Ø Casegen FAQ's for  CA-Telon customers

Ø Why should I be interested in Casegen ?

Many reasons. First of all, considerable cost savings can be achieved, plus your Telon systems will be in better shape after conversion to Casegen. This is because Casegen generates programs that use the new COBOL constructs that meet the latest ANSI standards. This means that your programs can run on several alternative platforms with little change, such as UNIX, WINDOWS NT or AS/400 provided they are CICS or batch SQL programs. Also, because Casegen is so easy to use, cross-training is easy, and future maintenance requires less technical skill.

Programs generated by Casegen, irrespective of whether they were originally Telon, are totally free of any proprietary subroutines (unlike Telon). This means that your production systems are now completely non-proprietary as Casegen could be thrown-away at any time and maintenance done on the COBOL programs themselves! Of course, it would be silly to do this - Casegen makes the maintenance so easy - but this could be done if you wish - there is no lock-in to Casegen as with other products.

If we could demonstrate Casegen to you, I’m sure your staff would want to use the product - everybody does ! Casegen continues where Telon left off - but with better COBOL and better facilities with all the convenience of working at the PC.

Ø We have customized Telon quite a lot, how does that affect Casegen ?

Customized Telon is no problem. We add the customizations to Casegen for you and then we support the customizations in future releases of Casegen. This means an end to your Telon support issues.

Ø Does it do everything Telon does ?

Yes, mostly. Although Casegen is easier to use and has more features. There are some unusual facilities in Telon that are rarely used that are not in Casegen. However,these are being added as time goes on, and if they all important to you - we will provide them prior to your purchase.

We DON’T support AS/400 or the ADASBAS/IDMS databases, or TSO as a target yet but we try wherever possible to fit in with our client or prospective client’s needs as quickly as the functionality is needed.

Ø Does it generate DL/I calls ?

Yes, but we support the CALL interface NOT the EXEC interface.

Ø Does it generate VSAM calls ?

Yes.

Ø Does it generate IMS Drivers ?

Yes.

Ø What sort of COBOL does it generate ?

COBOL to the ANSI ‘85 standard. This can be compiled by the COBOL-II or the COBOL/370 compiler or above. We are proud of the quality of the COBOL, and even IBM has commented favorably on its quality. Also, there are no Assembler subroutines - increasing the possibility of running the programs on multiple platforms.

Ø Our applications are in PL/1, does Casegen generate PL/1 ?

Yes. We have finished a beta test of Casegen for CICS PL/1, but have not yet decided whether to release it. The PL/1 IMS and batch products will be completed to special order, so please contact us if you are interested in any of these products and take a look at the COBOL product first to check out its capabilities.

Ø Does it generate ADABAS ?

No.

Ø Does it generate IDMS ?

No.

Ø We use Telon LINEOPT 1 - is this supported.

Yes, Casegen will convert your LINEOPT 1 programs and provide exactly the same functionality in a COBOL program without Assembler subroutines. This is actually greater functionality than provided with Telon LINEOPT 2.