Data General Corp’s AViiON 88000 RISC-based line of Unix systems has picked up its first object-oriented database management system courtesy of Minneapolis-based Itasca Systems Inc. The Itasca object database, introduced in August, is a distributed, multi-client, multi-server system designed to support highly complex workstation applications. It is based on the Orion prototypes developed by the Object-Oriented and Distributed Systems Laboratory of the Microelectronics & Computer Technology Corp non-profit pre-competitive research co-operative down in Austin, Texas. Object database management systems differ from hierarchical, network, and relational systems in using persistent objects – re-usable modules of data code – rather than serial lines of code as the fundamental units of applications programming. This means that products like Itasca can operate on complex data significantly faster than the otherwise comparable non-object systems. Itasca sees its database being used on the AViiONs in graphical applications in the areas of computer-aided design, software engineering, computer-integrated manufacturing, computer-aided publishing and mechanical computer-aided engineering. Itasca already runs on Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Apollo, Silicon Graphics workstations, and the single-copy price for all versions is $4,000.
