Informix Software Inc, Menlo Park will release a new 4GL++ version of its proprietary language, with object-oriented extensions for Windows NT and Unix, by the second quarter of 1994. In the same time-frame, the firm will also introduce a central enterprise-wide software engineering repository based on Siemens Nixdorf Informationssyteme AG’s Entity Relationship Model. According to Informix’s manager of tools and programs, Tony Lacey Thompson, 4GL++ is a complete revamp of the former product. The software has a number of new features including a series of object-based visual class libraries designed to enable developers to build distributed applications graphically on screen. 4GL++ has a Windows and Motif front-end. The software also comes with a communications class library, which enables users to embed Microsoft Corp Open Data Base Connectivity client and server drivers in applications. This enables software to access data from third party relational databases and other tools, Lacey Thompson says. Other drivers can also be added to the library by third parties such as IBM Corp’s Distributed Relational Database Architecture and Borland International Inc’s IDAPI technology. 4GL++ is backward-compatible with Informix’s existing software. The company’s object-oriented repository is currently in beta test and will be available for both Unix and Windows NT environments, Informix says.
