The Object Database Management Group will publish specifications for a Data Manipulation Language specification a common language programming interface – which will enable software developers to write applications that will work with any object database, by the end of the year. The group, set up over a year ago in association with Sun Microsystems Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co, is made up of the top four object database companies including Object Design Inc, Objectivity Inc, Ontos Inc and Versant Technology Inc. Object Design, which claims to be the leading object database company (don’t they all?), is responsible for developing the interface. According to Object Design’s UK managing director, Jim Beagle, the Data Manipulation Language specification is a higher level of abstraction than ANSI SQL and sits between the database and the Object Management Group request broker, to intercept and translate requests for objects residing in different object databases. The specification is currently being ratified by the group and will be released towards the end of the year, Beagle says. In the meantime, Object Design will introduce a ream of new products over the next year. An enhanced version of ObjectStore, its object-oriented database, is expected by the end of the year. It will include support for Microsoft Corp Windows NT and IBM Corp’s OS/2 and improved backup and restore capabilities. Two gateway products are also planned. ObjectAccess, which is due in October, will enable users to access data from relational and object databases via Progress Software Corp’s proprietary language. DB/2 Connect, a similar gateway product for IBM DB/2 and DB2/6000 databases, will be introduced next year. The firm’s co-development with SunSoft Inc to embed object storage capabilities in Solaris is also set for release next year.
