Neuron Data Corp, the Palo Alto, California company known for its graphical user interface building tools and knowledge-based systems, last week announced a new entry in the client-server tools arena: Smart Elements, a cross-system application development environment that combines object-oriented structures and business rules capability with graphical interface design and script facilities for business software developers. Smart Elements is the third Neuron Data product to integrate the company’s new Elements Architecture, an integrated set of application development tool modules and integration layers announced last month. The Elements Architecture already includes Open Interface Elements and C/S Elements. All three products are targeted at the client-server tools marketplace, estimated to grow to $1,600m in revenue by 1995. Smart Elements marries an enhanced version of the company’s Nexpert Object knowledge application development tool to a new extensible script language for rapid application development and the graphical interface design facility from its Open Interface tool. The product’s objects module is supposed to enable developers to simply the modelling of complex problems through a set of object-oriented organising principles. The objects module features enhanced message-passing capabilities for better code re-usability. Smart Elements applications are portable across different variants of Unix with Motif and Open Look, Windows and NT, OS/2 Presentation Manager and Macintosh also supported. The company says Smart Elements supports application programming interfaces from almost any source. Shipping now, it’s priced at $5,000 – UKP5,000 – for a developer’s licence. Initial systems include SunOS, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Silicon Graphics and Macintosh.
