Genero BDL software requirements

Before installing, ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements and additional software.

Operating systems

The Genero Business Development Language is supported on a variety of operating systems. You must install the software package corresponding to the operating system that you use.

For a detailed list of supported operating systems, refer to the Supported platforms and databases document (available on the Products download page of the Four Js Web site) or contact your support center. This document also informs you which operating systems will no longer be supported as of the next release.

Disk space

As the amount of disk space required may vary slightly, depending on the operating system, and the released version, you will need to estimate disk space. The disk space needed for installation may be calculated by multiplying the size of the download file by 5. Once the product is installed, the required disk space is approximately the size of the download file multiplied by 2.

Database client software

To connect to a database server, the database client software must be installed on the system where you run the Genero BDL programs.

The Genero runtime system uses database drivers to connect to database servers, as a database client program. Database vendor-specific client software needs to be installed on the system where you run the Genero programs.

Genero database drivers are shipped as shared libraries and require a database vendor client software shared library such as Informix® Client SDK (with ESQL/C), Oracle® Client (with OCI), Microsoft® SQL Server ODBC. The database driver to be selected must correspond to the database client type and version.

For a detailed list of supported databases, database driver names, and operating systems on which those database drivers are supported, refer to the Supported platforms and databases document (available on the Products download page of the Four Js web site) or contact your support center. This matrix also informs you which database drivers will no longer be supported as of the next release.

C compiler for C Extensions

Applications using C extensions need a C compiler and linker to build the C extension library that will be loaded by the runtime system.

On UNIX® platforms, you need a cc compiler on the system where you create the C extension libraries. Note that some UNIX systems do not have a C compiler installed by default.

On Windows® platforms, it is mandatory to install Microsoft Visual C++ version corresponding to the installed Genero BDL package. The OS identifier of the Genero BDL package file name identifies the Visual C++ version to be used.

Java

In order to use the Java Interface in your application programs, you need the Java software installed and properly configured.

  • Install a Java Development Kit on development sites (if you need to compile your own Java classes)
  • Install a Java Runtime Environment on production sites (on the server where your programs are running)
Note: Over time, the Java platform has used different versioning systems, to distinguish a "Java developer version", from a "Java product version". For example, the Java developer version (JDK) 1.8 corresponds to the Java product version 8. With recent versions like Java 10, a unique version numbering convention is used.

The Java classes defined by Genero (com.fourjs.fgl.lang.*) are compiled with javac -source 1.6 -target 1.6 options. Therefore, the minimum theoretical version is Java SE 6. However, depending on the platform, the minimum required Java version may be greater than version 6.

Note: As a general rule, always install the current long-term-support (LTS) Java version available on your platform, with JNI support. For example, Java SE 8 (released in March 2014) and Java SE 11 (released in September 2018) are LTS versions.

For a detailed list of supported JVMs, refer to the Supported platforms and databases document (available on the Products download page of the Four Js Web site) or contact your support center.

The version of the installed Java software can be shown with the command:
java --version

In order to execute Java byte code, the Genero runtime system uses the JNI interface. The JVM is loaded as a shared library and its binary format must match the binary format of the Genero runtime system. For example, a 64-bit Genero package requires a 64-bit JVM.

When implementing Java classes for Genero Mobile for Android™ (GMA), check the JDK version required by the Android SDK. For more information, see the Android Studio web site.