Telos Corporation

Defense User Registration System (DURS)

Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)

UNISYS 2200 COBOL to J2SE Java

History: The Defense User Registration System (DURS) of the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) consisted of a UNISYS 2200 COBOL application running within a DPS 1100. DURS is a unique application with no commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equivalent. Modernization required either a manual re-write or an automated transformation. Platform obsolescence and escalating operating costs were major financial drivers for the DURS modernization.

DTIC engaged Telos Corporation to manually convert DURS from COBOL into Java. Telos was successful in converting approximately 30% of the DURS system, however this limited success took 12 months and cost over $11.00 per line of code (loc). It was determined that continuation of this manual conversion was unfeasible. Telos was aware of TSRI's capability for automated solutions to legacy modernization and suggested contracting with TSRI. A fixed-price contract was awarded to TSRI to complete the project.

Challenge: To achieve compliance with DTIC requirements, the DURS application required development of a web-enabled user interface using Java and J2SE technology interfacing with re-factored Java components. Telos converted the RDMS database into Oracle8i, while TSRI completed several tasks. Using 100% automation, TSRI converted the remaining UNISYS 2200 COBOL into J2SE Java and converted the SQL/MASM calls into JDBC. TSRI also developed a new DURS architecture to support the Netscape web server. Finally, TSRI modified the database interface layer to support the Telos modified Oracle8i data formats. The resulting multi-tiered Java/J2SE consisted of a JSP presentation layer, JDBC database layer, custom Java session-bean layer, (for maintaining the state of user sessions), and a business logic layer written in pure J2SE Java.

Result: The modernized DURS is a multi-tiered, high-performance, multi-threaded, multi-user, web-based application meeting strict DoD modernization guidelines in compliance with J2SE standards. DURS is a fully functional Java/J2SE system running on a Sun Solaris operating system with Java Server Page (JSP) screen services provided by the iPlanet™ web server. The project was completed in 9 months at an approximate cost of $1.10 per loc. The cost savings for DTIC are estimated at over $440,000.