The ODBMS Desktop

A key advantage of ODBMS technology is its ability to scale down to the desktop as well as up to the enterprise. The technology has many potential uses in software engineering, graphic design, and the development of applications that manage data.

Most software today requires some way to store and retrieve local data. Because the basic interfaces for this in C++ and Java, for example, are slow and unreliable, some type of database technology must be implement ed and embedded into the product. But in these cases, a full-fledged database server, object or relational, would be expens ive, excessive, and impractical. Instead, products such as NeoLogic's NeoAccess and Object Design's PSE Pro cater to a new paradigm known as "databases for the desktop."

NeoAccess 5.0 can be used as a storage back end within any C++ application framework. Because there's no additional licensing-fee structure, the NeoAccess back end can be integrated into commercial products without raising the issue of per-seat or per-copy royalties. The product supports popular C++ compilers and development environments on Windows, Unix, Mac, and BeOS platforms.

The NeoAccess technology is a component of many of today's popular software titles, including NetObjects Fusion (a Web-page editor), Netscape Communicator, and Corel's productivity software. No Java interface is yet available.

With PSE Pro, Object Design offers the core technology on which its l arger enterprise system is built. PSE (which stands for Persistent Storage Engine) uses the same storage technology found in ObjectStore, but without the large memory footprint or multiuser architecture. PSE Pro provides a system of libraries and schemata that allow for the efficient and reliable serialization of data handled in an application.

Currently, PSE Pro has interfaces for Java, C++, and ActiveX. Object Design's implementation of ODBMS classes for Java has been an influential basis for the ODMG's upcoming standard for using object-database technology with Java. PSE Pro comes with a less-functional PSE product that can also be freely downloaded from Object Design's Web site.