Not subject to vendor mainframe migration concepts and advantages (1)

Vendors have recently begun to boast some conflicting ideas about mainframe migration. However, this will facilitate cross-platform applications on the mainframe.

Concept of mainframe migration

The key to mainframe migration is to provide a convenient way to port applications to Windows or Unix platforms at the source code level. Under this premise, the goal of these products will be to batch processing and Simulation of cobol cics. There are a variety of methods for porting application software, but there are mainly the following factors:

Programming language. There are many available COBOL compilers, the most popular of which was the Micro Focus COBOL in 1980s. Modules written in other languages, such as C, C ++, or Java, are more compatible with the platform and are easier to be transplanted across platforms.

Data warehouse. Generally, DB2 applications can be completely migrated to other relational database management systems, such as UDB, Oracle, or SQL Server. Enterprises can also choose open-source database engines to save cost in the future. Developers have many different ways to deal with virtual storage access VSAM) dataset: some simulation VSAM clusters on distributed file systems, you can also convert VSAM file calls to SQL statements by providing some DBMS backend.

Transaction processing simulator. Vendors usually provide a CICS simulator to support most open application interface APIs ). In this case, the command call will implement the CICS-like function by simulating the software. I have not found a simulator that can be used for IMS databases or online transactions.

Batch processing. Some products include tools used to convert the workflow control language of one-time sessions to scripts. Other Products Use a real-time translator to run the original JCL.

The biggest problem with porting an application is recompilation. Potential problems may include PL/1 and assembler rewriting or debugging. Some code may need to be modified because it cannot fully simulate a subset of the CICS command. Finally, there may be a small number of applications, such as IMS databases or enterprise components that cannot be migrated to other platforms. In this case, you need to make a choice and adopt countermeasures to implement the required functions.