At the same time as Lotus’ vice-president of network applications and services was in the UK to promote his idea of a heterogenous networked computing environment in the 1990s, Lotus Development Corp in the the US made two announcements. The company is releasing two data access products later this month, a Datalens Driver for SQL Server, and Lotus SQL. Both are designed to connect 1-2-3 Releases 2.01, 2.2, 3, and 1-2-3/G to SQL Server databases. They enable 1-2-3 users to perform database management and reporting tasks directly from within the spreadsheet. These include querying a database, inserting, deleting or updating database records, and creating or deleting database tables. The DataLens Driver for SQL Server is designed for users of 1-2-3 Release 3 or 1-2-3/G. The user establishes access to SQL Server databases from 1-2-3 Release 3 or 1-2-3/G using either spreadsheet’s Data External command. The combination of DataLens drivers with enhanced data query capabilities enables users to perform the database operations and reporting tasks. These include the ability to perform database joins across multiple local and remote database products, or between these products and on-sheet data. DataLens is designed to provide a means by which users can move data into their applications for analysis, manipulation, and storage. Both 1-2-3 Release 3 and 1-2-3/G include a driver for Ashton-Tate’s dBase III and III+ databases. DataLens drivers are also under development for other database products. These include Paradox from Borland International, Model 204 from Computer Corp of America, Extended Edition Database Manager from IBM, Gupta Technologies’ SQLBase, Novell’s NetWare SQL, Vanguard and R:Base from Microrim Inc, Oracle from Oracle Corp, and Teradata’s DBC/1012. All of this was announced in the US. Back in the UK, Frank Moss, vice president of network applications and services, was claiming the era of stand-alone computing has come to an end, and the computer industry is about to experience its most rapid period of change. He believes that mainframes will continue to be in central locations maintaining huge databases, but workstations under Unix are rapidly moving into the commercial environment, and personal computers have already spread throughout organisations. He sees the 1990s as being a time when applications will be networked over a variety of cross-platforms. Lotus describes cross-application technologies as application system technologies. They include external data access, new sorts of programmability, and new ways to exploit networks. Moss claims that Lotus is incorporating these into 1-2-3 Release 3 and future applications, and by not making them hardware-specific, they are ideal for linking applications and services throughout a network. He cites DataLens as an example, and says it is a core element in cross-hardware computing. Lotus is to introduce the concept of enterprise spreadsheet computing where the host or central spreadsheets are connected to hundreds of personal computers to support distributed spreadsheet applications. During the coming year, Lotus intends to deliver a suite of spreadsheets for non-personal computer hardware.

IBM is lagging

The first of these is 1-2-3 for Sun Microsystems’ Sparc-based workstations, the Motorola-based Sun-3 machines, and the Intel-based 386i. The second suite is 1-2-3/M for IBM’s 370 environment, and the third is 1-2-3 for DEC’s VAX family. To date, IBM is lagging behind DEC since 1-2-3 is integrated with DEC’s All-In-1, but not with OfficeVison. 1-2-3/M co-exists with OfficeVision on the mainframe, and 1-2-3/G is Systems Application Architecture Common User Access-compliant at the front end. Moss says that negotiations are taking place to determine the level of integration with Officevision, and also with AS/400, which is conspicuously absent. Moss forecasts that the level of applications linking will increase to the level where applications are connected to each other across all systems. He concluded by saying that the successful applications software of the 1990s wil

l take advantage of client-server architectures, not merely coexist with them. – Janice McGinn