Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Pathlore Mainframe e-News.

In this edition we will look into our crystal ball and see what the near term future holds for PHOENIX and PREFERENCE. Included is a discussion of the PHOENIX Connector, linking PHOENIX with the Pathlore LMS, with a projected release of early 2005. Also included is an interview with Pathlore executive vice president Rob Perry. And that’s not all...

In this issue:

The PHOENIX Connector
PHOENIX/PREFERENCE Release 7.9.1
Interview with Rob Perry
Technical Tip: PREFERENCE Rules Trace
Need Training?

The PHOENIX Connector

As a mainframe PHOENIX customer, you probably know that Pathlore Software develops and distributes the PHOENIX CBT product. However, you may not be aware that another member of the Pathlore product family, Pathlore LMS, is the market leader in the eLearning LMS (Learning Management System) marketplace.

The PHOENIX Connector (originally project PHUSION) provides the initial steps to ‘fuse’ PHOENIX with the Pathlore LMS. Obviously, PHOENIX runs within a mainframe IBM environment and the Pathlore LMS is web-based, so this is a ‘connection’ across two different kinds of operating systems. The PHOENIX Connector utilizes features from both PHOENIX and the Pathlore LMS:

1. A PHOENIX supervisor tool to generate and export an AICC style course description files for each class in a PHOENIX course. These files can then be imported to the Pathlore LMS .
2. The ability to ‘launch’ a mainframe PHOENIX course from within the Pathlore LMS. Students will be able to ‘take a PHOENIX course from the Pathlore LMS.’
3. Automatic registration to a PHOENIX course when students access the PHOENIX course from Pathlore LMS. In other words, no mainframe registration step is required when students access PHOENIX.
4. A real-time score (based on cumulative percentage) is returned to the Pathlore LMS when the PHOENIX student exits the course and returns to the Pathlore LMS. Students will be able to view their score upon normal exit to the Pathlore LMS.

Why should you be interested in the PHOENIX Connector?

One answer is that while many of our customers want a web-based online training environment, they want to avoid the commitment (both in terms of time and expense) required to reformat or rewrite large libraries of mainframe training material. In many cases, mainframe course libraries have been built up over decades and it would be prohibitively expensive to convert these to a web-based platform.

A second reason is that many PHOENIX customers want their courses to remain on the mainframe (where application simulation through PHOENIX gives the ‘touch and feel’ of a mainframe environment), yet want a web-based administrative facility like the Pathlore LMS to record scores and keep track of student access. If the subject matter of your PHOENIX course is a CICS entry form or other mainframe application, it is an advantage for your training software to be integrated with your operating environment.

Current plans for the PHOENIX Connector involve a coordinated release of PHOENIX 7.9.1 and Pathlore LMS 6.5 due out in early 2005. For further information please contact Christie Durham at 888-PATHLORE x 7270 or email cdurham@pathlore.com.

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PHOENIX/PREFERENCE VERSION 7.9.1

Pathlore is preparing for a mid-release of PHOENIX and PREFERENCE in early 2005. As currently planned, the main features of this release are:

• The PHOENIX Connector (discussed above) which integrates PHOENIX student access and scoring with the Pathlore LMS.
• A reformatting of PREFERENCE index term files to allow up to 64k index terms for index terms beginning with any single character (current limit is 32k). This enhancement effects index term capacity by ‘splitting’ files, and includes a tool for writers to a extend index term capacity.
• Double-byte character set (DBCS) support for PREFERENCE reference items. The PREFERENCE screen editor has been modified to allow editing of double-byte characters in reference volumes and help screens. In other words, screen editing is possible in Asian languages using double-byte character sets.

PHOENIX/PREFERENCE Version 7.9.0 was released less than a year ago, and many of our customers have recently completed the upgrade or intend to do so shortly. Keep in mind that the unique features of version 7.9.1 are targeted at a specific group of customers:

1. PHOENIX customers who are interested in the PHOENIX Connector.
2. PREFERENCE customers who are reaching the 32k limit of index terms beginning with a single character.
3. PREFERENCE customers who want to write DBCS reference material or help screens.

Stay tuned for more news on the upcoming 7.9.1 release plus news on the planning & development already underway for version 8.0! More on this in issues to come...

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INTERVIEW WITH PATHLORE VICE PRESIDENT ROB PERRY

Rob Perry, Executive Vice President of Pathlore's mainframe division, joins in for an informative exchange and forward-looking Q&A providing answers to three key questions. Rob has been part of Pathlore since its inception and is responsible for the overall direction of the mainframe division. Here is an excerpt from the recent interview:

Q.	Looking forward, how do you see the mainframe PHOENIX and PREFERENCE products evolving in the next 3-5 years?
R.	PHOENIX and PREFERENCE are not unlike other mainframe applications, where we see an evolution toward the web. Companies like IBM, Computer Associates, and others are taking major initiatives to ‘webize’ their products and Pathlore is no different. We’re looking to bring the security, power, and dependability of our mainframe products into the Internet environment, and we’ve already begun with the PHOENIX Connector which allows students access to PHOENIX courses through the Pathlore LMS. Our customers are looking for stable, high performance systems, and that’s exactly what we bring to the table.
Q.	What about the mainframe market in general?
R.	I don’t think this market is going away, and we may be seeing a resurgence with our customers and within the industry. The advantage of mainframe applications is that they provide dependable and secure solutions to address our customer’s needs. This type of advantage doesn’t go out of style.
Q.	What role does PHOENIX and PREFERENCE play within Pathlore and what is Pathlore’s commitment to the mainframe products?
R.	PHOENIX and PREFERENCE are the flagship products of the mainframe division, and the mainframe division is an integral part of Pathlore. Pathlore’s commitment is such that we have created a business unit around these products with an R&D team and an account management team . . . as well as tech support, which is integrated within the corporate tech support group and whose specific task is to support our business unit and our customers.

Have a mainframe question or topic you'd like Rob to address in the next Mainframe e-News? Send it to Rob! He'd love to hear from you -- just send your questions to rperry@pathlore.com.

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TECHNICAL TIP: PREFERENCE RULES TRACE

This issue's Technical Tip, involves a tool known as the Preference Rules Trace facility, frequently used in customer support when there isn't an immediate resolve to a PREFERENCE rules problem. Incidently, some improvements are planned for the Trace facility in version 8.0, but more on that in a later issue.

Implementing PREFERENCE concurrent help for your applications is a simple process, but when your library of applications and help screens is very large, trouble-shooting can appear to be a daunting task. Where does one start? Well, right here . . .

The PREFERENCE Rules Trace facility simplifies the concurrency trouble-shooting process by providing detailed data for a specific help request. This tip can also be found on the mainframe website under the topic ‘Technical Tips and Hints, Instructions for getting a PREFERENCE Trace’ (http://www.pathlore-mainframe.com/technical_tip_10.html):

Instructions for getting a PREFERENCE Rules Trace

Method 1 - use for a development/test system with no (or few) users:

1. Sign on to the PREFERENCE system as a supervisor.
2. At the type command line type 'ls' (line status command) and press ENTER. If just one or two users are on the system, proceed with this method. Otherwise use "Method 2" below.
3. Type 'rules' and press ENTER to go to the SUPERVISOR RULES ADMINISTRATION screen.
4. Press F9 Trace Table.
5. If Trace is 'on' (lower right), clear the trace table (F5 Clear). If Trace is 'off', turn trace on (F9) and clear the trace table (F5 Clear).
6. The Terminal ID in the upper left should be *&. If not, press F6 Change TID. Type *& (this is a 'catch-all') as the TID and press ENTER.
7. Press F3 to End out of trace.
8. On another terminal session go to the application screen in question and invoke help.
9. Exit from the help screen.
10. On the first PREFERENCE session from the RULES ADMINISTRATION press F9 Trace Table. The trace should now contain data and 'Last trace' should reflect the current time/date.

Method 2 - If you have more than 2 users on the system:

Click here to read the full instructions located on the mainframe website.

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NEED TRAINING?

Although PHOENIX and PREFERENCE have been around for a long time, many of our users haven’t. If you or your employees are new to PHOENIX or PREFERENCE, you might want to consider onsite training. Seminars include:

• PHOENIX AUTHOR
• PHOENIX SUPERVISOR
• PREFERENCE WRITER
• PREFERENCE RULES WRITER
• PREFERENCE SUPERVISOR

Find out how we can bring Pathlore Training to you! Contact Christie Durham, Pathlore Sr. Account Manager at 888-PATHLORE x7270 or by email at cdurham@pathlore.com.

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