Sometimes organisations would like to use the data that their users can see on their screens, rather than going to the underlying database itself.

The reasons for doing this may include:

• Lack of accessibility to the database.
• The data within the database is difficult to locate and identify.
• The screen application has business logic that is independent of the database.
• Replicating business logic, already within the database, would be financially prohibitive.

Flynet Viewer Web Service Generator for Applications (WSGa) is used to lift live information from screen based host system applications and present the data, via an XML web service, for consumption in an almost unlimited range of solutions. Without the need to write any code, the user can connect to UNIX, IBM mainframe and midrange applications, bringing live data from your host into your solution.

The first step is to identify each screen by selecting a string of text unique to each screen and marking up each field you want to include in the web service. You then create tasks based on these mapped fields, similar to stored procedures. These tasks are then exposed as a query-able web service which, upon request, retrieves the appropriate data and returns the results in XML format, making it very easy to integrate this data into your solution.

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The potential for use is almost infinite. One possibility is to quickly and securely set up a dynamic digital dashboard, updating business critical KPI data in real time. More are indicated below:

Implementation times are minimal; all the necessary .NET code is generated automatically in C# and is extensively commented, negating the need to write a single line of code. This is useful, among other things, for anyone who wants to expose potentially large volumes of screen based data quickly and securely, without the cost of hiring a developer. Alternatively this can be used as a developer tool, generating a base on which to build additional functionality and cutting out the tedious time consuming initial stages of application integration.