This manual explains the basic principles and functionality of the Analysis Server, a software system that enables users to incorporate legacy software into reusable components that can be published on a network. This manual also discusses five simple yet powerful utilities for creating new software components: FileWrapper, ExcelWrapper, ScriptWrapper, PerlWrapper, and Java Bean component authoring. The Analysis Server answers several questions that have plagued engineering analysis groups for years:
The Analysis Server allows the user to control complex engineering programs through a simple set of commands (e.g. get, set, and execute). This interface is consistent across all Analysis Server components, so users who understand how to manipulate one component can manipulate them all. The result is enhanced user-friendliness without rewriting the original software.
Distributed access and ease of use are only the tip of the Analysis Server's capabilities. Its command set can be incorporated into a client program, which means that other programs can directly access data from Analysis Server components. An Analysis Server client can transfer data directly from legacy software to an Excel workbook, for example. If the client program has an integration architecture, it is possible to make several previously stand-alone legacy programs from geographically distant, hardware distinct machines work together as though modules of a single program.
This manual provides useful information for those who wish to author components and place them on a server machine or use Analysis Server components on their own machines.