IPSYS Software ORB Press Release
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 95 22:45:09 GMT
Message-ID: <headquarters.1143448749J_at_156.151.6.30>
*NEWS*************************************
*FROM IPSYS SOFTWARE**********************
*For release February 17, 1995***********
IPSYS OBJECT IE now supports
Object Request Brokers
& generates Microsoft's Visual C++
*IPSYS OBJECT IE, used for developing large-scale client/server systems, is
being enhanced to provide easy integration with Object Request Brokers
(ORBs) in order to support both the CORBA initiative and Microsoft's Object
Linking and Embedding (OLE 2) product.
Systems built to date have used proprietary Remote Procedure Call (RPC) technology from various vendors. IPSYS believes that ORBs will represent the way forward for building very large-scale client/server systems.
John Lewis, co-founder of IPSYS, states,
"There is currently a lot of debate about whether to use 2 or 3 tier architectures to build scalable client/server systems, and in particular, whether Transaction Processing Monitors (TPMs) should be used in a 3 tier architecture.
"Our own experience is that large-scale systems, with several thousand users, can be built without resorting to TPMs, indeed we question whether TPMs in the Unix world are sufficiently mature and robust to handle very large systems. We believe that, in certain architectures, TPMs can cause more problems than they solve. Certainly many of the commonly stated reasons for using them e.g. to provide database vendor independence, can be provided more easily using other mechanisms.
"We can understand why those IBM mainframe users presently employing CICS/COBOL consider CICS on Unix, but otherwise, we believe that truly scalable systems need to conform to standards, hence our support for CORBA and our recognition of OLE 2."
- To provide another route to integration with Microsoft's OLE 2, IPSYS is also generating Microsoft's Visual C++ from OBJECT IE. Developers will be able to prototype a screen using OBJECT IE's integral screen painter and then generate the Visual C++ version.
All code that is generated is compatible with Visual C++ ClassWizard and AppStudio, so that the developer may modify the client side of the application as represented in Visual C++, using the facilities of AppStudio.
A further advantage of generating Visual C++ is that new C++ classes can be derived from those generated or provided by IPSYS Software and those provided by Microsoft to add or enhance capabilities. The developer may include OLE capabilities by utilizing options in Visual C++.
GUI applications generated in this way will support any GUI platform supported by the Microsoft Visual C++ Foundation Class Libraries.
[In addition to Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and Windows NT Workstation 3.5, Microsoft have also announced their intention to port the Foundation Class Libraries to Macintosh and various third-parties have announced ports to Unix.]
***Presently OBJECT IE generates all of the code for large-scale client/server
applications. These include the following:
- GUI code (Visual C++ or Motif)
- Business logic. This may run on:
- the client (PC or workstation)
- applications servers (in C++/embedded SQL)
- database servers (Oracle PL/SQL or Sybase Transact SQL)
- or any combination of the above
- Database code.
Using this new code generator, C++ source code is generated directly from classes modeled in IPSYS OBJECT IE, which may include complex business logic and database client commands. GUI screens are also generated from the classes within IPSYS OBJECT IE; it is the interaction with these which fire off the business logic behind the screen.
Some of the business logic modeled will contain interactions with a relational database. The database client commands are generated to utilize a provided C++ class library, which is database platform dependent. However, this library may be developer-amended for a particular environment. The actual C++ generated is totally independent of a given platform.
Interactions with the database may also be carried out on the server, rather than the client. These interactions are triggered by an event in the business logic, which in turn calls a stored procedure on the database server. The stored procedures may be in Sybase Transact-SQL or Oracle PL/SQL. Of course, all of these elements are generated automatically from the developer's high level design held in the IPSYS OBJECT REPOSITORY (please see the OBJECT REPOSITORY PRESS RELEASE dated 12/20/94).
IPSYS Software has designed the IPSYS Code Generator for C++ to allow internationalization of character sets, dates and times, currencies etc.
It is feasible for the developer to define, by hand, C, C++, Oracle PL/SQL or Sybase Transact-SQL functions. These tailored code definitions are called directly from the generated code. This is to insure code integrity and prevent any margin for human error. This process is often useful when re-using existing legacy functions or procedures.
The relational database design is easily maintained within IPSYS OBJECT IE, and when desired, Data Definition Language (DDL) files may be automatically generated for your chosen RDBMS environment.
No run-time licenses are required for the generated GUI and Applications logic.
****Shipments of the IPSYS Code Generator for Visual C++ will begin in April
1995 and the IPSYS Code Generator for Orbix will follow later this year.
Please contact IPSYS Software for updates on progress. Typically, IPSYS
Software does not announce new products until they have actually been
shipped. However, in this case, IPSYS Software recognizes the importance of
the IPSYS Code Generator for Orbix, the IPSYS Code Generator for Visual C++,
and their significant relationship to CORBA developments.
Background
IPSYS Software is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with a US office located in San Francisco. IPSYS Software has customers in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
IPSYS Software is responsible for development tools for some of the largest technical projects in the world. This includes the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA) program, one of the largest object oriented projects undertaken to date. EFA possesses 600 copies of the IPSYS HOOD (Hierarchical Object Oriented Design) toolset. IPSYS also supplies toolsets to many European and US telecommunications companies. IPSYS toolsets are consistently rated #1 by independent European analysts.
Entering into the client/server market with prior experience from the Unix market, IPSYS Software started building tools for developing client/server applications in 1992. IPSYS Software was founded by John Lewis and John Adams in 1989.
For further information please contact:
*In North America: *In Europe:
Annalisa Aguilar | John Lewis
IPSYS Software | IPSYS Software plc
388 Market Street | Marlborough Court
Suite 400 | Pickford Street
San Francisco | Macclesfield, Cheshire
CA 94111 | United Kingdom
|
Tel: 415-693-9200 | Tel: 44-625-616-722
Fax: 415-296-2547 | Fax: 44-625-616-780
email: object.ie_at_ipsys.com |
All trademarks acknowledged. Received on Fri Feb 17 1995 - 23:45:09 CET