UK-based Planning Sciences Plc has released Version 3.0 of its Gentia client-server executive information system development and decision support environment, including the GentiaDB multi-dimensional and analytical processing database engine. Key features include a new business model for logging the creation and modification of working models, enhanced GentiaDB capable of holding more data plus a reconsolidation mechanism for handling very large data volumes. It says its work includes a multi-cube architecture for inheriting base cubes from a central meta-data repository which avoids the analytical processing downfall of each cube containing both structure and data. It includes a SuperSmart consolidation engine to speed record changes and join cubes, supposedly the equivalent of relational table joins for analytical processing cubes. It supports NeXTstep under HP-UX, Solaris, most other Unixes and Windows NT. Prices go from $132,000 for 50 licences. The firm formally swaps the Gentium name for Gentia at month-end. Intel Corp objected to it being too close to Pentium (CI No 2,866).
