LANSA has announced the general availability of Version 12, Service Pack 1 (SP1) of its Visual LANSA software development platform, which is the foundation of thousands of custom business applications worldwide. The features implemented in SP1 make it easier for Web developers to create aesthetically pleasing, feature-rich and dynamic Web applications. Developers have been using Visual LANSA to build Web applications for more than a decade–and now, with SP1, building new Web applications is even easier.

SP1 includes the popular jQuery UI which is a fast and compact JavaScript library that simplifies working with HTML document objects, event handling and AJAX calls–all of which contribute to rapid Web application development. New themes make page design easier and new controls improve the visual aspects of application pages. The controls include Auto-Complete, Date, Date-Time, Dynamic Drop-Down, Google Chart, Menu Bar, Rich Text Editor, Time and Treeview. SP1 enhances support for AJAX calls with JSON formatted responses.

A new wizard helps developers quickly design a page layout and define a color scheme. The wizard presents a set of pre-defined layout options from which developers can select one appropriate for their application. It also provides eight ready-to-use themes to apply to the layout. The wizard generates the HTML, CSS and JavaScript–developers then add the application content. Web designers can also create new page layouts and themes to add to the layout gallery.

At the heart of the LANSA software development platform is its metadata repository that stores enterprise-wide validation rules and business logic in a single location. The repository enforces the rules within every LANSA-based application, as well as any non LANSA-based application that makes use of the Repository's Rules Engine.

SP1 introduces a new repository object, called External Resource, which allows developers to enroll all application resources and artifacts in the repository. External resources can include images, CSS, HTML, JavaScript and XML files–and they can all be checked-in and checked-out. The version control and task tracking services in Visual LANSA manage these objects just like any other object throughout the development process.

SP1 also makes it possible to install or upgrade LANSA for iSeries into an IASP (Independent Auxiliary Storage Pool).

LANSA is a low-code, high-productivity software development platform for mobile, web, and desktop applications. Visual LANSA's unique low-code development platform, system integration, and digital transformation technologies reduce hand-coding, support multiple languages, and empower development teams to build applications up to 10 times faster. More than 8,000 organizations in 65 countries use LANSA's platform to develop, maintain, and integrate their business applications, ensuring a consistent look and feel with minimal coding. Customers include JPMorgan Chase, Kawasaki, TruGreen, Vistar, and Walt Disney, among others. LANSA is a division of Idera, Inc.