Rather than go to one of the small specialist companies that have developed object-oriented database, Hewlett-Packard Co has developed its own, together with an object-oriented version of SQL, and is calling it HP OpenODB. The Palo Alto company, the first major manufacturer to come out with its own object database, reckons it has the most advanced such product for large multi-user environments and claims that it will enable new complex business applications to be developed and maintained at a fraction of current costs. Nor does it intend to keep the thing to itself – it says that it can be implemented easily on other vendors’ hardware because of its object-oriented Structured Query Language or OSQL. It has been working on the thing for several years under the code name Iris, and cognoscenti describe it as an object-oriented overlay for an exiting database, which implied that it is built on Allbase. The new OSQL builds on current database technology by enabling programmers to use languages such as C, Cobol, Pascal, Fortran and C++ to write applications: it takes existing SQL features used in relational databases and adds object-oriented capability so that the OpenODB database manager will offer the commercial-grade functionality of current relational database managers such as HP Allbase/SQL. The company is touting OSQL as meeting the needs of users that require simple access to data, full data management capabilities and the ability to use existing applications and the data stored in them – and it hopes to persuade the American National Standards Institute and the Object Management Group to confer industry standard status on OSQL. The company reckons that OpenODB will reduce the costs of developing and maintaining applications because more of the application is stored in the database itself. Information stored in HP OpenODB includes re-usable code such as ongoing company functions that cross department lines; these programs can be written once and used in multiple applications – well that’s one of the key purposes of object-oriented technology. Relationships enable data and applications to be linked in the database, not just the application portion; processes such as manufacturing control systems or worldwide sales distribution, service and support functions; and inanimate and people-related data – such as parts, customer information, employees or suppliers. The company says it believes object databases will prove most effective when used by individuals or small workgroups of no more than 10 people, which it says explains why early applications have been in the technical engineering area with a computer-aided design and manufacturing focus. A developer’s release of HP OpenODB set for delivery in December on HP 9000 Series 300, 400 and HP Apollo Series 700 workstations and HP 9000 Series 800 Unix machines, and on the proprietary HP 3000 900 business systems and servers, at a target price of $100,000 on all systems. It will include software and documentation with a one-to-eight user licence, elementary and advanced training, telephone support and five days’ on-site consulting.
