Synon 2E Connector

Synon/2E (Cool/2E or Advantage/2E) is a powerful CASE tool for design and creation of business applications. Today the tool is distributed by CA Inc. Within Synon/2E (now CA 2E), a specialized language is used to define a data model and rules to ensure an application’s integrity. The tool automatically produces "specialized templates" over the data model and automatically generates very sophisticated language in RPG, COBOL, or Java without any human intervention.
The interface between ARCAD and Synon is intended for all companies that use the SYNON/2E development environment, also called Cool/2E or Advantage/2E. This concerns organizations that wish to further enhance their processes for structuring their application deployment and making them more secure, whether they are made inside or outside of the environment.

THE SOLUTION

The ARCAD-Deliver release management solution makes it possible for companies to deploy all components to production in a synchronized manner. Thanks to our interface between ARCAD-Deliver and Synon, we provide the opportunity to manage projects in parallel, even though they have common components. The component allocation processes are compatible with all the special entities used in the CASE tool (functions, procedures, rules, etc.). With this level of interface, we go much farther than all other tools and therefore respond to the important needs of project teams.
ARCAD For SYNON/Cool 2E has an interface level to flexibly meet to your needs in release management:
The interface allows interception of the generation of 3GL components (OS object compilation) to organize them in version with the capability of attaching maintenance reports. (for SCM interface level see ARCAD-Skipper page).

To integrate easily and coherently into the SYNON/2E environment, we use routing entry point (the same technique used by SYNON/2E for generations/compilations). A routing entry allows ARCAD to intercept SYNON/2E compilations to manage them. The Checkin/Checkout functions are applied to the 3GL components. This allows resolution of conflicts well before the transfer to test or production. Configuration management conflicts are shown directly in the SYNON/2E environment’s job manager to provide high visibility on these potential problems to the developer.

Next, since development is organized by versions, the usual ARCAD configuration management processes are applied, providing version integrity/coherence checks, traceability and security from development through transfer to production.

It should be noted that these processes are multi-technology, which means that the SYNON/2E development team uses the same tools as development teams working in either IBM i or new technologies.

THE ADVANTAGES

In ARCAD, SYNON/2E connectors were designed to work in the lower layers of the product’s core technology for a natural fit with existing procedures, and thus do not require multiple processes. To the greatest extent possible, transparency for librarians and interfaces has been taken into account. The result is an interface that fits perfectly with SYNON/2E standards and ARCAD procedures.

Specifically for the SYNON/2E interface, ARCAD offers the choice between two models: Release management or Change management for development (see ARCAD-Skipper page for more information on this level). In both cases, true configuration management mechanisms are retained for more transparent integration from an interface standpoint.