Acucorp Announces Latest Release in extend6 Interoperability Series

Version 6.1 features significant native code, XML and thin client performance enhancements

San Diego, CA - February 5, 2004 - Acucorp, Inc., an international developer of legacy application extension solutions, has just announced the latest release in its extend® Interoperability Series. Version 6.1 of extend, which features innovative technologies for modernizing vital COBOL business systems, provides significant performance enhancements through the addition of expanded native code options, XML support and thin client functionality.

"We're always looking for new ways to extend the life of the COBOL applications used by businesses worldwide," explains Drake Coker, Chief Scientist and Co-Founder of Acucorp. "With the performance enhancements in Version 6.1, initial benchmarking tests indicate that applications may run up to three to four times faster using 32- and 64-bit native object code."

New with Version 6.1

• Expanded native code options

Version 6.1 introduces the ability to create native instructions for 32- and 64-bit PowerPC® and IBM® pSeries™ machines running under AIX® as well as 32- and 64-bit PA-RISC machines running under HP-UX. These expanded native code options are in addition to the already existing capability to create native code for 32-bit Intel, 32-bit SPARC (v7-v9) and 64-bit SPARC (v9) processors. However, the Version 6.1 enhancements include new options to Acucorp's ACUCOBOL-GT® compiler and the cblutil utility— substantially improving performance for CPU-intensive processes, since native code modules are traditionally more efficient users of the CPU.

Initial benchmarking tests performed with NCR Corporation's CPU-intensive Csample program indicate that:

• Tasks were completed more than twice as fast on the 32- and 64-bit HP-UX 11i machine using native code, thus reducing the processing time by more than 50 percent.
• Tasks were completed more than four times as fast on the 64-bit AIX 5L 5.2 pSeries machine and nearly four times as fast on the 32-bit AIX 5L 5.2 pSeries machine using native code, thus reducing the processing time by close to 75 percent

• Enhanced support for XML
  
  A new runtime library routine, C$XML, is now available with Version 6.1. This routine, which provides an alternative to Acucorp's AcuXML, gives developers low-level control over the parsing of XML data—enabling them to read and parse precise data such as elements and attributes. Both AcuXML and C$XML can now be used to read files from the Internet using standard URL syntax.
  
  Version 6.1 also offers more options for XML output that include schemas. For example, developers now have the ability to name a schema file in XML output rather than create a new schema file. This prevents schema files from being overwritten.

• Additional thin client functionality
  
  Version 6.1 of Acucorp's thin client technology enables developers to call subroutines in DLLs on the display host, or client, as well as on a Windows application host. This enhancement, previously present only in the ACUCOBOL-GT runtime, allows Windows users to continue to apply the rich features of the runtime directly to Acucorp's thin client solution. Three new configuration variables, which provide greater control over response to either client or server inactivity in a thin client environment, have also been added to Version 6.1. Considered a more efficient use of system resources, these variables give users the ability to close a program when the client does not respond for a specified period of time. Version 6.1 also provides the technology to detect lost connections to the server, since the runtime now checks the socket connection before sending a server request and is, therefore, not tied up in a lost connection.

About Acucorp

Founded in 1988, and celebrating its 15th anniversary, Acucorp, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, California, with additional offices in Great Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Acucorp's products are distributed in more than 75 countries throughout the world. Its over 4,000 customers and one million end users include Diageo (formerly Seagram Americas), Ford Argentina, L'Oreal Mexico, Red Cross Belgium, Sanyo extended Data Systems, Siemens, The Travelex Group (formerly Thomas Cook), Tower Records and Warner Music Group. The company, which last year experienced a 20 percent increase in growth, continues to design, develop, and market robust solutions for extending the life of inherited COBOL applications.

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Acucorp, extend, and ACUCOBOL are trademarks or registered trademarks of Acucorp, Inc. All other trademarks used are the property of their respective owners.