Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle Corp has enhanced its software engineering offerings with a new release of its multi-user CASE*Dictionary repository, version 5.0. The company also added CASE*Generator for SQL*Forms/SQL*Menu V2.0 and CASE*Generator for SQL*Reportwriter / SQL*Plus V1.0, which create screen and menu-based applications and reports directly from definitions held in the repository, for error-free systems, Oracle claims. In CASE*Dictionary V5.0, features of the internal architecture have been externalised with a view to enabling users to tailor the repository to meet their specific development needs. This user extensibility facility is claimed to offer improved support for different development methodologies and to offer more flexibility for the corporate repository user. Automated system design tools have been extended with the addition of a default application design facility, which the company says takes analysis definitions and produces system designs ready for software engineering generation. This facility uses rapid development techniques and provides prototyping capabilities, enabling developers to verify user requirements early in the life cycle. The new generators take design definitions held in the repository and produce complete applications comprising of screens, reports and menus; all layout and applications logic is automatically created, taking into consideration design preferences that define the development standards to be applied. CASE*Dictionary V5.0 and CASE*Generator V2.0 and V1.0 will be out by year-end on Sun Microsystems Inc Sparcstations and under Digital Equipment Corp VAX/VMS, but on pricing, Oracle says only that it hardware- and user-based.
