Hitachi Europe has introduced ObjectReuser, a code re-use tool for C, C++ and the firm’s ObjectIQ development environment. The product, developed in the UK, is essentially an object manager-library of programs developers can store in a central repository. Designed for a client-server networked environment, it operates under Network File System or the Open Software Foundation’s Distributed Computing Environment operating systems facilities. Clients of ObjectReuser, and there can be any number of users requesting, browsing and updating information in the central repository, can access information via prospectors, which provide a graphical view of objects, pieces of code, in a library. This means that developers can find and retrieve coded objects using point and click, drag and drop methods into the programming environment they are using. According to Hitachi, prospectors also incorporate hypertext documentation capabilities. These enable developers to read and write annotations associated with objects. Multimedia documentation functions, such as video and audio, will be added in the future, the firm says. ObjectReuser is available running under HP-UX, AIX and Solaris at UKP1,000 a system. Windows and NT versions are expected to be released next year, with added support for Cobol, it says.
