Automated retrofitting.

[Mukul Roy]

Hi,

Are there tools in which an automated retrofit is allowed? As far as I know it is usually done manually.

[Robert Sample]

I think the answer to your question will depend at least in part upon what you mean by "retrofit" -- are you talking about:
- updating an application to use a new database
- updating an application to use a new operating system
- updating an application to use a new hardware platform
- updating an application to meet new requirements

When migrating from one database to another, or one hardware platform to another, frequently there are automated tools that can assist in such migrations. Updating an application to use a new operating system, or to meet new requirements, though, will generally mean someone has to make the changes (and if the operating system changes the code page then the changes could be extensive) manually. And even if there is a tool to do automated retrofitting, the output of that tool needs to be carefully checked to ensure it has translated the business requirements correctly.

[enrico-sorichetti]

NO.

the common meaning of retrofit is
make some changes to something old so that it can provide some of the facilities of a newer version of the same thing

usually happens because of a poor deployment plan

seen it happen for applications depending on legal/law requirements

a new application being developed with the plan to be deployed at the proper time
somebody f*ck** up things and the legal/law required mods had to be <back>ported to the old implementation

regardless of the change direction the process cannot be automated at high level

[DB2 Guy]

Retrofitting can not be automated. Think of a situation:

Program-1, Requirement-1:

Code: Select all

IF some-variable='A' or 'B'
    Do this
END-IF

Program-1, Requirement-2

Code: Select all

IF some-variable='C' 
    Do this
END-IF

Retrofit would mean to have this:

Code: Select all

IF some-variable='A' or 'B' or 'C'
    Do this 
END-IF

I doubt any tool can do something like this automatically.