Having metamorphosed from Gupta Corp on April 15, Centura Software Inc put Centura Team Development and Centura Ranger, the first two components of its 32-bit Centura second generation client-server development environment, into production last week. General availability is expected by the end of the month. It is a month or two behind its planned March release date, it concedes, but no doubt the pain of seven consecutive quarters of losses, the rumors of acquisition by Oracle Corp and Computer Associates International Inc and the resignation of its auditor Arthur Andersen & Co, suggest it is at pains to get its makeover right. Centura Team Developer, the core computer-aided design component includes support for two- tier or three-tier applications, a Java-based Internet application or individual Object Linking & Embedding components, an object compiler, object repository and a set of Internet QuickObjects for access to Internet data and services without the need to write code. OCX generation will be included in a later release, says the Menlo Park, California company. It is supported by Centura Ranger for data replication. The Centura repository supports Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server or its own SQLBase database. It provides links to Rational Software Inc’s Rational Rose and LogicWorks Inc’s ErWin software engineering tool sets, and is managed through a Team Object Manager. Code is generated through its QuickObject technology. Upgrades are available from SQLWindows and SQLBase. Ranger prices go from $750. The Application Server component, due in the fourth quarter, will use Microsoft Corp’s Distributed Computing Environment-based RPC with Open Environment Corp’s DCE Entera middleware. Centura Web Publisher is due next quarter. Meantime, it will bring SQLBase up to 6.1 at the end of May adding support for replication, 32-bit applications and TCP/IP networking. An SQLWindows version due in the summer – code-named Cyclone and described by Centura as a companion product to its new development environment – will include support for SAP AG’s R/3, a revamped object compiler and a new object library for faster run-time performance. SQLWindows is still 16-bit, with some 32-bit features.
