Getting the most out of legacy code: the uses of HyperCode within a typical IS organization

Abstract

Many organizations today are faced with the overwhelming task of maintaining and improving legacy software systems, some of which were written two decades ago or longer. These systems are often poorly documented and not understood thoroughly by the individuals charged with maintaining them. Unfortunately, these systems cannot simply be turned off and replaced with new, modern systems that utilize the latest technology. The legacy systems always contain embedded business rules that are a key part of how the organization does business. In order to maintain and eventually replace these systems, we must first completely understand what it is that they actually do. This is where analysis tools and methods like HyperCode can be very useful. The goal of this paper is to introduce the reader to the concept of HyperCode and to fully describe its potential uses within a typical IS organization. HyperCode can be described as a rendering of program source code in a HyperText-linked format that allows for easy navigation through complex procedure calls and data declarations. In a software maintenance environment, the preliminary investigation of a software problem often takes much more time than does the actual code change. HyperCode allows for much quicker learning and understanding of program logic. It also allows organizations to bring new programmers up to speed quickly by allowing them to view examples of standardized code. HyperCode provides programmers with the ability to more quickly (and thoroughly) desk check programs before intensive testing. It utilizes an organization's data dictionary to create a popup definition (in the HyperCode file) for each program variable or command. These powerful capabilities dramatically reduce the amount of time required for the extraction of business rules from legacy code. HyperCode also acquaints systems professionals with the advantages of using the PC as an analysis tool. This can open the door to utilizing many of the exceedingly powerful applications including PC compilers, CASE tools and client-server database applications. Because many of the currently available HyperText formats are accessible through the Internet and World Wide Web, HyperCode repositories become a feasible enterprise-wide tool. As a conclusion, the development of a prototype implementation of HyperCode for COBOL is documented and examples/future directions are given.