SERVICES

Migration

We can think of every software development project as being a migration. There is always a before, and there is always an after. Every project is a migration from before to after. In the following diagram, we show the continuum of migration projects. On the extreme left we are running projects where there is no precedent for the new software. On the extreme right, we are rewriting an existing application, designed to do exactly the same things, in exactly the same way.

migration continuum

It’s rare that the before state is “no process.” New software development is really a migration from “some process” to “some other process.” The projects that Joy describes are on the right side of the spectrum – migration from “some process” to “the same thing” or incorporate very minor process changes.
We can break this continuum up into four separate areas. Our individual projects may not fit squarely into one of the areas. It may straddle the boundary between two areas. When faced with one of these projects, we should use our judgment to apply ideas from each area.

Completely new process.

This is uncommon. We have a completely new process when we are implementing software to support a business process that is completely new to our customers.
Imagine a company that sells tires directly to consumers over the internet. If that company decides to establish a network of distributors and resellers, then new processes will be introduced for the company. Sales channel management, product distribution, promotions, joint marketing, etc. A company that introduces an online ordering website to augment their catalog sales will also introduce a series of new processes.
If we are building software in conjunction with a change to our customer’s business, then it is a completely new project.

Major process changes

This is the most common “new software” project. Enterprise customers rarely engage software companies to help them “do something new” – they often engage us to “do something better.” IT departments historically are not innovators for their companies, and they are generally treated as cost centers, not profit centers. IT projects are therefore often targeted at reducing the costs of existing processes. When a company talks about software to support a new process, they almost always mean a radically different process.

 

Forms Migration

Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd's Oracle Forms Migration products are aimed at migrating all Character and Client Server versions of Oracle Forms to Oracle Forms version 6i (Web-enabled).

The tool accepts Oracle Forms source files as input and delivers an output that runs on a browser, based on application code and conditions. It migrates all embedded code (e.g., PL/SQL) to the latest versions of PL/SQL. The output will also be optimized as an object for better scalability and also makes it independent from data access.

The tool in its initial phase aims to migrate Oracle Forms applications to a Web environment, thereby helping application users to take advantage of the Web, while maintaining the strengths of client server computing.

Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd's Oracle Forms Migration product is a highly efficient tool for migration of applications based on Oracle Forms Developer. The product enables developers to meet any requirements related to application conversions from any lower Oracle Forms version to any higher, starting from version 2.3.

Presently the most frequent case is the migration from SQL*Forms 3.0 to Oracle Forms version 6i. Each old Form is migrated to the target Form with its full functionality and features; moreover the product enables to define new required features related to the target Form and afterwards automatically generates the target Form with the required features. No manual work is needed after the conversion.

Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd is able to provide conversion services of Oracle Reports to BI Publisher. This offering allows clients to take advantage of the robust capabilities of Oracle's Business Intelligence toolset. This offering, included in Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd's portfolio of Oracle Modernization Software, provides clients with alternatives for their Oracle Reports. Organizations can quickly determine the direction for their legacy applications as Oracle continues to release best of breed technology. Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd provides these services to clients around the world.

MS Access to Oracle Application Express

Microsoft Access is a database intended for small projects with a few users, to manipulate data from a Microsoft Windows machine that has Microsoft Access installed. It is not intended as an inherently reliable solution. Such personal databases don’t offer the productivity, performance, scalability, manageability or security that companies need for regulatory compliance. Often simple applications grow in size and complexity and become mission critical. These same applications are often scattered throughout the network making maintenance, backups, security, and access increasingly costly and inconsistent. Building a Web-based application that supports a multi-user environment is a more efficient way to manage information. Oracle Application Express can quickly replace unsecured, personal databases and as business grows, the migrated application can easily accommodate additional users and increased volume, and all protected within a secure Oracle database.

 Business organizations use Microsoft Access for many of their desktop database applications but Microsoft Access is suitable only for applications where only small number of users will use the application. Whenever the data becomes sensitive, needs web interface or has a large number of users, Microsoft Access is not anymore a suitable option.

Why Migrate?


Oracle Forms modernization projects are often undertaken to convert legacy applications to the latest Oracle Database version and enable developers to satisfy user demands for greater user interactivity and Web 2.0 capabilities.

Microsoft Access presents organizations with a myriad of manageability issues. Often simple applications grow in size and complexity and become mission critical. These same applications are often scattered throughout the network making maintenance, backups, security, and access increasingly costly and inconsistent. One key reason for migrating from Microsoft Access to an Oracle database is to consolidate the data and build common applications based on a single data source.

Migrating to Oracle Application Express provides a robust, scalable, secure application development tool that takes full advantage of the Oracle database. Oracle Application Express requires only a Web browser and no client software for development, deployment, or runtime. The resulting Web pages are rendered as hypertext mark-up language (HTML). The Oracle Application Express development environment provides many out-of-the-box features, such as interactive reports and flash charts, and enables developers to rapidly deploy Web application that greatly enhance user interactivity.

Migration Complexities


A number of factors can add to the complexity of a migration, such as the existence of Visual Basic (VB) code, poor database design, lack of knowledge on the design and behaviour of the original application, and attempting to replicate the original application in a Web-based environment. It is important to analyze the original database and application, and identify the user requirements for the migrated application, in order to establish the complexity of the migration.

Migration Process


The Oracle Application Express Application Migration Workshop is a feature of Oracle Application Express that assists customers in migrating Microsoft Access application to Oracle Application Express. It works in harmony with Oracle SQL Developer Migration Workbench (Migration Workbench) to provide a total solution for your Access Migration requirements. Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd makes use of the Migration Workbench to migrate the database schema and data and then use the Application Migration Workshop to migrate the forms and reports.

The solution is focused on recovering the design of existing Microsoft Access applications and generating Oracle Application Express applications based on the findings. This sometimes requires manual intervention after the migration tools perform the bulk of the migration work. Your new application can then be refined to take advantage of all the power and capabilities of Oracle Application Express.

Oracle Application Express Application Migration Workshop works on the principle of migrating design of Microsoft Access applications and then generates Oracle APEX applications by analysis of Microsoft Access data or schemas. It is not possible to migrate every type of logic code from Microsoft Access application to Oracle APEX applications

Oracle Forms and Reports to APEX Migration

Migrating legacy Oracle Forms applications to a state-of-the-art, modern technology like Oracle Application Express (APEX) can be a lot easier than most would expect. Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd offers a palette of products that assist in a successful transition to the newest technologies, preserving your company's investment in Oracle database applications.

Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd APEX Assistant will re-engineer not only the visual components of your application into modern web layouts, but also the core of the application, its business logic. In addition, the repository-based development platform Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd will analyze in a first step your entire application to free it of obsolete objects and to maximize the components reuse. This leads to the creation of a new, customized to your needs web application that fully meets the service-orientation SOA standards.

Benefits


  • Migration from Oracle Forms to Oracle APEX
  • Unrivalled analysis capabilities for legacy Oracle Forms applications
  • Re-uses business logic by migrating it to the database
  • Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
  • Standards-based
  • Easy-to-Use
  • No proprietary components
  • Protects your investment  
  • Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd is Oracle endorsed for the modernization of Oracle Developer applications

Oracle Apex is now on version 4 and has matured and developed as a product over the last few years. While Apex can't do everything that Forms can do, it certainly matches a fair proportion of the Forms functionality.  It also provides a much cheaper method of delivering the interface to the user as you don't need the expensive Application Server/Weblogic server licence.

While there is an Oracle migration tool, it doesn't do the whole job and it's a significantly more complex conversion than upgrading to a newer version of Forms.  This means that it is more expensive and requires more testing, but with the change in licence requirements, it might still be a cheaper option.

Key Benefits


  • A maintained and Oracle supported platform.
  • Only requires the Oracle HTTP server and not an Application/Weblogic server
  • Protection of your investment in your pl/sql code which is taken straight across into the Apex environment
  • Easy to maintain and update.

Why  Migrate?


  • Cost Effectiveness of Oracle Apex Technology (which is FREE), and can be installed in your existing Oracle Database or the freely available Oracle XE Database.
  • Application Access using Oracle Apex is suitable for Intranet, Internet and Extranet deployment through the use of Web Browser ONLY with NO client software, WebUtil and/or Java Plug-In needed for development, deployment or runtime purposes.
  • Simpler Deployment mechanism using ONLY one Application Technology Stack on a 2-tier architecture offered by Oracle Apex makes it easier, cheaper and faster to get your applications implemented to meet your business requirements, and coupled with our Application Foundation Framework; it will be excellent at building custom or bespoke web-based applications.
  • The need to integrate with other web applications and functionalities may not be possible with the existing Oracle Forms & Reports applications.
  • The need to have more control over the information that is displayed & generated though various Report output formats (HTML, PDF, CSV, XML, TXT) is simpler with Oracle Apex.
  • Easier to find Oracle Resources with PL/SQL, HTML, CSS & JavaScript knowledge, and enhanced functionalities in Apex 4.0 & higher versions simplifies Application Development even more.

With our own well proven BEST Practices Migration Methodology, we can migrate your application(s) and customise it to suit your requirements.

Capabilities


Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd's migration staff is skilled at using both the Forms migration tools and the Oracle Apex development environment so you achieve a quality result in the minimum time.
The methodology we use is based on a stage, tasks and deliverables model. The migration is split into 4 stages, Planning, Preparation, Conversion and Testing. Each stage is broken down into a number of tasks. At the end of each stage there are predefined deliverables to be produced and signed off. This guarantees that the stage has been fully and correctly completed before work is commenced on the next one.

Oracle Forms applications to Java or ADF

The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd ADF Assistant is specially designed to boost productivity in transitioning legacy Oracle Forms applications to the JEE architecture, Oracle JDeveloper11g and the Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF). Besides paving the way for Oracle Forms customers to move into a new state of the art software-architecture, it also enables the integration of your application into a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) environment.

The ADF Assistant supports the phased transition approach to JDeveloper and ADF as recommended by Oracle’s statement of direction for Oracle Forms customers. By expanding the repository based Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd functionality the ADF Assistant provides not only the conversion of visual coordinates for representing a JEE-compatible interface, but also the analysis and re-engineering of critical business logic into the ADF software architecture.


Benefits


  • Migration from Oracle Forms to Oracle ADF and JEE
  • Unrivalled analysis capabilities for legacy Oracle Forms applications
  • Re-uses business logic by migrating it to the database or to the middle-tier
  • Uses Dynamical DB Logic Accessors for an easy access to database business logic
  • Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
  • Converts PL/SQL code to Java
  • Standards-based, native Java and XML code
  • Easy-to-Use 
  • No proprietary components
  • Protects your investment
  • Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd is Oracle endorsed for the modernization of Oracle Developer applications

Roadmap to ADF Migration


  • Define target & starting point
  • Define Phases
  • Feasibility
  • Application analysis
  • Identify obsolete features
  • Remove unused code
  • Re-locate business logic
  • Redesign application issues
  • Fine tune
Currently, Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd supports Oracle Forms Modernization to:
  • Oracle ADF 11g using Business Components
  • Oracle ADFT & ITS using Business Components
  • MyFaces JSF
  • BC4J
  • EJB
  • JDBC
  • Your Custom Framework - Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd’s template-based architecture can easily be modified to accommodate your own specific standards or even your own proprietary framework.

Oracle Forms to ADF 11g and ADFT


Java Server Faces (JSF) is Sun's official Java framework for building user interfaces for web applications. JSF is essentially a JSP tag library and an associated object library for maintaining state, validating user input, controlling navigation and other common web application tasks.
ADF Faces is a set of user interface components, including a custom render kit, created by Oracle. These user interface components are implemented as a standard JSF tag library along with all the necessary supporting classes. ADF Faces also supports partial page rendering, which allows for partial refreshes of pages. ADF Faces provides a rich library of JSF widgets.
An interesting benefit of using ADF Faces is the telnet functionality provided by ADFT/ITS (Application Development Framework for Telnet/Industrial Telnet Server). ADFT/ITS provides a facility for building telnet applications using JSF. This is an ideal option for companies that are moving forward with J2EE but still need to support legacy hardware such as handheld scanners or vehicle-mounted devices. This option is viable for any client running character-based forms and wishes to move to an enterprise-class JEE environment.
Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd software partners closely with Oracle product development to ensure that the ADF 11g conversion option is optimized.

Oracle Forms and Reports applications to .NET Framework
Oracle Forms are applications built using Oracle Developer, a Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment available from Oracle. Oracle Forms-based applications can retrieve and manipulate data in Oracle databases. These forms can also be deployed across the Web.

It is not possible to modify an Oracle Forms application for interoperation with a Microsoft® SQL Server™ database, and it is recommended that applications of this type are rewritten. Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET is an ideal choice for rewriting an Oracle Forms application because it is very similar in nature to Oracle Developer, both in terms of the development tools and wizards, as well as the end product itself.

Data base and application migration software SQLWays is capable of converting Oracle Forms applications to C#.NET using the Model View ViewModel Concept (MVVM).

Challenges


Oracle Forms include form modules, object libraries and menu modules in binary format. To convert them in C#.NET first you need to extract XML files. This can be done with the help of Oracle Forms2XML tool. Ispirer Systems offers application migration of Oracle Forms in C#.Net using MVVM.

Migration Approach


Migrating an Oracle Forms application to Visual Basic .NET is complex, and the treatment of the subject here should be seen as a design sketch from which a detailed analysis and plans for an application migration can be made.
The basic approach is feasible for the following two reasons:

1. Oracle Forms and Visual Basic user interfaces share many common elements.
2. The Oracle Forms Designer is capable to generate Visual Basic code.

The form is the basis for the user interface (UI) in both Oracle Forms and Visual Basic. The form is graphical in nature and is used to present data and accept user input, and the form can contain elements which are both graphical and non-graphical in nature. Oracle Forms and Visual Basic have several common elements between them. However, their organization, naming, and properties differ.

oracle forms to dot net migration


Application Modernization Rather Than Application Migration

 
The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd application modernization solution is based on a process that delivers higher quality code and more architecture flexibility than standard application migration.   The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd solution provides a new code structure in pure native-style Java or .NET that retains no characteristics of the original 4GL source language structure.   The transformed application is able to leverage powerful Java or .NET features that are not available in the original legacy environment.
 

Modernization that Supports Client-Specific Architecture Standards

 
The first step in a Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd application modernization project is to work with the client to design and confirm its architecture requirements in the new target language.   Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd offers the industry’s most flexible choice of architecture options for both Java and .NET including multiple choices for client interfaces, database connection methods, external DLL handling, report solutions, and many others.
 

Modernization Processes are Refined and Improved through Experience

 
The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd professional services team has honed its modernization skills on numerous modernization projects of varying size and complexity over the previous ten years.   The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd Modernization Solution follows a systematic process that ensures a predictable, high-quality result that has been validated on tens of millions of lines of transformed code.
 

Automated Modernization without Compromising Code Quality

 
To maximize project quality and deliver an efficient modernization solution, Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd utilizes a suite of advanced technology tools as an integral part of the application modernization process.   The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd Modernization suite includes over 30 automated tools that convert 4GL code to Java or .NET platforms.   Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd has several tools for each application layer (data access, business logic and user interface) and tool selection is based on the client’s desired architecture and coding standards.   The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd solution maximizes project efficiency and code quality by using automated tools to perform the initial modernization stages and professional services to complete the modernization process.
 

High Quality Native Style Java or .NET Code

 
The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd application modernization process uses a suite of sophisticated automated tools that produce high quality, native-style Java or .NET code that can be easily maintained with industry standard IDE tools.   Unlike the output of other simple migration tools, Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd code includes no proprietary libraries, non-standard code or external dependencies.   The transformed code has a standard Java or .NET format that replaces problematic 4GL functions with the improved functionality available in Java and .NET.   The Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd modernization process goes beyond simple migration of a 2-tier client server application to a 3-tier Java or .NET architecture by offering a wide range of options for improving the user interface, code structure and other aspects of the application.
Windows Forms application to Silverlight

Silverlight provides a Rich Internet Application (RIA) framework that can be used to build applications that can be deployed through the Web while preserving the rich client-side functionality found in traditional desktop applications created using Windows Forms.

In a nutshell, XAML provides a declarative way to create user interfaces and provides a productive and flexible way to layout controls. XAML allows you define the overall layout of controls used in an application without having to use a programming language such as C# or VB which simplifies development reduces maintenance costs, allows for better re-use of styles, and leads to greater overall productivity. You can also animate, scale, rotate and even skew objects using XAML which opens up many new avenues for presenting data to end users. You can even completely re-design the look and feel of controls using XAML through the use of styles and templates. Finally, data bindings between controls and object properties can be defined declaratively in XAML providing a simple yet robust way to bind data in applications.

Windows Forms to XAML Converter (WF2XAML) is a tool to convert Windows Forms to WPF/Silverlight/Windows Phone XAML from Innovate Software Consulting Inc Ltd. It is based on template concept and can be fully extended to support third party controls and to render custom XAML.