Uniface - A Rapid Application Development Solution

Uniface is Compuware's Rapid Application Development environment for building, renewing and integrating the largest and most complex enterprise applications. Enabling high developer productivity with leading-edge functionality, Uniface helps IT organizations reduce the cost of ownership for business-critical applications and increase the return on investment for the IT budget.

The latest release allows enterprises to meet increasing demand for productively developing complex, secure, global Web 2.0 applications, deployable on any platform including the cloud.

 

Uniface Fact Sheet [PDF 1 MB]

Uniface delivers an enterprise capable solution. It provides rapid application development, enterprise application integration with existing, strategic IT assets, business process management and automatic deployment in a multi-technology environment. The three main reasons Uniface is so successful as a Rapid Application Development environment are:

  • Uniface offers one of the highest levels of productivity in the application development marketplace, which makes development and maintainability of business applications extremely cost-effective and efficient.
  • Uniface offers full technology independence over a wide range of operating systems, databases and third-party technologies. Customers can migrate from one environment to another, without changing the Uniface applications itself, which makes Uniface a very resilient and future-proof solution.
  • Uniface has always and will always guarantee upward compatibility, which means you can move your Uniface applications to higher levels of technology without major investments in redevelopment. Uniface has never forced organizations to go through a technology-break in the Uniface software.

Uniface provides and will continue to provide first-class support to you now and in the long term. We continually enhance the high quality of customer support provided by our Technical Support Centers through internal training and education programs. Find details of the support service we offer, including service levels, on FrontLine as well as on the Uniface Community.

Latest Uniface Release Highlights:

  • Uniface web development is extended with a JavaScript API, enabling Dynamic Server Page Components to deliver highly functional user experiences.
  • Significant enhancements to Web Services, extending the capabilities of Uniface applications to consume and provide complex data structures via Web Services.
  • Security guidance for web applications, providing a framework for developers to work with, especially those migrating from client server to web application development.
  • Increased support for MS Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI) features, reinforcing the on-going commitment to the Uniface customer base by extending the Windows user interface.
  • Enhancements to the Uniface scripting language, extending the highly productive language for both developer and code execution efficiencies. Proc Statements supporting Web Services and RIA, enhanced loop processing to ensure efficiency in writing and the execution of code.

Uniface Rich Internet Applications
A rich Internet application (RIA) is an application or app deployed on the Web which is designed to deliver the same features and functions as traditional client server applications on the desktop.  RIA apps provide a modern user experience based on rich and efficient functionality which is easily customized and personalized.  A RIA app runs inside a Web browser and therefore does not require software installation on the client side which makes it easy to deploy and maintain. The RIA functionality in Uniface provides productivity and portability features enabling organizations to build and deploy first class web applications (or apps). The RIA technology implemented in Uniface is based on AJAX, and leverages the capabilities of the dijit components from the Dojo toolkit.

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Uniface Rapid Application Development
Rapid Application Development is a software development methodology in which organizations develop applications (or apps) faster while reducing development costs and maintaining quality.  This is achieved by using a series of proven application development techniques with gathering requirements, prototyping, re-using software components combined with a fast-paced design schedule and less formal team communication and reviews. RAD provides developer productivity by automating design and coding processes making the development process more stable and less error prone. An important consideration of RAD tools is the ability to effectively implement change into an application, both the implementation of new or changed functionality, and also the deployment of the changed functionality within the deployed application.  The rapid application development functionality within Uniface is compatible with most development methodologies, ranging from agile and more traditional methodologies and enables organizations to build, renew and integrate the largest and most complex enterprise applications.

Uniface Cloud Computing
Cloud computing delivers IT services from a remote location, either over the Internet or an intranet, involving the sharing of resources (multi-tenant environments) and is enabled by virtualization. It resolves the continuous need to increase capacity or add capabilities without having to invest in additional hardware, infrastructure or personnel resources. The benefits of cloud include agility, economies of scale, reduced cost and scalability (elasticity); running applications in the cloud also eliminate the need to install and run the application on the desktop, greatly simplifying maintenance and support. Additionally the ‘pay-as you-go’ model means that money is directed towards solving business needs rather than increasing the business asset pool which has a significant impact on the IT budget. Uniface has a strong product architecture and roadmap for supporting Cloud Computing so Uniface applications can be delivered and adapted quickly, successfully, with predictable repeatability, and that support the Cloud Computing model.

Uniface Technology Independence
Uniface is technology independent which enables developers to build apps that are free from deployment limitations. Apps can be developed independently of database and operating system (both server and client) and browser constraints. A Uniface app can be deployed on databases such as Oracle, MySQL, Sybase and db2 because the productive scripting language provides transparency from SQL and other database manipulation languages (DML).  Uniface apps can be deployed on most operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and proprietary UNIX distributions such as AIX, HP-UX or Sun Solaris. Uniface apps can even be deployed on legacy operating systems such as OpenVMS, zSeries (os/390, IBM mainframe), and i (Power Systems including AS/400, iSeries, and System i). Client access to Uniface apps can be from traditional client server deployed on Windows, or thin client technology such as Citrix, Remote Desktop Services, or Uniface JTi, a thin client deployment solution provided by Compuware through their relationship with GraphOn corp. In addition to the client server deployment of Uniface apps, Uniface also has web deployment capabilities for apps, based on the RIA functionality from Dojo, or alternatively using traditional HTML. Uniface web apps are browser independent, so apps can be accessed by all mainstream browsers, on handheld, mobile devices, net appliances, personal computers running Windows, or Apple Macs, running OS X.

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