1. What is XMLSP?

2. How do I use XMLSP to convert my Client/Server Applications to the Web?

3. What Application Servers are supported?

4. What browsers are targeted by free version of XMLSP?

5. Why doesn’t CTI provide a fully automated conversion tool?

6. What parts of conversion are automated?

7. Does it support batch/overnight printing? What level of support for printing/print preview do you offer?

8. How do I maintain my application after conversion? Do I still need PowerBuilder?

9. What is XMLSP Studio?

10. What about performance?

11. How much does it cost?

1. What is XMLSP?

XMLSP stands for eXtensible Markup Language Server Pages. It is an open technology environment for rapid development of browser-based data-intensive, rich enterprise applications. The goal of XMLSP is to arm corporate IT people with the technology for building data intensive enterprise Web applications focused on the business.  CTI’s XMLSP Studio offers corporate IT departments the same abilities for development of data-intensive transactional web applications of the new century as other RAD tools such as PowerBuilder did for client/server applications in the 1990s.

2. How do I use XMLSP to convert my Client/Server Applications to the Web?

DW2Java and DW2Net are parts of XMLSP solution suite designed specifically to automatically migrate legacy PowerBuilder DataWindows into Java/XML or .NET objects. Using DW2Java and XMLSP to convert PowerBuilder applications to the Web provides tremendous reduction in cost of conversion and in time to the market. According to several case studies, XMLSP conversion results in 10-time cost saving on an average project over traditional Java technologies.

As a result of using XMLSP, users see in the browser exactly the same data with the same totals, fonts, colors, etc. they used to see in a PowerBuilder application. And yet you do not have to recreate PowerBuilder Datawindows in Java - the conversion software does it for you!

3. What Application Servers are supported?

XMLSP supports all standard J2EE Application Servers. That includes the commercial products such as BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, Oracle 9iAS, Sybase EAS, and others. In addition, XMLSP supports non-commercial Application Servers such as JBoss. What’s more, Microsoft .NET IIS application platform is supported as well. And you can re-deploy your XMLSP applications between J2EE servers and from J2EE to .NET and back when a business need arises.

4. What browsers are targeted by free version of XMLSP?

Currently CTI supports IE as the primary operating environment. For users that require Netscape support, CTI provides a plug-in that enables IE functionality within the Netscape browser.

5. Why doesn’t CTI provide a fully automated conversion tool?

Porting of a 2-tier Client/Server application into a 3-tier Web application requires re-mapping of business and application logic. This can not be done without conscious developer's attention. Delegating this choice to automatic software results in Web system with immature user interface and disastrous performance. CTI’s XMLSP technology supports conversion of client/server applications while giving developers freedom and flexibility to adapt to the requirements of Web development. XMLSP™ Studio - a True RAD for the Web tool - facilitates seamless conversion of PowerBuilder DataWindows and other objects while allowing complete customization capabilities of a full Web development IDE. The friendly and intuitive API ensures short learning curve for PowerBuilder and VB developers as it builds upon existing skill set. For more information about automatic conversion issues click here.

6. What parts of conversion are automated?

We provide an utility that automatically converts PowerBuilder DataWindow objects into sets of J2EE objects which from the user perspective work the same way DataWindow does.  The behind-the-scenes data packaging is XML, while rendering is done with XSL transform and JavaScript. This conversion is automatic.

XMLSP Object Model - a vast set of controls and API – covers effectively all methods, events and properties a PB developer would look for. We made out naming “PB friendly” with a due respect to the modern JavaScript conventions and technical differences between underlying DHTML object model and Windows SDK. Therefore PowerScript outside of the DataWindow can be ported AS IS from PowerScript to JavaScript. This porting is currently manual.

Example: in PB application RowFocusChanged event started with

SelectRow(0, false) //dehighlight all rows).

Then in XMLSP application onRowFocusChanged would start with 

selectRow(0, false);

7. How does it support batch/overnight printing? What level of support for printing/print preview do you offer?

XMLSP provides ultimate control of the printing environment and supports print/print preview architecture. You can expect the same quality of the printed reports and paper handling as in your legacy applications.

CTI provides XMLSP Studio, a powerful IDE that eliminates the need for multiple application development environments. All future development and maintenance can be done with XMLSP Studio.

9. What is XMLSP Studio?

XMLSP Studio enterprise application development tool represents a decisive advance in the way transactional web applications are built. As a RAD tool, Studio provides unmatched application development productivity that cuts application time to market from years to weeks or months.

XMLSP Studio includes a full set of controls such as data-bound XMLControl, treeview, listview, menu, radio button, checkbox, etc. These controls create a complete object model that allows development of rich browser-based applications. By utilizing a full set of controls, XMLSP enables the developer to create such applications in a fraction of time. To simplify learning for developers that have significant experience in other technologies such as PowerBuilder, XMLSP controls have sets of functions, properties and events that can be readily recognizable by the users of such technologies. This allows a developer who has such expertise to be immediately productive with very little formal training necessary.

Knowledge of JavaScript is the only Net-related prerequisite to start programming in XMLSP. The Studio Object Model – sophisticated suite of distributed controls - implements API that fully hides details of Browser-to-Application Server and Application Server-to-Database Server communications. With XMLSP, all Application Server side objects as well as Database server objects are being built and deployed automatically, as an output of the interactive work with XMLSP Studio.

10. What about performance?

For several reasons, XMLSP performs better then any server-side DHTML solution.

• XML data stream is much smaller then presentation HTML. This alone means faster access and lighter load on the Web/Application server.
• On the client site, rendering of large HTML files leads to performance implications. For instance, rendering of 1 Mb HTML file can require 30-50Mb in the browser memory and seriously impact the performance.

Accordingly, we extended paradigm of "next 20 records/previous 20 records" paginating large reports by group breaks or volume limits into separate pages. These pages can be navigated through with the automatic navigation bar. This allows virtual "viewing" of thousands of pages on the client side with the same speed it would take for the report with just few pages. Thus, XMLSP approach guarantees that HTML gets "fed" to the browser in small, digestible portions, which result in maximum speed of rendering and printing.

11. How much does it cost?

We have a variety of license plans for small companies and large enterprises. We are confident that we can find a plan that will give you the most benefit for your money. Please contact us at (917) 304-5338 or info@teamCTI.com to discuss your particular needs.