Poet Software Inc believes eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is the killer application that object database companies like itself have been waiting for, and is refocusing is business and technology accordingly. It is reworking its Windows NT-based object database to support XML datatypes and claims to be in talks with US and European telecoms companies investigating the possibility of using XML as their universal data access mechanism. In future it expects its database technologies to be used for Java, C++, SGML and XML storage. Its content management suite provides XML storage and management that can be extended via high-level APIs. Novell, which is using the Poet object database in Moab, its IP-based NetWare 5 release, will also leverage the software, which includes support for Java, in a range of other applications due mid-1999. Novell, which is Poet’s largest revenue source, is also evaluating XML. Poet doesn’t plan to branch out into XML applications development or tools. It’s sticking to its storage knitting. All of Poet’s work is currently written in C++; it’s migrating to Java. It notes object database rival Object Design Inc is tracking its move to XML. XML is a version of the ISO-standardized Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) designed for use on the web. It is regarded as both the successor to HTML, the development of which has been hampered at times by vendors writing browser-specific extensions, but also complementary, as XML offers a more broad-based and versatile markup language
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