Legacy System Integration and Terminal Emulator

Yrrid - Legacy Objects Framework Press Release

Internet World, San Jose, CA
APRIL 30, 1996 --
Yrrid Incorporated, the leading supplier of connectivity software for OPENSTEP^tm, today announced the release of its latest product: Legacy Object Framework^tm.

Legacy Object Framework (LOF) allows websites powered by NeXT's WebObjects^tm Enterprise to access data from proprietary terminal-based systems.

Many companies have made considerable investments in hardware and software to develop and perfect mainframe systems that control data critical to their business. Often the best way to access these data stores is through the proprietary terminals for which they were originally designed. How to gain access to data from such systems without reinventing the wheel in its object-oriented form has stymied designers of sophisticated, dynamic websites until now.

NeXT's Enterprise Objects Framework^tm (EOF) allows developers to model Oracle, Sybase, and Informix databases as business objects. WebObjects Enterprise applications can access these business objects directly and make them available to web browser clients on the Internet andEnterprise Intranets. If developers could model legacy systems as business objects, they could write WebObjects Enterprise applications that accessed legacy data in its business object form. Integrated in a WebObjects application the legacy business objects would:

Run under many platforms including Microsoft Windows NT, SunSoft Solaris, NEXTSTEP, etc.

Access Oracle, Sybase, and Informix business objects.

Be browser independent and work with OmniWeb, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer, and Mosaic.

Be HTTP server independent, compatible with native server API's and existing programming languages.

This is exactly what LOF offers web designers -- an elegant way to quickly model legacy systems running on IBM mainframes, AS/400's, and DEC VAX's using Yrrid's Cables IBM 3270, 5250, and DEC VT terminal emulations to create business objects they can directly encorporate into dynamic WebObjects Enterprise applications. LOF unifies data that may be scattered across multiple terminal screens into a single business object. LOF manages the flow of information between business object and the legacy system. Best of all, LOF does this by using existing, well tested, completely unmodified legacy code.

Yrrid offers three types of LOF Licences:

The LOF Developer license includes everything needed to write and test LOF applications:

the complete Cables terminal emulation application

the LOModeler utility

documentation

programming examples

The LOF Client license supports the 2-tier client/mainframe architecture. LOF and Cables run on each OPENSTEP client machine communicating directly with the legacy system.

The LOF Server license supports the 3-tier client/server/mainframe architecture. LOF and Cables run on an OPENSTEP or PDO server communicating directly with the legacy system. The LOF server also serves clients running the operating system (Windows 95, NT, etc.) and web navigation software (OmniWeb, Netscape Navigator, MS Internet Explorer, Mosaic, etc.) of their choice.

Look inside Legacy Object architechture