Monarch®
Staged modernization of IBM® System i™ applications to the Microsoft® .NET Framework
Download Monarch Technical Fact Sheet (PDF)
Tightly coupled with other ASNA® .NET development solutions, ASNA Monarch® transforms green-screen RPG® programs or applications to ASNA Visual RPG® for .NET. Migrated RPG source, Display files, CL, Menus, and Printer Files compile with the ASNA Visual RPG. You are in full control of the project along the way. And, once a project is completed, you can easily extend programs or entire applications in a number of ways, to include the creation of Web services, or the development of composite applications.
Uniquely positioned
Monarch distinguishes itself from any other approach in a variety of ways:
Monarch is the only solution that converts from RPG to RPG
While other products attempt to translate RPG into Visual C#® or Java™, Monarch converts your System i RPG/400® and RPG IV fixed and free source code into 100% verifiable Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) binaries as ASNA Visual RPG for .NET.
Monarch migrates more than just the program source code
Using Monarch Agent technology, Monarch converts important parts of the program or application (including Menus, CL, Display Files, Printer Files, Message Files and Data Areas) to enable a full migration of the application where desired. Monarch even implements the program message queue.
Monarch provides its own comprehensive OS/400® program object discovery process
To help you plan, manage, and control the extension of your RPG programs, Monarch provides its own OS/400 object inspector-that communicates directly and in real time to the System i.
Monarch optionally converts your System i data into Microsoft’s SQL Server®
This capability allows you to determine where data will reside and how best to manage the implementation of composite applications or Web Services. Employing ASNA DataGate® for SQL Server, the Visual RPG applications continue to use the familiar RPG data access operation codes like CHAIN, READE, READP, COMMIT, ROLBK. There is no SQL substitution in the programs!
Monarch Agents shown here deal with all of your IBM i elements
Monarch Cocoon – start the transformation
The ASNA Monarch Cocoon is a .NET application that interrogates specified System i libraries for programs and program dependencies. You use this information for discovering program dependencies, analysis, and migration planning. Cocoon takes only a few minutes to run and provides information such as:
- Program call graph – to spot program object dependencies on other OS/400 program objects (i.e., called programs and system APIs)
- Cross-referenced object usage – to identify what programs use what objects (such as files, data areas, etc.)
- Host RPG source view – to take a quick look at the underlying host source code
- Density factors – to provide the metrics on the “migrateability” of any given program. These factors help you plan and allocate migration resources
- Notes display – a “diary” area to record notes about each object discovered
Monarch Gameplan – specify your strategy
The Gameplan is where migration starts. You create a Gameplan for each application subsystem you migrate with Monarch. The Gameplan specifies program attributes such as library lists, the program entry point, and the active database platform.
Monarch Migration Agents
During the migration process, Monarch invokes each agent on an as-needed basis to execute the corresponding migration task. For example, the RPG agent generates the appropriate RPG source and then directs that source into an ASNA Visual RPG for .NET project.
Monarch opens the project
in Visual Studio® .NET and compiles it for you.
The Result
The figure on the left shows a very traditional work-with panel employing a subfile. With Monarch, this screen is shown in the figure below. Monarch’s display file agent is responsible for translating the 5250 display file source and the associated program logic in to ASP.NET Web forms. Using Monarch defaults, Monarch implements a faithful rendering of the character-based user interface in the new browser-based user interface. Beyond a simply direct translation of the ancestor program’s user interface, the generated Monarch application can be modified to provide substantial user interface modifications and customization. For example, it’s a trivial process to replace static entry fields with “smarter” drop down lists. Customizing fonts, colors and images is also a simple process. Once the project is generated and compiled, it is deployed like any other ASP.NET Web application.
