System Builder 

Announcing release of SB/XA 6.0.1 - click to learn more

Rocket U2 SystemBuilder™ Extensible Architecture for UniData and UniVerse (SB/XA) enables rapid application development.

Rocket U2 SB/XA is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) and deployment environment that provides developers with a unified programming model to create reusable business logic components for deployment through multiple User Interfaces (UI).

• Enables you to quickly design Rocket U2 data server structures and business logic processes to create robust applications through definition based components
• Allows components to be combined with processes to create custom applications cleanly separated from the User Interface allowing applications to
  be accessed by browsers, rich GUI or character clients
• Supports lookless controls using XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) allowing any visual interface changes without need to change underlying business logic
• Provides versioning, revision control and clickonce deployment for application lifecycle management and maintenance free deployment

Features and Benefits

Highlights

Rocket U2 SystemBuilder™ Extensible Architecture for UniData® and UniVerse® (SB/XA) enables rapid application deployment with flexible deployment options for native U2 Data Servers.

Features

• Component based development produces reusable definitions and processes to meet any business logic requirement
• Built in application library of standard validations, business rules and data management expressions to accelerate application development
• Simple screen builder encapsulates all components in forms and a run-time driver to manage application execution without additional compilation or source binding
• Supports intranet browser, rich client, GUI or terminal installations simultaneously without changes to business logic
• Lookless controls prove a modern look and feel that can be customized using Styles and Themes
• Report Writer provides complex reporting and output to other office tools
• Globalization features support delivery of applications in multiple languages
• Integrated Security system provides complete protection of data and processes and can be controlled at the Group, User, Process or data field level
• Single-Sign On and Connection Resilience provide secure solid foundation for all applications deployed
• Application processes can be moved to the Web using Rocket U2 Web Development Environment available separately

Benefits

• Modernises application User Interface
• Unified Programming Model provides accelerated application delivery optimized for U2 Data Servers
• Multiple deployment options satisfies all client types preserving legacy development for future reuse
• Connects applications to intranets and the Web
• Click-once deployment reduces cost of ownership

System Requirements

Rocket U2 SystemBuilder Extensible Architecture for UniData® or UniVerse® (SB/XA)™ is currently at release 6.0.
SB/XA 6.0 is comprised of an Application Server, Communications Server and multiple User Interface (UI) clients.
SB/XA Application Server Supports UniVerse 10.2.3 and UniData 7.1.9.
The Communications Server support Windows XP SP3, Server 2003 R2/SP2, Vista SP1 with .NET 3.5 Framework.
The rich and browser clients support Windows XP SP3 (32 and 64-bit), Server 2003 R2/SP2 (32 and 64-bit), Vista SP1 (32-bit) with .NET 3.5 Framework.
SBClient supports Windows XP SP3 (32 and 64-bit), Server 2003 R2/SP2 (32 and 64-bit), Vista (32-bit).

Details

Rocket U2 SystemBuilder Extensible Architecture for UniData and UniVerse (SB/XA) 6.0 delivers new presentation clients, lookless controls, connection resilience, deployment capabilities, Single-Sign On, grid and file transfer performance improvements. The inclusion of example code demonstrating how to take advantage of these new features provides a leg-up to developers wanting to make the most of this new release.

Presentation Clients

SB/XA 6.0 provides 2 new presentation clients allowing existing SB+ applications to be deployed through a browser or a rich client. These clients provide new vector based graphics allowing animation, scalability and resizing without any loss of screen resolution and do not require any changes to existing developed applications.

Lookless Controls

SB/XA 6.0 provides User Interface (UI) controls written using XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) which are separated from the Application Server allowing all visual aspects of an application to be customized without any application server changes.

Connection Resilience

SB/XA 6.0 offers resilient connectivity between the new presentation clients and the SB/XA Application Server using a new middle-tier Communication Server. Increasing mobility of clients connecting over the Internet can increase the number of dropped connections. Connection resilience gives the new clients the ability to reconnect to SB/XA and recover customer access to applications and data without administrator intervention.

Deployment Capabilities

SB/XA 6.0 provides click-once technology allowing applications to be hosted on a web browser and a link provided to Customers to download the relevant presentation client to run the application. Any required updates to applications can be refreshed automatically each time the new client is launched if required.

Single-Sign On (SSO)

SB/XA 6.0 takes advantage of a new middle-tier to automate security connections and remove the need for multiple User Ids and passwords after initial configuration of a users system. This removes the need for additional password administration or frustration from users trying to remember all their different ids and passwords.

Performance

SB/XA 6.0 improves file transfer performance significantly and offers capabilities to download all file types including binary images. Grid performance has been increased by several orders of magnitude and the addition of a new grid control offers unparalleled future opportunity to display and manipulate nested relational data in grids.

Example Code

SB/XA provides a new suite of example code that demonstrates how to utilize XAML to manipulate the User Interface in the new presentation clients.