Groupe Bull SA last week added another two bricks in its Distributed Computing Model strategy, launched earlier this year at Hannover. Open Software/TP is Bull’s implementation of Unix System Laboratories Inc’s Tuxedo transaction processing model, with additional features such as a Cobol interface, support for GCOS, IBM CICS and Oracle Version 6.0, batch processing and application restart. Distributed Data Access is built on top of Ingres Star, and provides transparent access to multiple databases on Unix, Bull GCOS, IBM MVS and Digital Equipment Corp VMS-based systems. Both fit into the application services component of Bull’s Distributed Computing Model, and rely on standards such as SQL and the X/Open Co Ltd DTP/XA interface, which database companies are currently incorporating into their products. Although an Open Software Foundation sponsor, Bull started work on Tuxedo development some 18 months ago: it says the new Foundation-favoured Encina product from Transarc Corp is little more than vapourware at present, but promises to track its progress. Bull’s next task is to merge the two products to provide a fully distributed transaction processing facility, sometime in 1992. The company also offers systems integration services to customers implementing distributed, multi-vendor, transaction processing systems.
