1. How long does a transformation project typically take?

The length of a basic project depends largely on the Cobol standards used in the legacy system. Since the LeTS^SM process is automated it depends on processing standard Cobol code. Any non-standard Cobol code (and there are a lot of ways around the standards in Cobol) must be dealt with either by modifying the non-standard code or modifying the LeTS software to accept the non-standard code. To deal with these situations (which occur to some degree in every project) the shortest time frame to complete a simple basic project would be around 12 weeks. The total length of a project is, of course, dependent on the customizations, if any, which are required by the project.

2. What's the difference between a "basic project" and the "total project"?

By "basic project" we mean the process of transforming the legacy source code to Java source code. This is an automated process and there is a fee per line of code processed. A "total project" means the basic project plus any customizations requested by the client. Customizations are billed on a per hour basis. Since the two project components are billed differently we use the two different terms.

3. What's the relationship in size between the legacy Cobol code and the generated Java code?

Because of the number of comments generated during the LeTS transformation process (for consistency and maintainability) the number of generated Java source lines will typically be one and a half to two times the number of original Cobol lines. This ratio can increase if specialized options such as 'data change' or 'data access' listeners are selected for generation.

4. Is there a limit on the size of a Cobol module that would prevent large Cobol modules from being converted to Java?

There is nothing to prevent a Cobol module of any size from being transformed to Java. There is currently a limit of approximately 155,000 lines on the size of a single Cobol module that can be processed by the transformation software. This is due to internal number sizes and can be increased if necessary.

5. I'm new to Java. Where can I obtain it and how much does it cost?

Welcome to the Java world! You'll be happy to learn that Java doesn't cost anything. You can download a copy for nearly any system from Sun Microsystems.

6. There seem to be many different vendors for Java. Which one should we use?

The key criteria for selecting a Java vendor is that their Java be standard and full function. We recommend either Sun Microsystems (the creator and owner of Java) or IBM . We have used both and have had no problems. Some other vendors either don't implement all of Java or try to add their own extensions. Either can lead to problems down the road.

7. We have sizable amounts of other legacy source code that is not Cobol. Can your service handle this?

In addition to Cobol we currently have the ability to transform RPG and Cool:Gen. Our transformation software consists of translators and generators. A translator converts legacy code (such as Cobol) to our own intermediate form. A generator (such as the Java generator) generates Java from the intermediate form. To transform other legacy languages a translator needs to be developed. This is a straightforward task for intermediate and high level languages such as C, C++, BASIC, etc. It is a much more difficult (but not impossible) task for low level languages such as Assembler. Please contact us for more information.

8. We would like our legacy Cobol converted to a language other then Java. Can your service generate languages other than Java?

Our transformation software consists of translators and generators. A translator converts legacy code (such as Cobol) to our own intermediate form. A generator (such as the Java generator) generates Java from the intermediate form. To generate something in a language other than Java we would need to develop a generator for that language. This is a straightforward process and we have developed generators for other languages (for example Software AG NATURAL). Please contact us for more information.

9. Why don't you charge a license fee for your support classes?

We believe that our clients should be able to control their own destinies. To do that you need the source code for all transformed code. We don't believe that it's fair, right, or practical to charge continuing license fees forever just because you selected us to do you transformation project. So, while we do retain the copyright to the support classes we grant each customer a no-fee perpetual license to use the code. If you are transforming a system for resale we have a separate licensing agreement that will allow you to redistribute the support classes to your customers. Please contact us for additional details.