Cate T. Corcoran
Enterprise client/server tools are expanding their coverage to all platforms found in an organization, from mainframes to PCs. Now into their second or third generation, many new client/server tools let users use one environment to develop custom applications that can run on a variety of platforms and hook into most of their databases.
Over the next several months, nine leading vendors will update their software to work across three tiers: PCs, workstations, and mainframes. All nine vendors are adding or improving their software's object-oriented capabilities. Most already offer fourth-generation language (4GL) coding, which lets users develop applications in a graphical environment without having to do any actual programming.
Particularly important this year h
as been the addition of partitioning to tools from the PC and Unix arenas. Partitioning allows users to write one application and later break it up into client/business logic/server components to run in a distributed fashion on systems ranging from PCs to mainframes.
Several vendors are adding drag-and-drop application partitioning. Dynasty Technologies has updated its partitioning with a graphical tool (
see the screen
) that lets users specify on which machines certain parts of applications will run by dragging and dropping them on-screen, rather than having to write code. The tool also supports automatic partitioning, which lets the software specify where parts of the application will run.
Four Seasons Software offers a similar drag-and-drop configuration and, like InSync Software, offers a feature that lets users move partitions around while an application is running. This feature is useful for on-the-fly load balancing and moving an application to another server when the
primary server goes down. Unify added partitioning to its software earlier this year.
To address users' heterogeneous environments, every tool company is extending its support for new platforms, messaging standards, and database formats (most already support third-party design and analysis tools). For example, the new version of the Antares Alliance Group's Huron ObjectStar lets you develop applications that support OLE 2.0 and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and can run on Windows 3.1, NT, and OS/2. Compuware, whose strength is in databases (its tools work with at least 24), has improved its mainframe connectivity with support for CICS and Tuxedo transaction monitors. Other vendors are also improving the breadth of platforms that they support (see the sidebar "Enterprise Client/Server Tools at a Glance").
On the object front, Four Seasons Software has developed its own distributed file-object support, which enables users to access files anywhere in an organization. Progress is adding object o
rientation to its Progress 8.0 through reusable applications components. And Texas Instruments' new Arranger product lets nonprogrammers assemble applications using objects that have been created by a more technical programmer using TI's Composer software development tool.
screen_link (37 Kbytes)
Dynasty's partitioning editor shows the result of automated partitioning performed by the program's partitioning assistant. The original client application is shown at top left (HQOffice); locations of partitioned server objects are indicated.
Tools Cover Big and Little Iron
