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. Examples of Windows-based applications include 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.
What Makes LegacyLink Different from a Data Warehouse
LegacyLink™ is classified as middleware because 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 (Extract, Transform, Load). 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 up-to-date 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
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