H. H. Gregg

HH Gregg operated its entire retail and warehouse system on a pair of large HP3000 N Series 750-4 machines, supporting 2,000 users across 120 store locations nationwide. This system, developed in-house over the course of 25 years, was critical to managing operations like order entry, inventory control, and order management. Much of the application was written in BASIC/V, a 1970s version of BASIC designed by HP for the HP3000, which compiled programs to interact with HP’s IMAGE hierarchical database.

Sector7 was tasked with migrating this vast system to HP-UX, while maintaining the integrity and functionality of the original applications. To achieve this, Sector7 developed a transpiler that converted BASIC source code into C, allowing the programs to be compiled and run on HP-UX. The BASIC-to-C transpiler has been so effective that it is still in use today, enabling HH Gregg to maintain the BASIC source code while generating C code on demand for execution.

Additionally, many batch jobs and systems, including RF inventory control, were written in HPCOBOL, a proprietary extension of COBOL. Sector7 migrated this HPCOBOL code, modifying proprietary extensions and adjusting intrinsic calls to function with the Transport abstraction layer on HP-UX. HH Gregg’s use of HP’s Business Report Writer (BRW) was also addressed by converting BRW reports into Java, integrated with JasperReports.

DataNOW!, a third-party data retrieval tool used extensively at HH Gregg, was migrated from Pascal on MPE to Pascal on HP-UX. Several library modules written in SPL, Pascal, and HP-C were similarly migrated to standard C for seamless integration on HP-UX.

The migration included over 60 IMAGE hierarchical databases, consisting of more than 1,000 datasets. These were converted into Oracle tables within a unified schema, with various Oracle triggers created to mimic the behavior of TURBOIMAGE and ensure data integrity. The original IMAGE database calls were supported through the Transport abstraction layer without requiring changes to the application code.

KSAM files (Keyed Sequential Access Method) were also migrated to Oracle tables, with Transport enabling transparent access to the data. MPE message files, once emulated using Oracle AQ through Transport, were eventually replaced with direct Oracle AQ calls to improve performance and expand capabilities.

The migrated applications have been in production since 2010, with continuous improvements made to further leverage Oracle's capabilities, dramatically reducing processing times. Most of the migrated applications remain in use, and newer applications are being developed in modern programming languages, accessing the same Oracle database infrastructure that supports the legacy systems.

• Migrated critical retail and warehouse operations from HP3000/MPE to HP-UX, preserving legacy functionality.
• Converted BASIC/V programs to C using a custom-built transpiler, still in use today for ongoing maintenance.
• Migrated HPCOBOL code, including RF inventory control systems, and re-architected business reports in Java.
• Converted over 60 IMAGE databases and over 1,000 datasets to Oracle, with full support via the Transport abstraction layer.
• Enhanced system performance through the adoption of direct Oracle AQ calls for message file handling.

Sector7’s migration project enabled HH Gregg to modernize its infrastructure while maintaining the functionality of its critical applications. The ease of ongoing code translation and the integration with Oracle allowed for continuous improvements and a smooth transition to newer technologies, ensuring the company’s operational efficiency and long-term success.