July 26, 2006 by Lorraine Meiners-Lovel.

EDI*ATLAS is now available for download at www.atlaswares.com.  The downloaded software is good for a sixty day evaluation period, then requires registration for continued use.  EDI*ATLAS is integrated into the WARES Warehousing application from ATLAS WARES Co., but is also available as a stand-alone package.  It can be integrated into other software applications using ODBC or other proprietary database connections such Universe Unidata allowing these packages to communicate with warehouses or other agencies using ASC-X12 electronic data interchange protocols.  Mapping and integration services are available from ATLAS WARES Co.

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July 19, 2006 by Lorraine Meiners-Lovel.

The Atlas WARES Co. is now taking orders for its WARES application servers.  These Windows(tm) file servers include advanced features such as remote access and automatic back-up.  Remote web-based administration is also available.  While initially made available to existing Atlas WARES customers, these heavy-duty, custom built servers are now available to the general business consumer.  Designed to serve memory-intensive, back end applications such as databases, the WARES server can handle as many as one hundred Windows ™ workstations or twenty Linux terminals.  To see a complete list of specifications for the WARES server click on the following link: http://atlaswares.info/index.php?title=WARES_Server.

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July 12, 2006 by Lorraine Meiners-Lovel.

ATLAS WARES Co. announces the beta program of its premier warehouse management system, WARES Warehousing.  The newest edition of WARES Warehousing is a Windows(tm)-native application written in the Open Insight(tm) database from Revelation Software.  Features include inventory control with locator, third party billing, and electronic data interchange.  The completed software is expected to be released by the end of 2006.

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May 15, 2006 by Gerald Lovel.

Your missing Proc, Macro, background processes, scheduler concepts have been overcome with your Process engine

The PROCESS engine, with its parameter replacement mechanisms, eliminates the need for Proc, Macro, and a bunch of other features in other systems. PROCESS provides multitasking through automatic remote engine calls. It is also reentrant and pseudo-multithreaded, which is why the user input phase of process actions is performed through non-modal collector windows. The ATLAS interface is much easier on the user for this reason.

Processes are held in a Depository and can be piped thru various input and output processes to complete the required task.

The DEPOSITORY, a core component of ATLAS, is a modular store for all metadata and not just processes. The Depository is extensible: placing the DEPOSIT_MFS program on a data table extends the Depository to that table and its entry windows. Revelation’s SI.MFS indexing is emulated in the Depository through special index methods Deposit_Extract and Select_Deposit.

It also looks like you have enhanced the standard window controls, which look very nice.

I appreciate your opinion of the control appearance in ATLAS. Actually, ATLAS uses only native OI controls. This is done to guarantee cross-platform compatibility with Linux and OIL. SRP Computer Solutions deserves some mention here, as they provided the interface development work, and they have agreed to allow much of this code to be released with beta 2. SRP provides their own line of interface controls for OI, which really do enhance standard window controls.

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May 13, 2006 by Gerald Lovel.

I am receiving numerous inquiries regarding the ATLAS framework. As I answer these questions, I will post the answers here for everyone’s benefit.

“How does metadata programming work in ATLAS?”

From the programmer’s perspective, ATLAS applications are structured through data definition, not programming. A PROCESS is based on data-expressed program statements such as

=QX( “ADDRESSES” )
RList( “SELECT ADDRESSES WITH TYPE EQ ‘A’ BY NAME”, “5″, “”, “” )
RUNREPORT( “”, “LIST ADDRESSES NAME STREET CITY STATE ZIP PHONE”, “” )
or
COLLECT( “UTIL_COPYCOL”, “CHILD”, “” )
CopyCol( “”, “”, “”, “”, “” )

Entry flags such as “collect required” or “uses select” guarantee that execution respects input and selection requirements. Parameter passing from input to execution is handled automagically by the re-entrant PROCESS engine. An execution instance of a Process definition is called an Action. Parameters may be passed into an Action from a schedule or rule, skipping user input. While defining Schedules or Rules, the collection phase of a process is executed to obtain the initial parameters. So from the user perspective, setting up automated batch processing is the same as using the software interactively.

“Is ATLAS designed to work with datasets?”

While I have not addressed datasets versus native linhash, this would not be necessary for using basic ATLAS components.

“Does ATLAS introduce triggers, or are we stuck with MFS confusion?”

ATLAS includes triggers with MFS obfuscation through POST.MFS. (The POST.MFS concept might need rethinking in the light of datasets, but I think the basic premise of POST.MFS could be retained.) POST.MFS is a generalized MFS manager which executes trigger calls for a table based on settings in a data control. The conditions for executing a specific routine are data-defined through a logic test of “does column A meet condition B of value C?” Posting reversals execute when the reverse of the logic test occurs. About 50% of all update program logic is eliminated by this generalized trigger dispatcher. Posting is not journaled, because a generalized RECOVER table stores updated records during posting. Failed postings can be forwarded, reversed, deleted, and so forth through a posting recovery utility without the overhead of transaction processing controls. (Programming intelligence is required, however.)

“How will open source for ATLAS be managed?”

I am seeking assistance for maintaing a source forge type code base and developing a Wiki for program documentation. The ATLAS depository will contain the original source starting with beta 2, scheduled for July release.

“Are there restrictions on using ATLAS components?”

Yes. You are free to use open source components provided the resulting application includes the modular depository (necessary for upgrading) and you are totally honest about the origins of ATLAS components. Your depository must contain your source for enhancements to ATLAS components; you cannot create proprietary versions of ATLAS tools.

“Is ATLAS really free? What is the catch?”

The days of green-screen PICK systems and AREV on DOS ended without new methodologies for migrating complex MV applications to open Windows and Linux environments. ATLAS is free because for survival, the MV world must have a way to integrate itself with modern data systems. Without this, the MV vendors will fail and so my business will fail too. Believe me, I want to get paid for my development. But proprietary thinking will only result in eventual failure, unlike the success being experienced now by the open-source vendors in the Linux world.

“How can I receive help with ATLAS?”

I offer consulting services for ATLAS, but several other organizations can perform these services as well. Post a request on this forum, and you are likely to receive several responses. By making ATLAS open-source, open-distribution, vendors are able to compete in the marketplace for everyone’s benefit. Proprietary products do not offer this advantage, which is why I think ATLAS will succeed where some other services might fail.

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May 10, 2006 by Gerald Lovel.

This is an official preannouncement of the ATLAS Multi-Dimensional Development Framework for OpenInsight. The ATLAS framework extends the award-winning OpenInsight database and interface development product, providing the developer with an extensive toolkit for application structuring and site support.

ATLAS adds a modular inheritance structure to the application design in OpenInsight. ATLAS objects are stored in a Depository which allows for modular inheritance and site customization, while simplifying program updates and support.

A dozen new design objects bring an entirely new approach to application development. First, the concepts behind PROCs, VOCs, and batch programs are reinvented with ATLAS execution processes. Processes are reentrant, secure, traceable data definitions for the multi-step programs or options in an application. A process scheduler
and business rules definitions automate processes to eliminate repetitive office tasks required with most software.

For example, a weekly schedule can be defined to email reports to various business partners. Then the reports will be generated and sent without any further clerical or management involvement. Billing procedures can be defined with business rules, so that the procedures are executed in the correct order and with proper safeguards at all
times. All of these definitions are site-modifiable and set up entirely through data definitions.

ATLAS provides an extensive set of interface enhancements such as spell checking, last record and last entry paste, record changes undo, enhanced query syntax, query table retrieval, text zoom, context help, and record annotation.

Additionally, users may redefine entry window behaviors (label text, control requirements, etc.) based on data relationships. This eliminates the need for commuter programs which say, “when the user enters a collect shipemnt, make the freight payer address required.” No programmer can ever predict all the entry relationship requirements
of an application. By allowing the user to define these relationships on-the-fly, ATLAS reduces the program development burden while expanding the program’s validation capabilities and reducing support costs due to improper data entry.

Other ATLAS utilities provide for batch data updates, replicating master key changes, deduping, data volume creation, index maintenance, MFS maintenance, activity/error logs, and much more. Design programs include user login security, simplified menu design, promoted events code, automatic collector window data passing (even @PSEUDO goes away!), multi-column dropdown/popout option displays, and so forth.

ATLAS beta 1 is available for review now, and beta 2 is scheduled for July release. Now here’s the best part: the majority of this project is to be released as open source, open distribution. If you are thinking about moving to OpenInsight from AREV or another multivalue development platform, then consider adding ATLAS to this mix.

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