A ZIETrans 3270 example

Imagine you need to create a GUI for a 3270 host application. With ZIETrans you have a choice of providing the GUI using a Web application.

The following figure shows a screen from the host application:

Figure 1. A host terminal screen

If you decide to create a Web application that provides the GUI, you use a wizard to create a simple ZIETrans Web project. You give your project a name and specify the host machine where the host application runs. You take all the defaults and add no customization. After just a few minutes, you use the preview function to see the host screen transformed to this:

Figure 2. A default Web transformation

As you can see, ZIETrans has added a banner across the top of the screen and a navigation area on the left, but has made minimal changes to the original host screen. This Web page may not yet be what you want to show to your users. Now you do some customizations. You change your template. After each modification you make, you preview the screen to evaluate your changes. Soon your page looks like this:

Figure 3. A customized Web transformation

After a very short time, you have transformed the host screen into an attractive Web page that provides all the function of the host screen and more, and is accessible through a Web browser. You decided to switch to a template more suited to your business. You hid unnecessary information, and created a table to display only required input fields. You provided a drop-down list of valid values for an input field and use of a calendar widget for another input field. Finally, you changed the size and location of some of the text and provided navigation buttons.

When creating a Web application you might decide that this is enough customization, but with ZIETrans you can add much more. For example, you can:

Use ZIETrans macro support to provide programmed navigation through multiple host screens. For example, you can take your users directly to the first screen that you want them to use, bypassing other screens. You can use macros or the screen combination function to combine data from several host screens into one ZIETrans GUI page.
Use business logic and global variables to integrate your host applications with other back-end systems in your enterprise, as well as with your business partners' systems.
From ZIETrans macros generate ZIETrans Integration Objects, which are Java™ beans that encapsulate interactions with a host application, and use them to create Web pages, Web services support files, or RESTful service JAX-RS resources.
Develop Enterprise JavaBeans components that use ZIETrans Integration Objects to exchange data with host applications.
Develop a ZIETrans Web application with an interface that allows users to access your host system using mobile devices such as cellular phones, data collection terminals, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

How to add these and other types of customization is discussed in the remainder of this book and in the ../useguide/ugintro.html .