Wall Data Inc is building a version of its Rumba suite for developers wishing to embed pieces of Rumba’s connectivity software into ActiveX-based applications that run on top of Web browsers. Wall’s Rumba ObjectX Software Development Kit, which just went into beta testing, is a collection of 21 ActiveX controls that together make up the standard version of Rumba for Windows NT and Windows 95. Wall Data, which boasted about having the first ActiveX-compatible connectivity software when ActiveX was originally announced, now says it is also first to market with a software developers toolkit that adds ActiveX connectivity to custom applications. ObjectX modules – the company uses ObjectX as the trademark for ActiveX versions of its software – simply drop into applications developed with Visual Basic, Visual Basic Script, Visual C++, PowerBuilder or any other ActiveX- compatible development suite. The ObjectX modules let whatever application they’re in communicate directly with IBM mainframes, AS/400s, DEC Vaxes and Unix systems. Wall Data says that a typical use might be to build an NT Workstation-based order entry application that runs on a browser and accesses data sitting on an IBM Corp AS/400. The ObjectX toolkit, which will ship with a copy of Microsoft Corp’s Internet Explorer 3.0 browser, should be ready in the first quarter next year at $1,000 per developer seat. Users also pay a deployment license fee of between $200- $500 for each workstation the Rumba-based application is installed on, with the exact price based on which ObjectX controls are used.
