Sirius Software's Model 204
related products position your
data at the center of high-performance Web and client/server-based
processing, helping to extend application lifetimes and decrease
cost of ownership. Sirius' product suite covers four broad categories:
Interoperability,
Performance Management,
Help Desk Support, and
Life Cycle Management.
As a result of our extensive experience applying new technologies in
a wide variety of programming environments, Sirius is often contracted
for consulting projects, not necessarily in areas related to
Model 204.
Interoperability
The Janus product family
allows Model 204 databases and
applications to become high performance participants in the
network-based application architectures of the future.
Janus covers the full spectrum of application requirements,
including web, web commerce, client/server and database
interoperability.
Janus tightly integrates support for a wide variety of
industry standard TCP/IP protocols within Model 204's
unique
4GL-based application environment. The result is unparalleled
performance and security. Janus streamlines the transition from
mainframe-based computing architectures to distributed,
network-based environments by reducing the risks and costs
associated with introducing new technologies into existing
Model 204 legacy environments.
Janus TCP/IP Base: provides a direct, high performance connection
between Model 204 and a TCP/IP network. Janus TCP/IP Base
works with all popular TCP/IP support packages. The Janus
IFDIAL Library is a no-cost C-callable API that operates in
conjunction with Janus TCP/IP Base to provide rudimentary
access to Model 204 from a wide variety of platforms.
Janus Network Security: provides support for the Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) protocol.
SSL supports server authentication, message
privacy and integrity across public and private networks.
Janus Network Security includes tools for key generation
as well as certificate generation and management.
Janus Web Server:
the world's first full-featured Hyper-Text
Transmission Protocol (HTTP) server that is fully integrated
within a database management system. Janus Web Server can
be used to serve up all types of static content including
plain text, Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) and binary data
types. HTTP 1.1 is supported, along with the HTTP PUT operator
for uploading data from modern browsers. Janus Web Server is
rules based, supporting rich access controls and a full array
of redirection services.
Janus Web Server provides a complete Application Programming
Interface for Model 204's imbedded 4GL programming
environment.
The User Language API provides access to cookies and other low
level browser controls, enabling the creation of sophisticated
high performance web applications. Janus Web Server may be used
in conjunction with Janus Network Security to support secure
web commerce transactions.
Janus Sockets:
provides socket-level connectivity between Model 204 and any software
package or service that provides a sockets interface, effectively
allowing the direct exchange of data, in real time, with any
program. With a Janus Sockets program you can send e-mail directly
from Model 204, you can communicate with a web server, a wap server,
an ftp port, another database, a Palm Pilot; basically any device
that has a digital interface.
Janus Specialty Data Store:
operates in conjunction with the
Component Integration Services (ASE/CIS)
feature of Sybase EnterpriseConnect Data Access
to provide high performance dynamic SQL
access to data stored in Model 204 databases. Automated
mapping tools analyze existing Model 204 databases and
create relational views that can be queried and updated.
ASE/CIS supports the joining of data from Model 204
databases with data from other relational or non-relational
sources.
SQL command strings are parsed and translated into efficient
User Language programs. The compilations of these User Language
programs are saved and reused whenever possible, significantly
reducing the overhead of translating and compiling SQL requests.
These saved compilations are shared amongst all users and persist
across client sessions. All this makes it possible for the
Janus Specialty Data Store to provide dynamic SQL performance
comparable to or better than that of native User Language programs.
Janus Open Server:
enables Model 204 applications as high performance
servers in an open client/server environment, using the Stored
Procedure/Remote Procedure Call (RPC) model. Janus Open Server
provides support for User Language programs to process RPC's,
including services for scheduling and data translation. Janus
Open Server is implemented via a set of User Language
extensions (dollar functions) that provide functionality similar
to the Sybase Open Server API.
The RPC interface supported by Janus Open Server is plug
compatible with the protocols used by Sybase SQL Server and
Microsoft SQL Server. A wide variety of client API's are
supported, including DB-Lib, Open Client, and several popular
ODBC drivers.
Janus Open Client:
allows Model 204 applications to act as clients in an
open client/server environment. Janus Open Client provides
support for User Language programs to connect to remote servers
and submit dynamic SQL requests or issue RPC's. Janus Open
Client is implemented via a set of User Language extensions
(dollar functions) that provide functionality similar to the
Sybase DB-Lib API.
Because Janus Open Client is plug compatible with the Sybase
DB-Lib, it can directly connect to Sybase SQL Server and
Microsoft SQL Server. Janus Open Client can be used with the
Sybase Adaptive Server to access and update data in other
data sources such as Oracle and Informix, including the ability
to perform joins across heterogeneous data sources.
Performance Management
Sirius' Performance Management Products dramatically reduce
the hardware costs associated with operating Model 204
applications. Sirius utilities significantly reduce the
resources required for various "system janitor" tasks, such
as database reorganization and backup/recovery, which in turn
relieves pressure on batch windows. Performance analysis
tools streamline the process of tuning application code to
reduce resource consumption and improve response times.
SirTune:
monitors an executing Model 204 and produces performance
reports identifying the sources of resource consumption and
performance bottlenecks. Reports identify the individual
lines of application code responsible for CPU consumption
and I/O delays, allowing programmers to focus their tuning
efforts for maximum return.
SirAud:
enables the systematic tracking and improvement of
Model 204 performance. SirAud processes a
Model 204 journal and condenses
its performance data into a set of concise reports. Summary
reports provide an easy to understand view of overall system
performance, showing service levels and highlighting problem
areas. Detail reports assist with performance improvement
projects.
Fast/Unload:
a high performance utility for extracting data from
Model 204 files. Fast/Unload formats data into flat
files a full order of magnitude faster than User Language. A special
UNLOAD ALL INFORMATION command may be used to export data
prior to file reorganization. Fast/Unload may be used to
analyze file contents and verify data consistency at near
channel speeds.
Fast/Reload:
a plug compatible replacement for the Model 204 bulk data
loader (FLOD and FILELOAD) that provides a significant
increase in performance. In addition, Fast/Reload provides
support for the LOAD ALL INFORMATION command that operates in
conjunction with the Fast/Unload UNLOAD ALL INFORMATION
command to provide an efficient and easy to use reorganization
facility for Model 204 database files.
Fast/Backup:
a plug compatible replacement for the Model 204 DUMP and
RESTORE commands. Fast/Backup provides a significant increase
in performance for Model 204 backup/restore, executing
faster than DFDSS. Fast/Backup is essential for 7 by 24 operations,
since it supports online backup of Model 204 files and
eliminates performance delays associated with tape mounts and
dynamic allocation.
Fast/CRAM:
a plug compatible replacement for the Cross Region Access
Method included with Model 204. Fast/CRAM delivers a
substantial increase in reliability and also provides a
signifcant performance boost to applications hosted under
CICS or TSO.
Help Desk Support
Sirius' Help Desk Support Products are power tools that
facilitate various aspects of real-time problem diagnosis and
resolution. By leveraging the efforts of support staff they
enable improved support for end users while simultaneously
decreasing the costs associated with providing support.
SirMon:
provides real-time resource usage and status information for
a Model 204 online system. Provides information at a
system level, user level, and file level. Dynamic exception alerting
screens provide automatic notice of performance problems.
Specially designed problem solving screens highlight root
causes of bottlenecks.
SirScan:
provides interactive access to information from the journal
of a Model 204 online. Information may be restricted to
particular user numbers, thread types, accounts, and time
ranges. Time ranges are processed with direct access binary
searches, eliminating the time consuming scans of SDSF.
SirScan is particularly useful for collecting information on
user problems and for debugging client/server or web-based
applications where Model 204 error messages may be foreign
to the end user.
SirFact:
provides tools to simplify post hoc debugging, that is
the process of debugging User Language programs running in
production environments. SirFact contains facilities to catch
problems early so that their repercussions are less serious
and facilities for capturing a large amount of diagnostic information
(values of %variables, global variables, screen items and much more)
when errors do occur. This data can then be examined by the persons
trying to isolate and fix the causes of these problems. SirFact
can reduce the time spent diagnosing production problems and
improve the quality of production applications.
SirFile:
provides real-time monitoring of Model 204 database files
with automated alerting of problems and advanced warning of
table-full conditions and the requirement for reorganization.
SirFile performs two kinds of checks: it compares the current
state of a file against user-specified thresholds to see if
any tables have exceeded a threshold value, and it maintains a
database of table usage information which it uses to determine
the rate of growth and to predict when any files will fill.
Life Cycle Management
Sirius' Life Cycle Management Products reduce the costs of
maintaining Model 204 applications. Most of these products
were developed to support Sirius' own programming efforts and
therefore reflect the lessons learned during our cumulative
centuries of application experience.
Sir2000:
a methodology and set of supporting tools that help to
automate the process of achieving millennium compliance for
Model 204 databases and applications. Sir2000 includes
tools for database analysis, application testing, and support for
multiple views of date fields. Using the Sir2000 RELATE
facility a DBA can define related pairs of date fields, one
with a two digit year and one with a four digit year, and
the rules used to automatically translate a two digit year
into a four digit year. Updates to either date field are
automatically applied to the other date field.
SirPro:
provides a highly productive integrated environment for the
development and maintenance of Model 204 applications.
SirPro efficiently manages very large procedure files while providing
high performance search and global replace features. SirPro
also provides a full screen interface for commonly used
Model 204 commands.
SirLib:
a comprehensive change management system for Model 204
User Language applications. SirLib enables multiple programmers
to simultaneously work on the same procedures, with tools
for resolving update conflicts and backing out individual
changes or projects. SirLib is modelled on the change control
system used by IBM and virtually all large scale mainframe
product developers. SirLib support is integrated within SirPro
to minimize its intrusion into the development process.
SirDBA:
a utility for mapping and storing the real contents of
Model 204 fields, and initiating procedure searches for
references to fieldnames. SirDba enhances SirPro's already
extensive set of programmer utilities for Y2K conversion efforts
and for other large programming tasks that involves bulk changes to User
Language, especially when those changes revolve around database fields.
