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Extending Informix 4GL Programming Capabilities Using FourGen ® C ASE Tools. FourGen ® CASE Tools Highlights. Form Painter Screen Code Generator Featurizer Report Generator Menu’ing System Enterprise/iDeskTop aka ED8 Source Code Control System Object Oriented Design
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Extending Informix 4GL Programming CapabilitiesUsingFourGen® CASE Tools
FourGen® CASE ToolsHighlights • Form Painter • Screen Code Generator • Featurizer • Report Generator • Menu’ing System • Enterprise/iDeskTop aka ED8 • Source Code Control System • Object Oriented Design • XML based Schema Management Tools
Advantages of using FourGen CASE Tools • 4 to 10 times increased productivity over 3GL development • 5 to 10 times faster than other 4GL coding • Speeds up initial development AND reduces ongoing cost of program maintenance • Over 80% of the cost of software is ongoing maintenance • Facilitates user/developer communication
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
Why FourGen® CASE Tools? • GUI & Character user selected interfaces OR
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
FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • 100% Informix 4GL Code • “Hooks” in generated code allows 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
FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Program Main – Header
FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Program Main – Header / Detail
FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Browse Form
FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Extension Form
FourGen® CASE Tools Screen Code Generator • Add-on Detail
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
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
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
FourGen® CASE ToolsEnterprise Desktop • 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 Explorer-like format
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
FourGen® CASE ToolsSource Code Control System • FourGen® SCCS primary programs
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
FourGen® CASE Tools Schema Management Tools • FourGen Dbmerge programs
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 info • SIGNAL Trapping • Archive & Purge - Set your own selection and rejection rules and save them as catalogs for successive runs or run these programs as batch jobs. • iDesktop – GUI Front-End now available with secure shell (SSH) communication protocol for added security.
FourGen CASE Tools Gillani iDistribute v8.1 A complete end-to-end Supply Chain Management solution with a unique combination of planning, execution, collaboration and monitoring capabilities delivering extraordinary business results for its users. Delivered via the web, the system provides advanced Order Management capabilities, integrated with a comprehensive Warehouse and Branch Inventory Management and Replenishment System. WRITTEN USING FOURGEN CASE TOOLS.
Questions? Contact: Sales – sales@gillani.com Phone: (972) 918-0400 URL: www.gillani.com