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We have a large homegrown ERP system written in Informix 4GL.

Currently we are running on old Sun hardware, Solaris 8, and a ten year old version of 4GL and Informix.

We need to move on, and one option obviously is to get the latest versions of 4GL & Informix, installed on new hardware (probably Linux/Intel).

However I believe there are options for migrating 4GL programmes to other development platforms. Does anyone have experience of that? If so, what platforms, how did it go, what are the pros and cons?

krusty.ar
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Chris Harris
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  • I'm currently evaluating 4Js Genero Suite for migrating my ISQL app to it. You can view a video-demo of my app at www.frankcomputer.com I think 4Js would be the best/effortless option for migrating your ERP. – Joe R. Aug 13 '10 at 20:47

2 Answers2

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The migration to I4GL 7.50 on Linux is almost a no-brainer. If you have a 10-year old version of I4GL, you might be using 7.30 instead of 7.31 or later. In that case, you may have to watch for the 'grand renaming' of C functions in the I4GL run-time library. If you use C code, you will need to ensure that all such files use the header 'fglsys.h'. Other than that, it should be load, compile, go.

I4GL 7.50 adds some (rudimentary) support for SOA. You can publish I4GL functions as web services, and you can have I4GL programs subscribe to web services.

If you want to keep the I4GL code but go to a different interface, the primary choices are:

The first two are commercial; the last is Open Source.

If you want to go without the I4GL code, then the world is your oyster - there are a myriad options for database and tools to access it.

From the comment, you are using I4GL 7.30 - released in 1998, I believe. If you are using routine p-code (no custom runners) then the upgrade should be a 'recompile and go' operation. If you used a custom runner, then you'd need to review your C code to ensure that you have '#include "fglsys.h" near the top of the files (but you could automate the operation to add it).

There have been various automatic translation tools to Java - one was by a company called Artinsoft and another was IBM's EGL. Suffice to say, 'there are issues'.

Jonathan Leffler
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    Our 4gl version is 7.3.0 We don't compile to C, we use fglpc & fglgo. We don't necessarily want to stay with 4gl, but we don't want to redevelop, so I'm interested in automated tools for converting 4gl code to something else. For example I beleieve I've read in the past about a tool for converting 4gl programs to java based web applications. – Chris Harris Apr 22 '10 at 12:26
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I'm bias but we have been working with IBM for years in helping out the Informix DB companies migrate off of 4GL. If you have not heard of GeneXus, check it out. Just today we did a demo for the Informix group where we revered engineered the "stores" db ( just as a demo), and GeneXus generated about 30 plus screens automatically for the web plus show it working in a Android & iPhone, in less then an hour. This for sure would have taking weeks or a month to do by hand.

Dane Drotts
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  • While we haven't yet made final decision, we are looking seriously at 4j's Genero. It will take our existing code with just a few cosmetic changes, and provide a good platform for moving forward. I hadn't heard of GeneXus. I've had a quick look at the web site, and I can't see that it would take our existing 4gl code. Which means we'd be starting from scratch, and however quick and easy it may be to delvelop in it, I struggle to believe it wouldn't take longer than we can afford to convert our 400+ 4gl programs. Thanks for the suggestion; let me know if I've missed the point here. – Chris Harris Dec 02 '10 at 12:50