Ivory Studio

Ivory Studio is an intuitive graphical development tool that enables mainframe and non-mainframe developers to leverage any mainframe transaction, application or data, as well as Web services, to create a single or multi-function composite service. Simple to learn and operate, Ivory Studio features a graphical environment that enables the easy orchestration of building-block functions into business services. This drag-and-drop environment enables developers to define Web service inputs and outputs, and then graphically model the multi-step process to implement the service. With its powerful visualization and orchestration features, Ivory Studio makes it possible to build business services with the right level of granularity, removing technical limitations from consideration in packaging services for maximum reuse.

Ivory Studio offers robust support for team-based development.  With support for source control, true collaborative development of enterprise-class Web services can take place.

Integrated tools make Ivory even more productive. For example, Ivory includes an integrated FTP client for importing copybooks and BMS macros from mainframe file systems. Additionally, once the new service is complete, Ivory provides a fully integrated test and trace harness to exercise and inspect the newly created service.  Additionally, Ivory Studio is integrated with Ivory BMS/TS, guaranteeing that the Ivory based business service won't break when changes to the BMS map occur.

How easy is it to use? With no special skills and no understanding of SOAP, XML, WSDL, or HTTP protocols, developers can learn how to use Ivory in less than half a day. It is very important to have a world-class development environment for any mainframe Web services solution.  As you begin to service-enable mainframe assets into composite services, you need to have a development IDE that combines breadth of functionality with Ease of Use and Rapid Development capabilities. The tooling should be highly intuitive so as to minimize Training and to avoid reliance on consulting resources.

Ivory Studio has the ability to create either SINGLE or MULTI-FUNCTION composite services, and also supports mainframe screen applications, CICS and IMS transactions, COMMAREA and Channel applications, and data. These features make it possible to build business services with the right level of granularity, removing technical limitations from consideration in packaging services for maximum reuse.

Ivory Service Architect incorporates ease-of-use features that set the standard for mainframe service development and establish the industry benchmark for the fastest time-to-value. Once Ivory Studio is installed, the web service developer is ready to start building services, with no learning curve. That’s because Ivory Service Architect has been designed from the ground up to put advanced service development capabilities in the hands of mainframe developers – the subject area experts when it comes to mainframe data and functionality. Other vendors’ tools are complicated and difficult to master, requiring extensive knowledge typically outside of the traditional mainframe developer’s experience, such as Java or XML. And the intuitive interface and plug-and-play approach of Ivory Service Architect mean that its entire range of powerful functionality is immediately available and usable. GT Software’s technology is configuration-based with no coding required.