August 2015 JAM/Panther Newsletter

JAM/Panther Newsletter
VOL 5 ISSUE 2 AUG 2015

•	Newsletter Archive
•	Panther Online HelpDesk
•	Panther Documentation
•	Update: Prolifics Acquires Stream Integration
•	Panther Video: Building Restful Web Services from JAM/Panther Artifacts
•	Panther Video: CSS Support for Panther Web Grids

This quarter's JAM/Panther Update includes the following topics:

•	Implementing Web Services using Panther
•	Panther/JAM Frequently Asked Questions
•	Panther/JAM Complimentary Application Review
•	Migration: Panther Character Mode to Panther Web Success Story
•	Panther5/Windows10 Compatibility

Dear Clients, Partners & Friends,

In our last Newsletter publication, we mentioned how we were actively working towards releasing new features and updates that will allow you to continue to have unprecedented application stability, and that these updates will not adversely impact your solutions. Towards that goal, we announced a new mechanism that can be used to call your JAM/Panther services and procedures via HTTP calls: Panther Enterprise Gateway (PEG).

In addition to working on the Panther products, the team has been busy implementing prototypes/demos to interested customers as well as deploying Panther services in BLUEMIX (IBM’s Cloud Platform.) These Panther services were also exposed as an API using IBM’s API/Management interface.

A new release of Panther 5.5 is also in the works. This will include an add-on product called Panther JCO (Java Component) Application server, allowing you to generate Web Services (SOAP) from your Panther logic (screens).

As usual we welcome your feedback on new features that you would like to see in the next release of Panther. Email support@prolifics.com

Mike Hastie,
Vice President Technical Sales

Implementing Web Services using Panther

What better way to leverage your legacy 2-tier JAM or Panther application than to create web services from this robust asset? Even if you plan to continue using the JAM or Panther application, you may still want to expose some of its functionality as web services. Some Panther customers have already implemented this in production.

For example, you might use a Panther application's procedure that searches for a part or other item in your inventory. You can expose this functionality as a web service that can seamlessly integrate into your non-Panther web application for processing orders. The WSDL interfaces you create for your Panther based web services is readily usable within your SOA.

Get on the distribution list to receive this add-on Panther JCO server by emailing us at support@prolifics.com. This is available for all customers who currently have a maintenance contract.

Panther/JAM Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I tell if my Panther/JAM application contains patches from Prolifics?
Run the "$SMBASE/util/what" command against the application executable. The modules will appear near funclist.c among the first modules in the listing. You can also compare the results of the "what" output with the output of what run against the same module in the "\util" directory.

2. How do I force my Panther/JAM application to use a custom *.ini file?

Include the path to the ini file in the Properties->Shortcut->Target of the prodev Windows executable; e.g., "C:\Prolifics\Panther540_64\util\prodev64.exe –ini C:\CashRegisterApp\prol5w32". Also, you may rename the ini file. For more, see this link under the topic Initialization File Search.

3. Can my Panther application run on 64bit Windows?
Yes, your Panther application in production can run on 64bit Windows as is. If you need to install Panther development on a 64bit Windows server, you will need our 64bit-installer-patch.

4. I need our Panther/JAM application to connect to Oracle 12* database server. How do we go about getting this to work?
If you are current on annual maintenance, we will provide you access to the updated driver/shared libraries at no cost.

5. Can I invoke JAVA classes from Panther/JPL?
Just email support and we can provide you access to several samples.

6. When is the next release of Panther scheduled?
Panther 5.5 will be available in March 2016. It will include generating Panther Web Services support.

7. What interface does Panther/Web support to serve up screens to the browser?
You have an option of using a CGI & ISAPI (MS Web Server) interface, but the quickest is using the Panther Java Servlet interface. Please contact support@prolifics.com for more information.

Panther/JAM Complimentary Application Review

As part of this year’s renewal, Prolifics is offering a complimentary JAM or Panther Application Review. We will schedule a short (~30 minute) call with one of our JAM/Panther experts who will discuss the following:

• Current state and usage of your JAM or Panther application(s)
• Future plans for the application(s)
• Planned database upgrades, including JAM/Panther support for the desired database
• Any issues or concerns
• New business requirements that require new application functionality
• JAM/Panther product enhancements that may be leveraged
• Extending your existing JAM or Panther application(s) to new platforms (e.g., Web, Mobile)
• Prolifics’ managed services offerings for your application(s)

Email crm@prolifics.com for more info or to schedule your review.

Migration: Panther Character Mode to Panther Web Success Story

The Panther Migration team recently completed a migration POC for one of our longtime customers. The goal of the POC was to keep the similar look and feel as their current app, but add mouse-usability and browser access -- and that is what we achieved!

“I couldn’t help but think that this was our char-mode application until I looked over and saw the IE symbol!” ~ customer quote

Panther5/Windows10 Compatibility

Thinking about upgrading to Windows10? Yes! Your Panther applications will run on Windows10.

What would you like to see in the next Quarterly Update?

We welcome your feedback at support@prolifics.com

Web: www.prolifics.com
Email: solutions@prolifics.com
Tel: (800) 458 - 3313 | Fax: (212) 608 - 6753