Informix Migration Solutions

Boost developer productivity!

Because the migrated applications are functionally equivalent to the Informix versions, the embedded business knowledge of the users and developers is preserved and organizational disruption is minimized. And your developers will be able to easily maintain and enhance the newly migrated code.

Mobilize.Net's Informix 4GL migration solution automatically converts all your Informix 4GL components (source files, forms, help files) to pure Java components (files in Standard Java source code). Automation averages about 90% for a mid-complex application, and the percentage of the application that cannot be automatically converted by the tool is migrated manually in order to achieve 100% functional equivalence. Mobilize.Net guarantees that the resulting Java application will work in the very same way your Informix 4GL system did, and re-architecturing issues can be handled after the migration process. Furthermore, our tool can generate “applets”, if you want to web enable your application, and reports are displayed on the screen through a utility called “Report Viewer”, which enables you to configure fonts, colors, margins and additional formatting options.

Kickstart Your Informix Migration

• Conversion from monolithic “green-screen” terminal applications to multi-tier architectures that support Windows, .NET and Web-based clients
• Access to other databases, like Oracle or SQL Server
• Address the scarcity of trained 4GL programmers and decreasing market support
• Simplified integration with heterogeneous environments and other applications
  
  

Reduce Development, Maintenance and Deployment Costs

• Improved developer productivity through an object-oriented, component-based development model
• Access to hundreds of packaged components you can incorporate into your system
• Reduced cost of ownership, including significantly lower software licensing fees and reduced hardware and platform maintenance costs
  
  

Preserve Your Capital Investment

• Through our Informix 4GL automated migration tool and expert consulting services we can guarantee a 100% functionally equivalent Java application, preserving all the business knowledge embedded in the original system.
• Long-term strategy, as opposed to wrapping, “frontware” solutions where the application is still maintained using the 4GL language.

The Informix 4GL to Java conversion tool automatically migrates 90% of the source code, including modules and forms. Combined with Mobilize.Net's expert consulting services we deliver a completely converted and functional equivalent Java application. This ensures a smooth transition, where the migrated code can then be edited and maintained within any high-performance Java development suite.

Informix programmers will be productive in the Java environment and will recognize familiar concepts in the migrated Java code, such as:

• Informix command structures
• Names of variables
• Comments
• Names of routines

How does this differ from “wrapper” technologies like Four J’s and Querix?

Due to its nature, Informix 4GL was often used for batch systems. Web applications were rarely built with this language, since 4GL is not very well suited for the web environment; lack of support of interactive Informix 4GL features, like AFTER / BEFORE FIELD, have always harmed those solutions. "Wrapper” technologies were developed in order to provide an interface for the source code to the modern code environment. Querix offers Arachne, and Four J’s has a BDS (Web Front End) and a Genero-based solution, which are not compatible. However, with these solutions you still have to maintain and support the legacy source code. What’s more, these solutions are expensive, tying users to high licensing and support fees.

These are just some of the disadvantages:

Not a real application renewal solution:
You get a 4GL language with proprietary extensions but not a real application

High cost:
With per-user run-time licensing, it quickly becomes expensive.

Very strict licensing policy:
Draconian licensing policies mean that something as simple as changing a network card in your server can result in having to re-license the product.

Strong vendor lock-in:
Once you start using Four J’s Genero extensions, your code will become incompatible with the rest of the x4GL compilers.

Technical limitations:
Genero offers connectivity to most databases through its proprietary extension, Open Database Interface (ODI). However it lacks a standard JDBC / ODBC connection to access source of information not accessible via ODI.

Alternatively, Mobilize.Net performs genuine migrations that free you from the constraints of obsolete technologies, completely transforming the legacy application to a highly maintainable, open source Java codebase.

Our comprehensive Informix 4GL migration offering will handle your entire project on a turnkey basis, from the assessment and planning stages to the actual Informix 4GL to Java conversion process.

Contact us today to learn how you can migrate your Informix 4GL apps for a fraction of the effort of rewriting them.