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IBM announced today new versions of its WebSphere Host Integration middleware to help companies extend their legacy systems to the Web.
The new software includes Host Access Client 3.0, which introduces a WebSphere Host Access Server, and Host Publisher 4.0.
The upgrade to Host Access Client adds support for IBM WebSphere Portal that enables access to legacy applications in a portal environment—without rewriting code, said IBM officials in Somers, New York.
The portal support, coupled with WebSphere Host On-Demand, helps users to leverage legacy systems for a single point of interaction with dynamic information and applications.
Additionally, some end-user productivity enhancements have been added to 3.0, including the ability to customize the toolbar and support for Adobe PDF printing. Better exploitation of Java 2 provides improved accessibility features and support for double-byte characters.
Host Access 3.0 includes Personal Communications for traditional emulation, WebSphere Host On-Demand for browser-based emulation and IBMs Screen Customizer.
The WebSphere Host Access Transformation Server—a new product in the 3.0 version of Host Integration—extends host applications such as HTML to Web browsers and converts green screens to GUIs [graphical user interfaces].
The server features a rules-based transformation engine that converts host screens to GUIs on the fly, without requiring any changes to the host application.
Also new in the Host Integration software is the WebSphere Host Publisher 4.0 for iSeries, which provides Web services and legacy portal support for the iSeries platform.
Both the Host Access Client Package [HACP] and the WebSphere Host Integration Solution offer a way for businesses to provide access to legacy applications via a browser, from in or outside the firewall.
The new software uses open standards the likes of Java, Web services and XML.
The Host Integration Solution, Access Client Package will be available at the end of this week.
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