Mobius Management's ViewDirect® Technology Utilizes the Powerful SAS/C and C++ Development Systems

Mobius Management Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of software solutions that enable Web-based document-centric applications. For nearly two decades, Mobius has delivered innovative technology that provides access through a common portal to mission-critical documents, reports and images. Mobius solutions have achieved industry-wide recognition for their ability to support high-volume, high-performance, simultaneous-access requirements in distributed environments that range from the desktop to the mainframe. Today, Mobius ViewDirect® products store and integrate information in virtually any format, presenting and distributing it over the Internet and corporate networks. This versatile technology supports a broad range of e-business requirements, including corporate portals, customer service, customer relationship management, electronic bill presentment and payment, and archiving and output management for enterprise resource planning systems.

Behind the scenes at Mobius, ViewDirect® technology utilizes the powerful C/C++ development system provided by the SAS/C Compiler products. Scott DellaPeruta, Development Manager for the ViewDirect for MVS product, recalled how Mobius initially acquired the SAS/C compiler years ago. "Mobius was a pioneer in the use of Windows and Web-based clients. To maintain that edge, we needed to expand our products' client/server capabilities and distribute function between platforms. We chose to do so utilizing C/C++ programming." With this evolution of the client/server environment, the development group wanted the ability to write system independent code. Scott emphasized that "We did not just want to be operating system independent, but also platform independent within operating systems. A critical requirement was the ability to compile code that targeted multiple operating systems and environments within the System/390 platform -- including CICS, batch, and our own proprietary environment."

The SAS/C Compiler's Systems Programming Environment (SPE) provided the answer to the toughest of these requirements, allowing portable code to be implemented without operating system dependencies and integration of legacy code without the problems often associated with incompatible languages. At the same time, the development group was able to utilize library support for access to system-dependent functions without having to resort to assembly language. For instance, task control support for multitasking came in handy for OS/390 services system-level programming.

When the SAS/C Cross-Platform Compiler and SAS/C Cross-Platform C++ Development System was introduced, the ViewDirect team saw another opportunity to lower platform boundaries -- this time for the development staff itself. This Windows-hosted, mainframe-targeted product was the first truly "cross-platform" software to run on a Windows NT/95/98 or UNIX workstation to produce output files that are transferred to the mainframe for link-edit processing and the generation of executable load modules.

This functionality supported one of the department's main goals of maintaining a team of 'cross-platform developers' and further reducing their reliance on the OS/390 environment. Scott noted that "Windows provides a more familiar environment to work in and eliminates the need for everyone to be a TSO expert. In many cases, the SAS cross-platform products and other internally developed tools allow code changes to be made without ever logging on to the mainframe." Reducing the need for OS/390 specialization and its associated training will allow this group to better utilize their time and technology resources.

Scott also recognized that by performing the majority of the development work on the Windows platform, he would realize significant resource savings on the mainframe side. By moving the compile and pre-link phases off the mainframe, CPU cycles are preserved which can amount to a considerable cost reduction in mainframe requirements. Also, in a heavy development environment, performing compilations on local workstations can result in quicker turnaround time. "We have seen significant reductions in compile times and mainframe resource usage."

"Another major benefit of the Cross-Platform Compiler is the capability for interactive compilation and correction which are far more productive than the old fashioned 'compile, wade through the error messages, change the code, and compile again' method of program development." The cross-platform software can be integrated into Microsoft Developer Studio, taking advantage of the many project management capabilities of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The IDE enables you to specify both project level and source level options, as well as perform incremental builds, compiling and pre-linking only the code that has changed since the last build. "This saves a great deal of effort in the Quality Assurance process".

After describing the results achieved with the SAS/C products, Scott stated, "We are so pleased with the preliminary results of the Cross-Platform compiler that we are in the process of rolling it out to all developers. I foresee it replacing mainframe-based compilation completely."

While the ability to write system independent code, facilitate cross-platform development, and reduce mainframe associated costs were the main impetus behind evaluating the SAS/C Cross-Platform products, Scott's group took advantage of many other features in release 6.50. The standard templates (STL) support in the Standard C++ Library was essential to the design of several major enhancements in the latest release of ViewDirect for MVS. This functionality allowed the development team to focus on creating product instead of building tools, and has sped the delivery of important features. Equally important are the increased opportunities it affords for code sharing between platforms.

Looking to the future, the ViewDirect for MVS development team is awaiting Release 7.00 to take advantage of the enhanced UNIX System Services. This will facilitate quicker adoption of new technologies. They also look forward to its additional C++ compatibility, including support for name spaces. And the recent announcement of the SAS/C Debugger Guide for Release 7.00 has also sparked the group's interest in exploring the enhanced remote and cross debugger features.

Mobius products are used by more than one million customers and employees of nearly 1,300 organizations worldwide, including banks, insurance companies, financial service providers, and utilities and telecommunications companies. More than half of the Fortune 100 companies use Mobius software. The Company, founded in 1981, is headquartered in Rye, New York, with eleven domestic offices, as well as foreign subsidiaries in England, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Benelux, Australia and Japan.