DBMS Client/Server Connection - July 1995 DBMS Client/Server Connection - July 1995The popular DB/Expo conference was held in San Francisco May 1 to 5 and, although nothing earth-shattering occurred, there are a few things to report. The DB/Expo RealWare Awards were announced at a lavish ceremony at the Museum of Modern Art on May 3. RealWare Awards winners were selected for providing the most outstanding solutions in predefined categories by teams of industry analysts and editors (DBMS Editor In Chief David Kalman chaired the Client/Server Computing in Support of Mission-Critical Operations category). These judges evaluated entries based on the innovative use of technology, the delivery of measurable results to the user, and the efficient use of resources. The following are the winning vendors and their customers:
Regarding product announcements at the show, here are a few of the stand-outs. Gupta Corp. (Menlo Park, Calif.) announced SQLWindows for Microsoft SQL Server 6.0. Gupta is bundling into one box a copy of SQLWindows Corporate Edition and a copy of Microsoft SQL Server 6.0 for Windows NT with one client license.
According to Gupta officials, the version of SQLWindows in the integrated product is optimized for SQL Server 6.0 and includes a native router for fast data access, Gupta Open Repository for team development, Quest data management tool, SQLWindows Compiler, SQLConsole application tuning facility, a class library for Lotus Notes and e-mail packages, and interfaces to CASE tools. Although more than one conference attendee was heard asking, "What does this mean for SQLBase?", the company is positioning its database server as a "desktop development platform", and includes one development license of SQLBase in the SQLWindows/SQL Server bundle. Gupta Corp., 415-321-9500.
Powersoft Corp. (a Sybase company, Concord, Mass.) announced that it will acquire SDP S.A. (Suresnes, France), a vendor of the popular data modeling tool, S-Designor. Also on the data modeling front, Logic Works Inc. (Princeton, N.J.) debuted ERwin/Open, a database design tool that works with SQLWindows, Powersoft PowerBuilder, and Microsoft Visual Basic. Popkin Software & Systems Inc. (New York) announced that System Architect, its repository-based application development tool, supports the Jacobson Use Case object-oriented analysis and design diagram. Developers can use this diagram as a standalone tool to perform business process reengineering or client/server development projects. Powersoft Corp., 800-273-2841; Logic Works Inc., 800-783-7946; Popkin Software & Systems Inc., 212-571-3434.
Intersolv (Rockville, Md.) announced two new object-oriented development tools based on C++ technology purchased from Liant Software Corp. (Framingham, Mass.) and South Wind Design (Ann Arbor, Mich.). The new Intersolv products, C++/Views and DataDirect Developer's Toolkit for C++, provide an application development framework for C++ developers to develop cross-platform, database-independent applications. C++/Views provides more than 100 class libraries, as well as a visual interface builder and class browser. Programs developed with C++/Views are portable across Windows, Windows NT, OS/2 Presentation Manager, Unix, and Macintosh. DataDirect Developer's Toolkit for C++ is a C++ class library that encapsulates the ODBC API, enabling applications to access any ODBC-compliant database. In addition, Intersolv announced that it acquired PC Strategies & Solutions Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.), a consulting organization that focuses exclusively on helping client companies implement object-oriented client/server technology. Intersolv, 301-230-3200.
Finally, Computer Systems Advisers (CSA) Inc. (Woodcliff, N.J.) and Symantec Corp. (Cupertino, Calif.) announced a strategic relationship to integrate CSA's Silverrun-Enterprise business modeling software with Symantec's Team Enterprise Developer, a client/server application development tool. Silverrun-Enterprise provides Enterprise Developer users with a common, ODBC-compliant repository for concurrent access for business processes, application packages, and conceptual, logical, and physical data models. CSA Inc., 201-391-6500; Symantec Corp., 408-253-9600.
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The Object Management Group (Framingham, Mass.) adopted the Smalltalk Language Mapping for its Interface Definition Language (OMG IDL) of the Common Request Object Broker Architecture (CORBA). Objects made available through an ORB publish their interfaces using OMG IDL, which was designed to support language-independent interoperability among applications. The Smalltalk Language Mapping standardizes an IDL for the Smalltalk language, and will let Smalltalk developers tap into CORBA. IBM Corp. and HP jointly submitted this mapping technology.
OMG also announced an Interface Repository Specification for providing runtime access to IDL information. The Interface Repository Specification is an ORB component designed to specify low-level protocols for communication among ORBs, and to ensure interoperability among independently designed ORBs. The Interface Repository Service manages and provides access to the descriptions of interfaces presented by objects, defines how IDLs are loaded into a repository, allows functions for modifying or deleting existing definitions, and provides concurrency control. Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, and SunSoft jointly submitted this specification.
The OMG also announced the availability of the Object Query Service, which is part of the Object Management Architecture known as CORBAservices. CORBAservices are interfaces and semantics that support basic functions for using and implementing objects. The Object Query Service specification provides query and manipulation operations such as selection, insertion, deletion, querying and returning data, permitting the use of available interfaces, and updating on collections of objects. The accepted Object Query specification was jointly developed and submitted by IBM, Itasca, Objectivity Inc., Ontos, O2, Servio, SunSoft Inc., Sybase Inc., and Taligent Inc. Object Management Group, 508-820-4300.