Beta and Beyond: Agile Business Suite 6.1 Progress Update

Our engineering team has been hard at work readying Agile Business Suite (AB Suite®) 6.1 for its release in the fourth quarter of this year.

As part of this effort, a number of AB Suite users participated in two AB Suite 6.1 beta tests over the last several months. They provided feedback on early versions of new features, helped us identify and fix unusual bugs, and shared ideas that allowed us to fine-tune feature designs so they better reflect real-world scenarios.

As AB Suite 6.1 is being developed using Agile methodologies, each beta test represents a snapshot of the release as it increases in both content and maturity. Therefore, later beta tests generally involve a larger number of participants, as well as a larger set of features.

The snapshot of AB Suite taken for the Beta 1 test included largely complete versions of three features.

The new Logic Editor feature replaces the custom AB Suite logic editor with one based in Microsoft® Visual Studio®, providing a more modern experience that includes syntax highlighting, improved auto completion, and richer formatting and navigation capabilities. Updated DMSII features include support for Staged Reorganizations, Dynamic Schema, and small Overlaygoal values. And AB Suite on Windows users receive an in-built XML processing mechanism aimed at enhancing integration with XML-rich ecosystems.

Aside from identifying a number of bugs and inconsistencies, our Beta 1 test also highlighted some usability improvements with Interfaces. Encouragingly, the feedback on the new Logic Editor was positive enough that we decided to enable it by default.

The recently completed Beta 2 test introduced AB Suite integration with WebAppSupport and Team Foundation Build to the mix.

The WebAppSupport feature for AB Suite on ClearPath® MCP provides the infrastructure to call out to web services. It’s updated in AB Suite 6.1 to enable you to import and call the WebAppSupport entry points directly from the AB Suite application, making it possible to natively call web services. Meanwhile, AB Suite on Windows users that are considering Team Foundation Server for their application lifecycle management needs can now automate builds using the Team Foundation Build capability.

Building on top of the features available in Beta 1, the Beta 2 test also increased the number of in-built MCP DMSII limits, such as DMSII Resident Limits, Population Limits, and DUMPSTAMP granularity. Additionally, the XML processing feature added a new modelling mode, called the “XML Framework,” which aligns the existing Client Framework mode with the XML processing model enhancements to form a unique modelling mode for future AB Suite development.

A very special “thank you” to all of our beta testers. AB Suite 6.1 is better off because of your time and commitment.

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