1. What systems software resides on my current legacy platform to support ViewMax?
   None. ViewMax server software resides on Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, AIX or NT.
   
   
2. What legacy systems services are required to support ViewMax? (VTAM, IBM TCP/IP, Interlink TCPaccess, etc.)
   TCP/IP.
   
   
3. What communication protocols are required or supported for communication to the legacy system?
   TCP/IP, 3270, 5250, VT100 - VT420
   
   
4. What type of host-system security is supported, utilized/needed?
   All host security remains intact. ViewMax does not require any modifications to the host security environment.
   
   
5. What are the DASD (Direct-Access Storage Device) requirements for ViewMax?
   No special requirements.

1. Does ViewMax provide access from within an Internet browser?
   Yes.
   
   
2. On what platform must / can the web server reside?
   Any platform that supports a CGI compliant web server. It has been ported to Solaris, HPUX, AIX, Linux, and NT.
   
   
3. What are the recommended hardware specifications?
   Most cost effective ViewMax server configuration is a Pentium 300, 127Mb RAM, 4 Gb hard drive running Linux.
   
   
4. What web server software solutions are supported? (Microsoft, Netscape, IBM Lotus Domino, Apache, etc.)
   All current versions of the above. Any standard CGI compliant web server.
   
   
5. Are Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocols supported?
   Yes, if supported by the web server. ViewMax sits "behind" the web server, so any web security that is in place, or desired will work entirely independent of ViewMax.
   
   
6. Does ViewMax require the addition of software on the web server?
   The ViewMax software can reside on the same server as the web server software. The web server must be configured to access a CGI program.
   
   
7. Describe the purpose & functionality of this software including how it is implemented (i.e. CGI Scripts, etc.)
   The ViewMax configuration tool is essentially a drag and drop development environment that allows applications to be quickly built. ViewMax uses a CGI to present configured HTML documents to the user's browser. The CGI is a self-contained executable which tells the ViewMax server which scripts to run. The scripts are generated using the configuration tool and do the job of navigating the mainframe screens.
   
   
8. What level of HTML is required / supported?
   HTML 1.0 and up.

1. What internet browsers are supported?
   The minimum is any browser supporting forms. Specific vendors and versions may be needed if configured documents are enhanced with Java or JavaScript.
   
   
2. Is an Internet browser plug-in required to support ViewMax?
   No.
   
   
3. Are JAVA, ActiveX, JAVA Script, VB Script or a proprietary language needed/used?
   No. ViewMax uses a CGI program. These languages MAY be used if desired but are not required.
   
   
4. Describe error handling/recovery when a non-supported browser is used.
   The error handling for CGIs is a part of standard web servers. Additional checking/recovery would be outside of ViewMax if other languages are used to enhance configured web pages.

1. What additional client runtime environment is required by ViewMax?
   None.

1. Does ViewMax provide for applications development?
   Yes, using the ViewMax Configuration Tool.
   
   
2. Describe the development environment.
   A visual Drag and Drop development environment provides rapid application development. Selected fields from the green screens (this may include data from multiple systems) are dropped onto the script. When the script is run it puts the defined fields into variables which are then inserted into the html by the cgi. There are special ViewMax tags which can be easily inserted into the html pages. For rapid development we have incorporated our tags into Dreamweaver and Frontpage.
   
   
3. Can windows components be implemented? (Drop Down lists, Check boxes, Radio Boxes, etc.)
   Yes, using HTML.
   
   
4. How would drop down lists be populated?
   Dynamically during macro processing of the configured HTML pages.
   
   
5. Does the programming environment support the ability of implementing complex business logic?
   Absolutely, ViewMax has a set of API's for Java, C++, and Visual Basic which make it very easy to add functionality to ViewMax.
   
   
6. Is the resulting application interpretive or native machine code?
   ViewMax is written entirely in C++ for speed and the scripts generated by the configuration tool are interpreted at run-time.
   
   
7. Describe debugging facilities available.
   The configuration tool has it's own debugger built in which allows you to step through scripts one command at a time.
   
   
8. Specify what training and education would be required for mastery of ViewMax.
   MODCOMP offers a one-week Training Program for developers that desire it.

1. What databases can be accessed by ViewMax?
   ViewMax provides connectivity to the following databases: Oracle, ODBC, Ingres, Informix, Sybase, Empress, DB2, Quickbase, Solid, Net, Pg (Postgres), Fulcrum
   
   
2. Can ViewMax access both CA-IDMS network database structures as well as CA-IDMS/SQL database structures?
   Yes, through a network SQL interface or standard query screen.
   
   
3. What communications protocols are required or supported for communication to CA-IDMS, Oracle or ODBC database?
   SQL, ODBC.
   
   
4. What versions of CA-IDMS are currently supported?
   Version 12.0 and higher.
   
   
5. Does ViewMax support access across multiple CA-IDMS dictionaries?
   Yes.
   
   
6. Does ViewMax support the population and use of an end user metadata repository?
   Yes.
   
   
7. Can the metadata repository be updated with alias element and record names for ease of end user access?
   Yes.
   
   
8. Can access be restricted by the creation of views?
   Yes.
   
   
9. What tools are available in order to restrict potential performance problems?
   Restricted Views, Record Retrieval Limits.
   
   
10. What versions of Oracle are currently supported?
    All.
    
    
11. Does ViewMax support access across multiple ODBC data sources?
    Yes.
    
    
12. What ODBC drivers are supplied /available and supported by ViewMax?
    ODBC Level 2.

1. Does ViewMax require the implementation of an application server?
   Yes, a server daemon is used to supervise all requests.
   
   
2. What software resides on this server?
   The ViewMax server daemon is self-contained and requires no additional software.
   
   
3. How is this software licensed? (Concurrent users, Named users, etc.)
   Server and developer license, plus concurrent user license.
   
   
4. What additional software licenses would be required? (Outside ViewMax, i.e. Microsoft NT, AIX, etc.)
   None.

1. Does ViewMax support standard SQL functions to select data, join tables, etc.?
   Yes.
   
   
2. Does ViewMax support native SQL?
   Yes.
   
   
3. Does ViewMax support a query by example technology?
   Yes.
   
   
4. Does ViewMax support concurrent access to multiple data sources? (ex. CA-IDMS, or Oracle and a local ODBC data source)
   Yes.
   
   
5. Can the results of a query be sorted, summarized, with multiple levels of control breaks?
   Yes.
   
   
6. Can the results of a query be customized for presentation quality reporting?
   Yes.
   
   
7. Can the results of a query be rendered as HTML for publishing on a web server?
   Yes.
   
   
8. Can the results of a query be rendered in a graphic presentation; bar graphs, pie charts, etc.?
   Yes.
   
   
9. Where does the coded (saved) queries reside? (Client, Application server, Web server, Legacy system)
   This is a configuration choice. It could be any of the previous, but typically would reside on the application server.
10. Can the results of a query be extracted as an ASCII delimited text file?
    Yes.
    
    
11. Can the results of a query be directed to Microsoft Office components such as Excel, Word, Access? What version level is supported?
    Yes. Current versions of Microsoft Office and Excel.
    
    
12. Can queries be run in an OS/390 batch mode to facilitate publishing on a web server?
    Yes.

1. Will Viewmax allow access from web-to-host AS/400 machine?
   ViewMax allows you to create html's that (via a ViewMax cgi) display selected data from AS/400 screens and supply input from html links and/or forms. Although ViewMax has the ability to display only selected AS/400 screen data, it can also display the entire screen. For formatted data the html files used by ViewMax contain '$varnames' in the html where data from the AS/400 is to be substituted. This is similar to the m$varname macro expansion that occurs in unix shells. The html can be prepared and/or edited using standard web editing tools.
   
   
2. If so how is authentication achieved?
   This is flexible -- the AS/400 login screen(s), access controls on the viewmax cgi, and/or further access controls using a database local to ViewMax.
   
   
3. Can it work in coordination with say Apache SSL implementation?
   No problem. ViewMax uses a standard cgi to process html files created during configuration.
   
   
4. How does it maintain state?
   A deamon process (and sub-processes) maintain state data, keeping the emulators to the AS/400 active between web page 'clicks'. Cookies and/or hidden tags are used by the cgi to connect to the appropriate context. Encryption is available for the hidden tags or cookies if needed (although SSL may be sufficient).

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