Rumors that object request broker (ORB) house PostModern Computing Inc had been put into play some weeks ago proved correct yesterday when Roger Sippl’s Visigenic Inc yesterday moved in for the Mountain View, California-based company. Visigenic will use PostModern’s Java and C++ ORB technologies to extend its Microsoft Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC) and SunSoft Java Data Base Connectivity (JDBC) connectivity tools for creating and managing database applications across distributed internet and intranets. Although officially described as a merger of the two privately-held concerns, Visigenic said it had decided not to reinvent the wheel in its pursuit of a distributed, net- based strategy and will take over the marketing, development, servicing and support of all PostModern products, including ORBeline, TPBroker for C++, and the Java-based BlackWidow ORB which seems to be the focus of its attention. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of May; the PostModern name is expected to fade from use. Although PostModern was regarded as the weakest of independent ORB vendors – its market includes Iona Technologies Ltd and Expersoft Corp – the company was first out of the gate with the announcement of a Java-enabled ORB last December (CI No 2,813). BlackWidow generates client and server Java code that runs over the Object Management GroupsCorba 2 Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) for connecting ORBs, bypassing HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). Users are required to download an IIOP/Java-enabling communications runtime module once to run applets. Visigenic’s ODBC driver products provide access to multiple SQL databases from a single API. It has an exclusive agreement with Microsoft Corp to license and port the ODBC Software Development Kit to all non-Windows platforms. PostModern’s eight employees will transfer the fifteen miles to Visigenic’s San Mateo offices; PostModern co-founder, CEO and president Jens Christensen becomes Visigenic VP and chief technology officer. Visigenic has 75 employees.
