Release Overview
Version 6.0

AcuConnect

With the release of AcuConnect Version 6.0, we provide the functionality of both our existing AcuConnect product and our AcuLaunch product in one product called AcuConnect. Licensing for AcuConnect is based on the functionality needed, so that a site can license the acurcl listener either for AcuConnect's distributed processing capabilities or its thin client deployment using Acucorp's Thin Client technology, or both environments.

Our Version 6.0 AcuConnect User's Guide includes all the information you need to deploy AcuConnect, whether you need its distributed processing capabilities or you want to operate in a thin client environment. This new manual combines the material previously presented in two separate publications (the AcuConnect User's Guide and A Guide to Using Acucorp's Thin Client Technology).

AcuConnect now becomes a distributed computing solution with two deployment models--one for traditional distributed processing and one that supports Acucorp's Thin Client technology. With a distributed processing deployment, you can divide application processing among multiple UNIX, Linux, and Windows machines for optimal performance. You can perform most of your processing on the client (in a "fat" client arrangement), most on the server (in a moderately "thin" client arrangement), or divide the processing any way you wish.

Our Thin Client technology is an innovation that lets you display your server-based UNIX, Linux, and Windows applications on 32-bit Windows display hosts. Different from distributed processing environments where some application components are processed on the client and some on the server, thin client configurations perform all processing on the server and pass simple screen commands between the client and the server.

The licensing scheme for AcuConnect allows the acurcl remote listener to track each type of client connection. The activator creates "acurcl.alc" when generating licenses for thin client connections and "acurcl.clc" when generating licenses for distributed processing connections.

Current AcuConnect users should experience minimal change in functionality. However, please keep the following in mind as you move to AcuConnect Version 6.0:

• The listener executable is now acurcl rather than acuconnect.
• The runtime installed on the server machine is not acuthread, but a standard ACUCOBOL-GT runtime. Note that the acurcl remote listener cannot act as a local runtime on the server. Therefore, users need to obtain a separate ACUCOBOL-GT runtime for the server.
• AcuConnect control and maintenance functions are accomplished via the acurcl command, rather than the acuconnect command. (Descriptions of command line options appear in Appendix A in the AcuConnect User's Guide.)
• Existing acuconnect configuration files need to be reorganized. Although most acuconnect configuration variables are recognized by acurcl, you should move some values to equivalent acurcl configuration variables. In particular, acurcl does not recognize the SERVER_PORT variable. The port number is now set via the ACURCL_PORT configuration variable. SERVER_START_port# is also not recognized. Finally, the contents of ACUCONNECT_CONFIGURATION_FILE must be appended to the value for ACUCONNECT_RUNTIME_FLAGS.

AcuConnect Version 6.0 contains the enhancements described in the following paragraphs.

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