Unisys Corp is adding Microsoft Corp OLE/COM support to version 1.2 of its URep Universal Repository due at the end of next month, claiming it is the first object-oriented repository to support Object Linking & Embedding and Unix environments and provide fine-grain versioning at the object level. An object-oriented repository stores applications and information about applications. The idea is to enable developers to use the same code in different applications, say, PowerBuilder and VisualAge. A repository is built around a metamodel that describes all the types of data stored in the repository. We are told object repositories differ from non-object repositories by enabling developers to extend or customize the metamodel and use a wide variety of tools. Unisys claims that Universal Repository is already far ahead of Oracle Corp’s Sedona and the repository Texas Instruments Inc and Microsoft Corp are working on for Cairo. Its nearest competition appears to be IBM Corp’s TeamConnection for OS/2, R&O Inc’s Rochade Information Reposit ory and the Platinum Technology Inc repository. Unisys is publishing Universal Repository’s C++ and Object Linking & Embedding application programming interfaces on the Web in the hope of building some independent software vendor momentum.
Import-export to encapsulation
ANSIC support is also available. Unisys says the application programming interfaces provide everything from import-export to encapsulation, object wrapping and full distributed object integration. Unisys says it will enable Visual Basic, PowerBuilder and other Object Linking & Embedding desktop developers to create, access and manipulate objects stored in Unix or Windows NT implementations of the repository. Unisys says Universal Repository is designed to store business rules and logic and metadata and is targeted at independent software vendors and large organizations building object development environments, data warehouses, meta data management and business object management. Versant Object Technology Corp’s object database is used as Universal Repository’s persistent storage mechanism; URep will not support Unisys’s own Osmos database until a future release. Universal Repository’s distributed interoperable services layer supports a variety of object request brokers, including Iona Technologies Ltd’s Orbix, PostModern Computing Inc’s ORBeline and ICL Plc’s Dais, for distributed object facilities although support for Object Group Corba 2 objects is due in a future URep release. Universal Repos-itory is up under Solaris and Windows NT servers and Windows clients. Java support via a language binding will be added in a future release. Unisys is submitting the Universal Repository application programming interfaces to the Object Management Groups Meta Object Facility and Object Oriented Analysis and Design Requests For Proposals which call for metadata application programming interfaces that will enable meta objects to be exchanged between Corba frameworks. Unisys expects to be competing with Platinum Technology Inc, IBM Corp and Rational Software Corp in the Requests For Proposals. As far as we could understand, neither Osmos nor Universal Repository will work with the USoft object repository and development environment that Unisys picked up with TopSystems International NV in February 1995 (CI No 2,602).
