DBMS Client/Server Connection

March 1997

By Clara H. Parkes

Keeping Data Bolted Down
Reinventing Java

Blades, Cartridges, and Bolts, Oh My!

It seems everyone these days is coming out with some sort of plug-in-esque component with a catchy name. I'm not saying that the technology is lacking (in fact I'm quite fond of it), but this trend is becoming almost as prevalent -- and annoying -- as the use of the coffee metaphor in Internet-related product names. The most recent announcement comes from IBM Corp. (Armonk, N.Y.), which "preannounced" a new component technology code-named DataBolts. The new technology supports drag-and-drop implementation of complex content and commerce applications on Web sites, greatly reducing the time and labor costs associated with application development.

Among the planned IBM DataBolts are the Query and Retrieval DataBolt, used to conduct searches of both public and private databases over the Internet, Intranets, and extranets; and Profiler, an editor that lets developers design applications and Web sites that tailor their content based on an individual user's profile (see Maurice Frank's From the Editor column this month for more about push-pull computing across the Internet). There will also be a Cryptolope Opener DataBolt, which lets registered users unlock Cryptolope containers and access their contents. DataBolts will be available as Java Beans or ActiveX components. The first two DataBolts (Cryptolope and Query & Retrieval) will ship this spring, with remaining DataBolts to ship throughout the year.

A Touch of Class

Despite industry concern that it would thumb its nose at Java and try to create its own standard, Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, Wash.) appears to be respecting Java compatibility and even promoting it. The company's latest announcement was Application Foundation Classes (AFC), a complete set of class libraries for building cross-platform Java applications. Written in Java, these libraries enhance the basic Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) classes from JavaSoft by offering richer graphics, user interface, and multimedia functionality that can run on any platform or browser that supports Java. Jesse Berst, editorial director of the ZD Anchor Desk, put it most eloquently in his January 22, 1997 column: "If Microsoft can convince programmers to standardize on AFC instead [of AWT], it can assume leadership of Java. Once that is achieved, it can play favorites by optimizing its Java tools for Windows. Thereby giving Windows an advantage over all other operating systems. And thereby thwarting the Java 'write once, run anywhere' idea, which could render Windows irrelevant."

Sybase Comes up for Air

I'm pleased to finally be able to put the words "good news" and "Sybase" (Sybase Inc., Emeryville, Calif.) in the same sentence once again. The company that has been experiencing consistent financial losses, massive layoffs, and executive staff restructuring reports that revenues are up for both the fourth quarter and full year of 1996.

Although fourth-quarter revenues were $267.8 million, up by a hair from $267.3 million reported in the fourth quarter of 1995, net income was down from $6.0 million (Q4 1995) to $5.1 million (Q4 1996). Net loss for 1996 was $79.0 million, including a $49.2 million restructuring charge; net loss for 1995 was $19.5 million, also including $44.0 million in acquisition and merger-related charges.

Notable events that may have contributed to the success include the release of Sybase IQ 11.1 on Sun, IBM, HP, and Digital platforms; the release of Sybase SQL Server Professional for Windows NT; and the release of PowerBuilder 5.0 on Unix and Macintosh platforms. Another plus may be the company's announcement of a new rapid application development tool for creating, debugging, and deploying Java-based applications.

Industry Shopping Spree

Component-based modeling tools vendor Select Software Tools (Santa Ana, Calif.) recently purchased LBMS's Systems Engineer. Under the terms of the agreement, Select paid $2 million cash for the product suite, and the company will write off the entire cost of the acquisition as a one-time charge in Q4 1996. Select plans to integrate Systems Engineer into its Select Enterprise toolset, and the product will be renamed Select SE. The new product offers developers both object modeling and data modeling capabilities.

Object Design Inc. (Burlington, Mass.), which provides object database software for the Web, acquired ObjectStore Inspector from Vivi Software Srl. The Genoa, Italy-based Vivi Software develops graphical browser software for the Object Design ObjectStore database. ObjectStore Inspector is a graphical database browser that lets users view, query, and edit data stored in the ObjectStore. This makes development faster by eliminating the need to write code to view and edit object data. The company began its relationship with Object Design a year ago. Details of the transaction were not available at press time.

Where's InfoModeler?

We still get calls from readers asking us what happened to Asymetrix Corp.'s (Bellevue, Wash.) modeling tool, InfoModeler. A glance at the Asymetrix Web site won't be of any help, as most traces of the product have been wiped clean. Last October, only four months after the release of version 2.0, which received solid attention from the press, Asymetrix stopped shipping InfoModeler 2.0 and spun its InfoModeler product -- and its database division -- off into a separate company, InfoModelers Inc. Tom Van Horn was appointed president and CEO of the company in December. Previously, Van Horn was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm. Asymetrix still supports InfoModeler, and the two companies still share office space, although I've been told that this is only a temporary solution. Meanwhile, Asymetrix is focusing all of its efforts on the Java tools market with its SuperCede Java development environment.

Please send questions or comments to dbms@mfi.com
Updated Tuesday, February 11, 1997.