Middleware is software that connects two components of a system. Arbutus LegacyLink™ is middleware that connects any Windows based application, whether server or desktop, to legacy data sources in a simple and effective manner. It achieves this while minimizing the required infrastructure.
The Arbutus solution allows any ISAM, VSAM, non-relational (flat or legacy) file, IMS segment or DB2 Table to be connected directly to any Windows application via ODBC, the standard for data transfer. Windows application examples include end-user tools such as Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel or Crystal Reports, or any of your data oriented tools.
This same ODBC connectivity can also be used to supply data to server based Windows applications as well, such as SQL Server, Oracle or web services applications.
When interfacing to programs, rather than applications, you also have the option of using OLE/DB, ADO , DAO, .NET, RDO, MFC or JDBC, as appropriate for the situation.
The reason LegacyLink™ is classified as middleware is it provides a direct connection to the underlying data. This is different from a data warehouse or other repository, which makes a copy of the data, using a process referred to as ETL. There are several characteristics that distinguish middleware from a data repository:
- Since a direct connection is made to the data, there is no need for separate server or database infrastructure to hold the copy of the data
- Since the access is in real time, you are getting the current information, not a copy from the night, week or month before
- Since you are reading the original data files, you can have access to any field, rather than the subset that was included in the data warehouse