Web Enabling the Legacy Environment STC 2003

7/31/2019 Web Enabling the Legacy Environment STC 2003

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Web Enabling theLegacy Environment


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Web Enabling the Legacy Environment

SUNY Computer Officers Association STC Conference 2003

Overview

A look the Suffolk County Community

College approach to integrating Web to

Legacy systems.

Environment

Infrastructure

Business Processes


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Environment

Legacy Systems

Business Logic

Development of Web Service

The Future

What Changed?


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Legacy Systems

IBM S/390 Mainframe

VSE O/S

COBOL/CICS

Macro Assembler/CICS

Fortran, RPG, CA-Easytrieve


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Batch Programs

Primary files are VSAM and flat

Acquired DB2, implementation stalled


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ROI

Major development occurred from 1970s

through 1980s.

Hardware and Software maintenance costs

outweigh new mainframe development

efforts.


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Business Logic

Most systems highly evolved

Remarkably similar to early 1980s

Primary efforts over 1990s were related to

integrating Degree Audit to many facets of

other systems.


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Voice Response

Mid 1990s mainframe applications

extended to IVR technology

Registration

Credit Card Payment


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Beginning of Web

1996

SUN/Solaris running NCSA.

Upgraded to Apache.

STARRS


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Current Infrastructure

Mixed bag.

Predominantly IIS on Windows NT.

Apache still present, mostly departmental

sites.

Converting from Perl to ASP as part of

Portal deployment.


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STARRS

1998

Acquisition of IBM S/390 facilitates

TCP/IP.

First web application to access mainframe

business logic.

Extended beyond voice response.


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The FutureMy SCCC

Full Feature Portal

Built on VB/ASP

SQL Server


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Third Tier

Extending, not replacing mainframe

business logic.

Profile, personalize student interaction with

systems.


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What Changed

Why change?


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Who Moved My Cheese?

Our customers changed.

Students, Faculty and Staff.

More technical.

Desire for more interactive

systems that reflect the web

world they live in.


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Good Questions

Why should I drive to school to register

when I get an entire degrees online at other

schools?

Why do I have to fill in a form that gets

scanned into the system?

Why does it take so long for me to get mygrades?


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The Question

We want to extend the ROI of mainframe

applications, but no one wants the green

screen.

How do we make it talk to the web?


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The Mainframe

Developed a listener service.

Listener constantly checks for requests

addressed to a set port.


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The Listener

Each request received causes the listener to

spawn another instance to handle new

activity. Five listeners run simultaneously.

After the request has been responded to, the

listener closes.


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What Happens

Listener watches a TCP/IP port.

The application has the option for one of

two methods of communicating:

TCP/IP socket directly

Laser Driver


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Original goal

Use mainframe CICS transactions with the

absolute minimum customization.

If it aint broke, dont fix it


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First Shot

Used to authenticate student login using

PINS application

TCP/IP

Command line data stream


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Problems

Requires modification of front-end CICS

transactions to tie into business logic.

Greater development time.


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Benefits

Significantly smaller data stream.

Location changes on green screen do not

force re-write.


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Second Process

Used data stream designed to feed laser

printers.

Homegrown laser driver.

Designed for existing CICS applications.

Essentially a screen scrape.


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Problems

Designed for printing, not communication.

Location, location, location.


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Benefits

Works very well.

Very quick development time.

Easy to develop for and maintain by

application programming staff.


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Future

Use of CICS as a true transaction server.

Move to native CICS listener service.

Implementation of database at business

logic layer.


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Applications

Student

Registration

Payment

Faculty/Administration

Class Roster Submission


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Registration

Troubled History:

Arena Scheduling Punch cards

Scantron

Problem:

Batch process


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W b E bli h L E i


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The Next Step

Voice response.

Moved 30% of traffic from lines to phone.

W b E bli h L E i


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Problems

Despite best efforts an awkward interface.

Time consuming process, could take five

minutes or longer to register.

Could not accommodate special populations

requiring advisor signature.

W b E bli h L E i


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Enter STARRS

Web performed like theVRU and CICS, real timeinterface.

Limitless locations, giveninternet access and abrowser.

Speed - Unlike VRU, couldaccommodate multipleadd/drop transactionssimultaneously.

W b E bli h L E i


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Who Knew?

STARRS capitalizes on hidden

functionality.

Hidden or Forgotten?

Your class selection is full, would you like

to pick from this list of alternatives?

W b E bli th L E i t


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The Future, MySCCC

Registration integrates to

Degree Audit.

Compare what I need tomy schedule.

Needs list gets further

sanitized to eliminate

courses without pre-requisites.



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MySCCC

Goes another step further.

Enter day of week or time of day

preferences with catalogue numbers.

System returns suggested schedule.

All existing mainframe functionality,

simply exposed in a more usable interface.



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Payment

Goal:

To be more like a bank, deal with exceptions at

the window, not the normal payments.



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Problems

Much like registration:

Long lines

Changing customer



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Evolution

Again, much like registration

Paper ledgers

Batch entry of payment to accounts

CICS applications



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Voice Response

Like registration, limited

Credit cards

Authorize use of financial aid to cover bill



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The Problem with STARRS

Security of credit card information critical

Decision to outsource processing



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Verisign

SCCC takes credit card

information and passes

immediately to Verisign. Only authorization and

transaction information kept

on file.



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Roster Processing

A distribution nightmare

3000 rosters

3 campus Dean of Faculty offices Campus Faculty Departments

Faculty mailboxes



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Accuracy vs. Timing

Rosters have to print so far in advance, they

are stale by the time they get to Faculty.



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Return to Sender

Not one bit easier

Hand delivery to campus

registrar

Sent to Computer Center for

scanning

Posted in batch

Grade reports mailed


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Need

Real-time status

Wide accessibility

Tighter timeline

Instant grade availability for students



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WAF to the Rescue

STARRS little brother

Same architecture

Faculty oriented



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Real Time

Hit mainframe for actual

roster at that moment in

time.



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Widely Accessible

Anywhere in the world

Learned some interesting things



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Timeline

Rosters now post grades to official

transcript within three business days of

deadline.


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Shotgun Start

No phase-in period.

Worry, worry, worry.

Had 98 percent compliance first semester.



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Summary

When business logic is good, extend ROI

where possible.

Kept the best of the old and layered it withthe best of the new.



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The Real McCoys

John Gannon, Associate Director of

Computer Center.

The creator of STARRS, WAF andtechnical director MySCCC.

Bob Kempf, Principal Programmer.

Father of the listener and laser driver.


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Questions

Documents

Web Enabling the Legacy Environment STC 2003