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Open/36 is a set of programs that allows IBM System/36 applications and software products to be migrated to Open Systems such as the IBM RS/6000 and the HP9000. Applications can be ported by either directly executing the System 36 load members (binaries) with the Open/36 Load Member Processor, or by recompiling the source programs into native Unix executables.

Open/36 provides a System/36 environment that existing supervisors and operators will feel comfortable in. This environment includes not only the same menu structure, workstation handling, and System/36 work-alike job, jobq and spooler support, but also VTOC, utility programs and system procedures, System 36 console, CNFIGSSP, sign-on and menu security. With the Open/5250 WS Controller cards, System/36 twinax terminals and printers can continue to be used from the new Unix machine.

S/36 applications can continue to be developed using the ported IBM System 36 RPG II and COBOL compilers, DFU and other products. Existing System/36 applications can be enhanced using new capabilities provided by Open/36, such as Database Support and Open ODBC.

 

Base Open/36 Software

The base Open/36 software package includes the following components:

• Load Member Processor (LMP) - Virtually any RPG II or COBOL program compiled on the System 36 can run in Open/36, including those for which source code is not available and those which contain embedded assembler routines.
  
  

• OCL and Control Command Interpreter - Open/36 includes a 100% compatible OCL interpreter. Unix commands may be executed from within the OCL procedures. Also, Open/36 contains all the commonly used SSP commands (CONSOLE, STATUS, TIME, etc...) and system procedures (such as ALOCLIBR, JOBQ, etc...)
  
  

• Open/36 Migration Utility - Automates the process of transferring System 36 libraries, members, data files, and system configurations (including user IDs) to Open/36 via either 1/4 inch cartridge tape or a direct cable connection. It can also transfer other software it finds on your System 36, such as IBM DFU, and the RPG and COBOL compilers.
  
  

• $Utility Programs - Open/36 contains the commonly used utility programs ($COPY, $CPPE, etc...) available on the System 36. They may be called by OCL statements as on the System 36. (Diskettes and reel tapes are not supported.)
  
  

• #GSORT - A full implementation of S/36 #GSORT is provided. It can take advantage of the larger memory capacity of Unix systems to sort almost instantaneously.
  
  

• Open POP - Our enhanced implementation of the IBM Programmer and Operator Productivity Aid (POP) provides a full screen editor (works like the System 36 FSEDIT), a library browser (works like the System 36 LIBR), a file browser (works like the System 36 FILE).
  
  

• Source Level Debugger - Enables programmers to step through the RPG or COBOL source program while executing the related System 36 load member or Open/36 binary.
  
  

• Workstation Support - Each terminal may have seven System 36 sessions running simultaneously. The operator may "hot key" between the sessions, and the screens for all sessions are continuously updated, regardless of which screen is being displayed.
  
  

• DW/36 Migration Utility - You can easily transfer your DisplayWrite/36 text files to any RFT compatible word processor such as WordPerfect.
  
  

• Open IDDU - Implements S/36 IDDU (including IDDULINK) with many new features to link ASCII files, RDBMS tables, ODBC server, and also permits Unix applications to access S/36 files and libraries under Open/36.
  

• Thin Client and Report Organizer let you improve the integration of your existing applications with Windows PCs. Thin Client greatly improves user responsiveness on PCs. It can also let you display a comprehensive GUI environment without changing a line of your RPG or COBOL programs. 
  
  

• Report Organizer lets your Open/36 reports print using Windows spoolers in cooperation with all other Windows users. Its structured report archiving features may very well eliminate the need to physically print many of your existing reports. 
  
  

• MOIT (Microsoft Office Interoperability Tools) provides the tools you need to tightly integrate your Open/36 applications with Microsoft Office and other ODBC compliant applications. MOIT contains several categories of capabilities. First you can use it to transfer Open/36 data or spool files to any Windows PC or the Report Organizer (RO). Similarly you can transfer data files to Open/36. You will find MOIT friendlier to use and faster than competitive products due to its tight integration with Open/36.
  
  

• Data Protect, Virtual Machine and Hot Fail Over provide a great solution for high availability requirements. They allow mutually supporting machines to restart applications from a failed machine within a few minutes. You will also find Virtual Machine is a good solution should you need to consolidate distributed hosts to a single centralized one.