XML-enable existing COBOL applications
without re-writes or platform moves!
Quick, easy and efficient

How can your COBOL systems utilize XML technology easily?
The answer is XML Thunder for HP NonStop!
This innovative development tool lets you generate COBOL
code that can create and parse XML documents.
When a COBOL application needs to get the content of an XML document
for processing, the XML document needs to be parsed so the values of the
XML nodes can be accessed using regular COBOL variables.
And conversely, when an application has to create an XML document,
the COBOL program needs to use the values of COBOL variables to create a
well-formed XML document.

XML Thunder for HP NonStop solves the complexities involved with
the development of COBOL logic to create and parse XML documents.

Also Supports: C code generation
In the plans: Java

Leap into XML without risk to your business

As more and more customer, supplier and standards organizations move to XML as the standard format for data exchange, the need to XML-enable existing production applications has been growing. Until recently, this was a costly and time consuming proposition. Known alternatives included changing development languages, production platforms or both. These alternatives have large price tags and time requirements as well as increased risk to your business.

Canam Software’s XML Thunder provides a solution both on the technical and the cost containment side. This innovative technology enables COBOL developers to develop XML processing program code quickly and efficiently in their regular computing platform and without having to acquire Object Oriented (OO) or new programming language skills.

Finally, an innovative technical solution with an affordable price tag and realistic implementation requirements!

Have your cake and eat it too

Your existing production systems are the workhorses of your organization.
They are mission critical and represent a significant investment in development and maintenance resources. Do you really have to write off all that investment just to use XML, in essence a different data format, for inter– and intra-system communications?

What about the investment in people? Are you ready to retrain in new operating
environments and new languages like Java that require OO development?

When your organization uses XML Thunder, you can have the best of both worlds - the opportunities of XML and the proven reliability of your existing systems.

You can continue to rely on your robust business applications in your current operating environment thus growing your ROI and take advantage of XML data in a technically efficient, cost effective manner. In other words, you can have your cake and eat it too.

What is XML Thunder?

XML Thunder is a proven Windows based designer and COBOL code generator for Windows, Unix, IBM MVS/z-OS, Unisys and now HP NonStop. It allows the creation of COBOL language XML document level interfaces to read or write (i.e. parse or create) XML documents. These interfaces are referred to as "XML handlers" and they are complete COBOL subprograms, callable from a main program. There are two types of XML handlers: an XML reader parses an XML document while an XML writer creates an XML document.

XML with COBOL for the real world

You are a highly skilled COBOL developer and your business and technical knowledge enables the successful operation of your organization’s existing mission critical systems. There may already be plans to receive all input data in XML format and to provide all output in XML format. The solution alternatives presented to you require aggressive programming language changes, moving to OO, perhaps changing your whole development and runtime platform. All this, only because the input or output format is going to change!

Enter XML Thunder, the developer friendly, cost effective alternative to XML-enable your COBOL applications. XML Thunder will allow the visual mapping between COBOL data structures and XML nodes and will automatically generate COBOL code that will parse or create XML documents based on your design. No OO languages, no platform changes, it is simple and easy and fits nicely with your proven COBOL skills. And it lets you focus on what you do best, to provide business solutions to your users and frees you from the worry of having to develop and maintain low level utility XML translation code.