gl files • Function Metrics – Trace your program control within functions • DB Merge Utilities Made Easy – Supports XML formats • Defer or force referential constraints using Library Functions • Encryption Functions available – handy for securing your data • SIGNAL Trapping

  29. FourGen® CASE ToolsFuture Releases • iDeveloper – GUI development environment • EGL – Websphere Development Edition Integration • Porting FourGen CASE Tools to DB2

  30. Applications Developed using FourGen CASE Tools Gillani’s iDistribute and Financials v8.1 • iDistribute - A complete end-to-end Supply Chain/Distribution Management solution (formerly FourGen/Endura SCM) delivering extraordinary business results for users since 1983. • iDistribute - The system provides advanced Order Management capabilities, integrated with a comprehensive Warehouse and Branch Inventory Management, Purchasing and Replenishment System. • Financials - An Integrated ERP, Accounting System (formerly FourGen Accounting, FourGen Enterprise, Endura Enterprise) providing GL, AP, AR, FA, Budget Management, Credit Management and Financial Reporting functionality. WRITTEN USING FOURGEN CASE TOOLS ! CORNERSTONE OF “MODIFIABILITY BY DESIGN ™” CONCEPT !

  31. Informix 4GL Developers, Improve Productivity:FourGen® CASE Tools and FourGen® Accounting Software Questions? Contact: Syed Kamal Email: kamal@gillani.com Phone: (972) 918-0400 URL: www.gillani.com

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