Acucorp expands to COBOL data search
March 26, 2007
COBOL rules the records of the HP 3000 community. A business language with an oft-repeated death sentence — one it has always outlived — COBOL drives more than 75 percent of all HP 3000 applications, by our estimate. We'd quote an even higher number, but there are Speedware and PowerHouse apps a-plenty working out there, too. COBOL code dwawfs all other languages, however, when you sum up lines from 3000 sites.
These organizations have their business-critical applications written in COBOL, and now they can both query and manage Acucorp's COBOL data files much like they would data in a relational database. Acucorp announced today it's released a new single-vendor solution, AcuXDBC, which gives migrating 3000 sites that choose AcuCOBOL the flexibility to access data from ODBC-enabled applications. In essence, the product extends ODBC access for Acucorp customers who use ACUCOBOL-GT — so they have one package to take data into desktop tools like Microsoft Excel and Crystal Reports, as well as JDBC-enabled Java applications.
Acucorp built ACUCOBOL with the features of the HP 3000's COBOL in mind. That has made the compiler a popular choice among 3000 sites doing a migration.
The objective of the product is to give COBOL records a transparent bridge onto desktops that don't run COBOL applications. This is what any good ODBC solution can do, but Acucorp now has a solution to include Vision files, created by its ACUCOBOL-GT. When a site deploys AcuXDBC — either on standalone systems or on networked hosts and clients — these AcuCOBOL-GT data files can be imported into Windows apps. The application data that a migrating site has created with AcuCOBOL-GT is now available with transparent access.
Users on the Windows systems don't even know they are looking at COBOL files, Acucorp says. Not that they would care which language those files come from — but they want to see as much data as possible from that Windows desktop. Now these ACUCOBOL-GT files can join, as they say in SQL parlance, the data party.
AcuXDBC gives Acucorp customers and ODBC driver which understands the Vision file system. Vision controls the records of ACUCOBOL-GT. Acucorp is positioning the new product as a solution for accessing all kinds of data through a single piece of middleware — a step towards a "single vendor solution." That's the configuration that can reduce support calls, because there's only one number to dial for both database connectivity and COBOL issues.
“AcuXDBC is the single-vendor solution for COBOL data management, providing superior performance, adaptability, and support for SQL standards,” said Bob Cavanagh, Director of Product Management. “With this best-of-breed solution, customers can access their Vision data files from both ODBC-enabled applications, like Microsoft Excel and Crystal Reports, and JDBC-enabled Java applications.”
Acucorp said AcuXDBC has re-engineered drivers and an SQL processor to speed execution of many complex SQL commands on large data sets. AcuXDBC works on performance through an advanced rule-based optimizer, one Acucorp created that uses the describe key information to determine what keys to push for the WHERE and/or ORDER BY clause.
AcuXDBC’s query tool gives businesses the ability to use SQL scripts and commands to manage the flow of company data. This tool also allows permissions and views to be set up, providing extra security and even more flexibility in how data access is controlled.