ICL Plc will use London’s ObjectWorld ’93 show between October 13 and 15 as the launch platform for Dais, a set of object-oriented software tools and services for developing and integrating distributed applications across Unix, VME, VMS, OS/2 and Windows operating systems. The client-server offering will support Codasyl and relational databases, including IDMS/X, Informix, Oracle and Ingres. Dais includes an Object Management Group Common Object Request Broker Architecture-compliant object broker, an Interface Definition Language compiler and comes with a set of object services and development tools layered on top. ICL says its first comprehensive home-grown object system, developed at its Manchester-based Dais development centre, provides for faster coding, re-use and easier integration of applications because client and server components can be developed without knowledge of each others’ implementation details or location. The firm claims Dais can be used as a tool kit to integrate existing pro-prietary and open systems, and includes system management facilities to improve error detection and fault repair. The system-independent environment should enable users to add new systems, databases and operating system releases as they become available. Dais is to be previewed at the Association of Major System Users conference at York University between October 5 and 8. Prices are expected to go from UKP50,000 for a standard application development system multiples of that for a multivendor, en-terprise-wide system. ICL currently offers a hotch-potch of third party object products, including Objectivity Inc’s database for its Delta corporate quality system and Electronic Data Processing Plc’s Pick-based UniVision database, while Iona Technology Ltd’s Orbix object request broker has also been developed on its systems and ICL had been expected to take the forthcoming object version of Unify Corp’s Accell proprietary language environment – Peacock under its on-going OEM pact. ICL already has an object-oriented Xg graphics kit for X Window development.
