Leaving an OSF/Motif version of its 4GL++ object-based graphical development environment to tread water for a while, Informix Corp, Menlo Park, California, is hurrying along Microsoft Corp Windows and NT versions in a bid for a quick return on its investment. Informix UK marketing manager Tony Lacey-Thompson said we can’t afford to ignore Microsoft’s 90% stronghold over the personal computer market. Volume numbers of Unix-based personal computers aren’t there yet and Motif can’t give us the cash returns we’re looking for with this product. The switch to emphasise Windows – and NT – has impacted planned availability this quarter, and 4GL++ won’t now ship until year-end. Informix is also gearing to release its new reporting tool, Storm, over the next couple of months with the promised Siemens Nixdorf Informationssyteme AG-derived data dictionary by June. Storm is a graphical query and reporting tool, enabling users to access, extract and manipulate data as in an executive information system fashion, the company says. Forms and reports can be created using a graphical front-end palette of tools. The data dictionary – being developed using Siemens Nixdorf’s Entity Relationship Model – will form the basis of a planned Informix repository (CI No 2,102), which is at least a year out and doesn’t have a target interface environment yet.
