November 1995
N2O Emergency Recovery Utility
ADABAS Data Propagation: Soon to Be a Reality!
Treehouse Software recently began research and development of its first products for UNIX. Early in our investigation of the UNIX platform, we had the opportunity to examine popular UNIX editors. While these editors certainly had their good points, they lacked many features we relied on in our favorite mainframe editors: XEDIT and ISPF/PDF. We wondered if a better editor might be available. Not long afterward, we were approached by Gilles Pardon of Euramark S.A. of France to market SEDIT and S/REXX, products developed by Benaroya et Compagnie.
What are these products? SEDIT is an XEDIT and ISPF/PDF compatible text editor for the UNIX platform. S/REXX is a UNIX macro language which closely emulates IBM's mainframe REXX language. Thousands of SEDIT and S/REXX licenses have been sold in Europe.
After taking a close look at the products, we knew we wanted to market them. They were full-featured, mature, and powerful products. We quickly worked with Benaroya et Compagnie to sign a distribution agreement.
SEDIT and S/REXX were announced in a mailing to thousands of people at North American sites. The response has been excellent. Many trials are underway, and we look forward to having a large, happy customer base for these products very soon.
Sample SEDIT Screen:
Note the traditional XEDIT/PDF features and GUI interface.
For more information about these products, contact your TSI account representative today.
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Talk about overload! Where do I begin? In the past few months, Treehouse has been a virtual snowstorm of activity. New employees have come aboard. New products have been added to our product line through acquisition or marketing agreement. It's been, well...kind of crazy.
New Products
TSI now offers several new products, including SEDIT, S/REXX, DELPHI, and DELPHI for Windows. These products have already generated a lot of interest, and several trials. You may have seen one of our recent mailings about these products. If not, be sure to check out the articles in this issue of TREETIPS and call us if we can provide more details.
In addition, we began development of the TSI Data Propagation System (DPS), and have continued work on LumeNAT. DPS, in particular, has gotten a lot of attention. TSI met with representatives of the Sybase Information Connect Division (formerly MDI) in Boulder, Colorado, about integrating DPS with their Sybase Replication Server offering. Oracle has also contacted us about DPS, seeing similar potential for integration with their data replication software. To see what all the fuss is about, check out the DPS article in this issue.
SECURITRE Continues to be Popular
SECURITRE has also gotten a lot of attention. On the SAG-L discussion list on the Internet, a number of sites inquired about security concerns and solutions. One site, in particular, submitted a number of questions about the SECURITRE product. Our response was quite lengthy, so we posted a small message to the discussion list, offering a copy of the questions and answers upon request by any ADABAS site. We received a flood of requests and follow-up questions from ADABAS sites around the world. In addition to the Internet attention, SECURITRE was nominated for an InfoSecurity News Reader's Choice Award.
Worldwide Travels
TSI has made several international trips recently, to England, Spain, Belgium, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, and Asia. Trips are planned for Brazil, Mexico, and other locations. TSI has also made a number of trips within the U.S., including visits to sites in Washington D.C., Hawaii, Louisiana, Virginia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Washington.
Conference Activity
TSI sent representatives to the Boston NATURAL Conference and the CAUCUS in Virginia. Nine TSI representatives attended the Software AG International Conference in Texas. Although this year's international conference was not as well-attended as in previous years, we found it to be very informative, well organized, and fun.
To spread the word about tRelational, DPS, and our new DELPHI products, TSI attended the International Oracle User Week (IOUW) in Philadelphia. TSI also attended various Business Alliance Programme meetings before and during the IOUW, interacting with Oracle representatives and members of the Migration Technology Initiative, Warehousing Technology Initiative, and Systems Management Tools Initiative. The Oracle representatives were very cooperative and supportive of TSI, actively pursuing joint ventures and partnerships with us. In the Oracle user community, TSI intends to be very active, especially within the Oracle MVS Special Interest Group.
New Staff Members
As you might imagine, adding all of these new products has created a need for additional help around the Treehouse. TSI is pleased to welcome aboard several new staff members and consultants. We would like to be able to tell you all the details about each of them, but space only permits us to give the basic details.
Roy Parkinson has joined TSI to head the DPS development project (see the article about Roy later in this issue). Roy is formerly from Software AG and Sybase. Roy's team includes Keith Hoback, Mike Foy, and a consultant.
Gordon Perrins, whom you may know from his Software AG days, has also joined TSI. Gordon will initially be involved with DELPHI, handling product management responsibilities.
Dan Nero, Mitch Doricich, and Steve Domines have joined TSI's sales team. You may have already spoken with them. Ed Wolfe manages technical support for our SEDIT and S/REXX products on UNIX. Jacqueline Rudolph is our International Operations Liaison. It is her job to oversee our incoming and outgoing international communication, manage affiliate relationships, and communicate with international joint venture companies. Terry Divelbliss has joined TSI to handle marketing and administrative issues related to DELPHI, SEDIT, and S/REXX. Julie Cramer and Christian Perry have joined TSI's technical and marketing documentation staff. You should already begin to see their positive effect on the quality of TSI's documentation and marketing literature. Bob McGuire has joined TSI's development staff. Bob has worked on PROFILER, N2O, DynaDoc, and other products since his arrival at TSI. John Riley also joined TSI's development staff. John is working closely with Barb Friedman to prepare LumeNAT for its first general release. Keith Newsom, who retired from the State of Washington, has also joined TSI. Keith is a senior technician assisting in the development of TRIM, AUDITRE, PROFILER, SECURITRE, and other products as needed. Heather Mengel joined TSI as a receptionist, mailing coordinator, and general assistant.
New Affiliates and Partners
TSI has a new affiliate, Casa de Software of Mexico, discussed in an article in this issue of TREETIPS. ITS of South Africa has signed on as our PROFILER for NATURAL affiliate in Africa. SPL of Israel became a PROFILER affiliate in Israel, and is considering representing some of our other products.
TSI recently joined Hewlett-Packard's business partner program and subsequently acquired an HP 9000 CPU for product development and support functions. TSI also joined the Red Brick Systems, Inc., PaVER program to make it easier to support the Red Brick Warehouse product with tRelational and DPS.
Expanded Focus, Continued ADABAS/NATURAL Commitment
The TSI focus has expanded beyond mainframe ADABAS/NATURAL. We now have products for general mainframe use, non-ADABAS databases, UNIX, and even Windows. This should not be seen as a de-emphasis of our commitment to ADABAS and NATURAL, but as an extension to our focus on high-quality systems software tools and services.
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N2O Version 3.4 is currently under development. One of the many enhancements in this release is an Emergency Recovery Utility that provides additional peace of mind to N2O sites.
The Emergency Recovery Utility allows sites to recover Objects from an N2O Archive file when N2O is unavailable. The Emergency Recovery Utility is especially useful for sites with remote environments and sites with multiple databases. The utility allows these sites to recover the last archived version of an Object from an N2O Archive file when the database where N2O is installed is not active.
For example, assume that N2O is installed in the Development environment. A new Payroll application is migrated from Test into Production using N2O, and the old version is automatically placed in the Production Archive file. The Production Payroll application fails at 2:00 a.m. and the old version must be recovered. The Development database where N2O is installed has been brought down for maintenance, so N2O is not available. With the Emergency Recovery Utility installed on the Production database, the site can recover the old version of the Payroll application from the Production Archive file immediately, and does not need to wait for the Development database to come on-line in order to restore the old version.
The Emergency Recovery Utility is secured to guard against misuse. To ensure that the utility is used exclusively in emergencies, it recovers only the last archived version of an Object. Full information about recoveries performed with the utility is recorded in the N2O audit trail for later review.
To learn more about the enhancements in N2O Version 3.4, contact Treehouse Software or your TSI affiliate.
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DELPHI is the most comprehensive and powerful performance monitor available for ORACLE MVS, providing very detailed statistics about ORACLE use and performance.
DELPHI for Windows provides statistics in a GUI format, displaying data extracted from the dynamic performance tables (V$/X$) of ORACLE instances running on any platform which is accessible through an ORACLE SQL*Net connection. When used with DELPHI for MVS, DELPHI for Windows brings the detailed ORACLE MVS statistics to life in a GUI format. This makes DELPHI for Windows a very useful product for MVS and non-MVS ORACLE customers.
TMG had been successful in marketing the DELPHI products, but realized that a substantial undertaking would be necessary to see DELPHI achieve its full potential. Having been familiar with TSI for many years, TMG felt that TSI would be the ideal company to acquire DELPHI and DELPHI for Windows. TMG knew of TSI's reputation as performance monitoring experts, and our global marketing and support infrastructure. TMG approached TSI about the DELPHI products in July 1995. In August, the acquisition was completed. TSI now owns all rights to the products.
The product combines information from the ORACLE dynamic performance tables, information from the IBM operating system, and transparent instrumentation of the target database. DELPHI supplements the ORACLE SQL*DBA utility, giving database administrators and system programmers concise, usable information about the performance of their database system.
DELPHI for Windows was developed to complement the DELPHI product for MVS. When the Windows and MVS products are used together, they present performance data well beyond that available through the ORACLE dynamic performance tables (V$/X$). DELPHI for Windows can also monitor ORACLE instances on non-MVS platforms, including UNIX, OS/2, etc.
DELPHI customers are accustomed to the high level of product quality and customer support provided by TMG. The TSI DELPHI product team is prepared to assume full development and support activity for DELPHI. Customers can be assured of excellent worldwide 24 hours per day, 7 days per week technical support and continued customer-driven product enhancements in the years to come.
TSI received a very warm reception for DELPHI at the International Oracle User Week (IOUW) meeting in Philadelphia in September. Many attendees expressed an interest in DELPHI, and took information home with them from the conference.
TSI's excellent relationship with Oracle Corporation has grown since the acquisition of DELPHI. In addition to being a Business Alliance Partner, TSI is now an official Oracle Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and a member of the Systems Management Tools Initiative (SMTI). This close tie between TSI and Oracle ensures that DELPHI will continue to evolve and grow in concert with advancements in the ORACLE RDBMS.
TSI is currently marketing DELPHI worldwide through its headquarters in Pennsylvania. A search for appropriate affiliates to take DELPHI to market internationally is underway. At the time this newsletter was sent to press, no affiliates had been selected for DELPHI.
For more information about these products, call Treehouse Software today!
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Treehouse Software is in contact with literally hundreds of ADABAS sites. These sites are telling us that they need to get their production data closer to the end users. End users want to have "point-and-click" access to corporate information through GUI tools like Esperant from Software AG. Unfortunately, these GUI tools are typically SQL-based, so they are limited in their ability to access ADABAS. Sites are reluctant to give up their high-performance, well-tuned ADABAS production environment, and their investment in ADABAS applications, just to have SQL access to production data. What they want is a "best of both worlds" situation, where production data remains in the high-performance ADABAS database, but is also available to end users in an SQL-accessible repository. TSI is about to meet this need with its DPS product/service.
DPS will allow sites to continue to use their current ADABAS-based production systems, without change. It will extract a copy of the ADABAS data, transform it into a relational form, and place it into a relational database management system (RDBMS) such as Sybase or Oracle. As changes are made to the ADABAS data, DPS will detect the changes and (as directed by the site) propagate the changes to the RDBMS. Thus, DPS will provide near-real-time access to production ADABAS data through a relational database. End users will be able to perform complex analysis and queries of the data through their favorite GUI tools without impacting production systems.
Is DPS New Technology?
In a sense, DPS is new technology. However, it is based on current, proven Treehouse Software products. It borrows from tRelational, TSI's ADABAS-to-RDBMS analysis, mapping, transformation, and migration technology. tRelational borrows from TRIM, Treehouse Software's ADABAS performance monitoring and log analysis tool. DPS also borrows proven update-extraction technology from AUDITRE, Treehouse Software's ADABAS auditing tool. But DPS includes much more than tRelational and AUDITRE alone can provide. You can think of DPS as new technology based on solid, proven software.
What is the Current Status of DPS?
DPS is currently under development in cooperation with SEI Corporation in Wayne, PA. SEI provides trust accounting services for over 300 bank clients. These clients want a relational database repository, and GUI access to their subset of the data maintained by SEI's robust TRUST 3000® application. TRUST 3000 is a highly complex mainframe application written in FORTRAN, which processes millions of transactions each day against several ADABAS databases.
The initial prototype of DPS, which will perform a nightly batch replication from ADABAS to Sybase, is expected to be completed by the end of 1995. This prototype will use tRelational technology to materialize the Sybase database with a base copy of the current SEI ADABAS production data. As SEI processes the data through TRUST 3000, ADABAS Protection Logs will be generated. The first version of SEI's system will process copies of these Protection Logs to extract relevant updates, format the updates according to the relational database design, and apply them to the Sybase database. The Sybase copy of the TRUST 3000 data will be as current as the last iteration of the DPS process.
Where is DPS Going?
Once this prototype is complete, TSI and SEI will begin a second phase of the project which will focus on near-real-time propagation of changes. In other words, the Sybase database will be kept as closely synchronized as possible with ADABAS. The goal is for the Sybase data to be synchronized immediately after an ADABAS transaction completes. This second phase is expected to be completed during the first half of 1996.
During this second phase, DPS will be "productized". Documentation and training materials will be prepared, so that TSI consultants will be able to take the code developed at SEI and install it at other customer sites around the world. The tRelational product will also be "productized" and made available separately from DPS for those sites who wish to perform routine migrations (i.e., no update propagation) using in-house resources.
TSI will also begin development of DPS interfaces with other replication technology, such as the replication products offered by Sybase and Oracle. These vendors are already expressing a strong interest in DPS, based on the responses they are getting from their customers. TSI has had the opportunity to meet with Sybase representatives in Boulder and in Sewickley to present and discuss DPS. Oracle has recently expressed a strong interest in similar meetings, to discuss interfacing Oracle technology with DPS.
How Can You Get Involved with DPS or Learn More About It?
The best way to learn more about DPS is to get in on the ground floor like SEI did. TSI needs a limited number of additional alpha and beta sites for the DPS software, so that we can better meet the needs of the general ADABAS market. We can make the price of DPS much more attractive for those who are willing to be "early adopters" of this technology and work with us to get it off the ground. By getting involved with DPS in its early stages, you will also have the opportunity to help us direct the product to better meet your needs. If you delay, you may find that all of the available slots in the alpha/beta program have been filled.
If circumstances prevent you from getting involved at this point, you can still keep abreast of DPS progress. Keep in contact with your Treehouse account representative for the latest details. Be sure to open your Treehouse mail promptly, as we may occasionally mail updates on the DPS project to you. And, of course, keep reading TREETIPS. Most importantly, however, you need to let us know of your interest in DPS. This will ensure that you automatically receive all available DPS information.
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TSI is pleased to announce that Roy Parkinson has joined our staff. Roy comes to us from MDI/Sybase, where he served as a senior consultant. Prior to Sybase, Roy held a number of positions at Software AG. Many of you may know Roy from his career at Software AG.
During his years at Software AG, Roy managed the Client/Server and Platform Technologies group, helped to build the Software AG Rightsizing Center, served as a consultant, taught classes, provided technical support, and performed quality assurance work for ADABAS, COM-PLETE, and NATURAL.
Roy also previously worked at Pennsylvania State University as a senior database programmer and applications programmer/analyst. Prior to Penn State, Roy worked for General Minicomputer Systems, where he helped to develop the first automated milk testing system in the United States.
Roy's technical background includes experience with ADABAS C and D, DB2, IMS, SQL/DS, Sybase SQL Server, NOMAD2, MDI Database Gateway, Sybase Replication Server, ENTIRE Broker, ADABAS SQL Server, NET-WORK, CICS, TSO, CMS, COM-PLETE, IMS/DC, MVS, VM, VSE, UNIX, OS/2, Windows, NATURAL, Assembler, COBOL, EASYTRIEVE, C, FORTRAN, RPG II, and more. He has been involved in the development and review of applications for many areas, including Accounting, Construction, Higher Education, Insurance, Retail Inventory, Laboratory Automation, Property Management, and Point of Sale.
Roy will serve as the Director of TSI's Data Propagation System (DPS) Development Group. George Szakach, president of TSI, said "I have always held Roy in the highest regard, and was pleased that he was able to join us. Roy's background and experience make him the ideal person to oversee the DPS project. He is an extremely valuable addition to our staff."
Roy is talking to TSI customers and learning more about their data propagation needs. "Before coming to Treehouse," Roy said, "I realized that DPS is exactly what many ADABAS sites are looking for. I've talked to a number of sites who are planning some type of migration, replication, or propagation project, and they've all said the same thing: There are no good tools available. My team and I are planning to change that, with DPS."
If you want to get in on the ground floor of DPS, give us a call. Roy or another TSI representative will be happy to speak with you.
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With so many changes happening rapidly at Treehouse, it seemed appropriate to learn about them from the person who knows the company best, its president and founder George Szakach. TREETIPS managed to get George aside and ask him a few questions.
It's been six months since we've seen TREETIPS. Is Treehouse slowing down? Are you slowing down, George?
Are you kidding, and are you kidding? We always try to get TREETIPS out about 2 months after the previous issue. We never quite make it, though. In the past six months, so many big things have happened that we haven't been able to slow down long enough to prepare TREETIPS. Or, to put it another way, maybe this issue should be 32 pages to do justice to all of our recent efforts.
We notice that Treehouse has some new products. We guess this is good. Is this what is taking up all of your time?
Yes. We do have several new products, and this is good. But, it does take our time to finalize development, to set up marketing of a new product, to line up a product manager, to train sales and support people for the new challenges, etc. This is normal stuff, but we have never before been hit with so many new and diverse products at once.
It sounds like some of these new products are being developed by Treehouse, and some of them are being acquired. Does this mean you are expanding beyond your long-time ADABAS/NATURAL focus?
I'm glad you state it as "expanding". Yes, it's true. Some people think that we are leaving the ADABAS market, and that certainly is not true. We recently sent 9 of our people to the Software AG conference in San Antonio. This is probably more people than most customers or any partner sent to the conference. We also acquired a Hewlett-Packard UNIX box, and have ADABAS, NATURAL, and PREDICT on it - to go along with our mainframe development setup. As for our expansion, this is happening in a number of ways, in several areas. I'll list these areas for you:
That's a healthy diet of new ventures. Can Treehouse really support all of this concurrent effort?
As you can tell, some of these new ventures are ours only for marketing and support, so there has been no big, costly development effort. SEDIT and S/REXX are examples. These are proven products with many customers already. We are simply bringing them to a new market.
In the case of the DELPHI products, they are already developed and have already been marketed and supported. We acquired these products, and have hired new people to work on them in the areas of marketing and future development.
The biggest effort is on DPS. We have hired four new super-senior people (see the articles on these people in this newsletter) to work on this project. We are trying to use new people on new projects, to prevent any impact on development and support of our current ADABAS/NATURAL-related products.
So, TSI seems to be growing in lots of ways. What does the future hold? Is Software AG in a good position for the future? What is their stated direction? Will you follow them? Legent was just about the only other company doing anything related to ADABAS/NATURAL, and Legent is gone. Where does all this leave TSI?
Customers talk in terms of partnering, open architecture, distributed data, portability of code, retention of legacy systems and data, ready availability of application software, selection of good third-party tools, etc. The best vendors, the ones customers want to do business with, talk the same language. We'll continue to go in the direction our customers and potential customers want us to go. They want good, solid products from us, and a broadened focus.
I cannot comment on Software AG's direction. Lots of good software comes from Software AG, and many new things were discussed and presented at their conference. Conference attendance was down, and the company recently "restructured". The restructuring was posed as a healthy thing. Maybe a smaller conference is also a good thing. I always say that a good, strong, healthy growing Software AG is good for Treehouse. But, TSI does not rely on Software AG in order to be successful. A number of products and projects, like DPS, help customers and Software AG, as well as ensure TSI's continued success.
As for Legent, their "restructuring" into CA has hurt a lot of employees and customers. Many of these people are calling us. I knew Legent was in trouble when I wrote to their new president and the envelope came back marked "addressee unknown". We were 100% supportive of the CA buyout of Legent, as it helps Treehouse immensely.
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PROFILER for NATURAL Version 3.2.0 is nearing release. This release includes a powerful new Trace Subsystem. The Trace Subsystem monitors the order of execution of program statements within an application and generates a Trace Source Code Report. A sample of this report appears below:
The above report shows the flow of execution for a sample Payroll application. The user executes the program PAYROLL, which has its first executable statement at line 0050. PAYROLL fetches the program PAY0100P. The PAY0100P program has its first executable statement at line number 0050, which is an INCLUDE of the copycode PAY0100C. PAY0100C contains a SET KEY statement. It returns control to PAY0100P. PAY0100P resumes execution at statement 0060. Statement 0070 executes the map PAY0100M which inputs data from the user and returns control to PAY0100P. PAY0100P resumes at statement 0080, which is a DECIDE statement. Based on the next statement executed in PAY0100P, statement 0110, the user appeared to press the Enter key, which causes PAY0100P to perform the subroutine INPUT-CHECK.
Being able to follow the flow of execution in this way can be very helpful when attempting to diagnose a program failure, or when attempting to determine how a particular application's components interact with each other.
Other V3.2.0 Improvements
PROFILER V3.2.0 offers additional improvements over PROFILER V3.1.0, including the ability to include/exclude programs from a profiling session, and the ability to activate and deactivate profiling/tracing sessions from the NATURAL command line in any application or library.
A PROFILER release for the VSE operating system is being developed, and is expected to be available by the end of 1995.
For More Information
To request additional information or a free trial of PROFILER for NATURAL, please contact Treehouse Software or your TSI affiliate today.
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Casa de Software, located in Mexico City, recently became Treehouse Software's affiliate in Mexico. Casa de Software is part of a small industrial group based in the city of Queretaro in the state of Quintana Roo. Provista, S.A. de C.V., a chemical company, is Casa de Software's parent entity. Casa de Software is primarily a software development and systems integration company which also provides consulting and training in computer and software technology to prospects and customers in Mexico.
Casa de Software currently focuses on the IBM mainframe, AS/400, and UNIX marketplaces. In addition to Treehouse Software's products, they represent Landmark Systems Corporation, Software Engineering of America, Software 2000, Lansa USA, and Chicago-Soft Ltd. in the Mexican marketplace. Casa de Software is an IBM Business Partner.
Casa de Software's customer list includes Colgate Palmolive, Kodak, Playtex Apparel, Kimberly-Clark, Siemens, 3M, and other prestigious organizations.
Casa de Software has 20 full-time employees working in their three branch offices and at client sites. An additional 2-30 contractors assist them as needed on specific client projects.
Treehouse Software is pleased to welcome Casa de Software as an affiliate.
You may contact Casa de Software at:
CASA DE SOFTWARE, S.A. de C.V.
Apartado Postal 10-992
11000 Mexico, D.F.
Mexico
Phone: 525-557-0616
Fax: 525-557-3207
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The PC/370 Workbench is a powerful and cost-effective development platform for mainframe applications. Its many benefits include the following:
The PC/370 Workbench can be run stand-alone or in a client/server configuration. All standard mainframe capabilities are supported. Full ADABAS utility support is provided. The following major mainframe products are available as PC/370 Workbench products:
TSI has completed an internal evaluation of PC/370 Workbench, and is considering marketing this software in North America if there is sufficient customer demand.
If you are interested in the PC/370 Workbench, please contact TSI today!
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Disclaimer: ADABAS, PREDICT, NATURAL, PAC, COM-PLETE, ENTIRE Broker, ADABAS SQL Server, NET-WORK, and Esperant are all products of Software AG. MVS, VM, VSE, IMS, CICS, TSO, CMS, VSAM, OS/2, SQL/DS, XEDIT, REXX, ISPF/PDF, AS/400, and DB2, are products and/or registered trademarks of IBM. ORACLE, SQL*Net, and SQL*DBA are products and/or registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. Sybase SQL Server and Sybase Replication Server are products and/or registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. Informix is a product of Informix Software, Inc. SEDIT and S/REXX are products of Benaroya et Compagnie. TRUST 3000 is a registered trademark of SEI Corporation. Windows is a product of Microsoft Corporation. PC/370 Workbench is a product of SPL South Africa. HP9000 and HP/UX are products of Hewlett-Packard. Any other product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders. The mention of any product name in TREETIPS should not be considered to imply support or endorsement by Treehouse Software, Inc., its employees, or affiliates.
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