Microsoft Corp is holding a design review of the specifications for the next version of its Repository on April 22. The much- anticipated specification has been written in conjunction with several partners including Platinum Technology Inc over the last few months, behind closed doors. The review will provide an overview of the spec and revisions Microsoft has incorporated into the Repository 2.0. Some vendors are expected to demo early versions of products that will leverage the Repository’s data warehouse extensions enabling them to work against the database metadata in the forthcoming SQL Server 7.0 and Plato OLAP Server releases. SQL Server 7.0 with its embedded transformation, replication, and OLAP services, the Repository, OLE DB data access APIs and OLE DB for OLAP extensions will be part of a complete Data Warehousing Framework Microsoft is expected to preview for integrating development, management and data warehouse usage. ISVs are expected to write metadata integration functions on top of the COM interfaces specified by the 2.0 Repository’s single OIM open information model. Microsoft expects a common infrastructure to spur a dramatic increase in the use of data warehousing and OLAP techniques. Commentators believe third party OLAP suppliers other than the likes of Arbor and Oracle will find it hard to survive. In a bid to improve its enterprise credentials, Microsoft tapped Platinum to port and distribute the 2.0 Repository software to third party platforms, including Unix, MVS and AS/400, to which Platinum will exclusive marketing rights. Version 1.0 of the Microsoft Repository shipped in March 1997 on top of the company’s Jet (Access) database for free with Visual Basic 5 Pro and Enterprise and Visual Studio Pro and Enterprise.
รก
