COMP.OBJECT FAQ Version: 1.0.9 Date: 4/2/96 Author: Bob Hathaway Geodesic Systems, Inc. Cyberdyne Systems Corporation rjh@geodesic.com http://www.geodesic.com/people/Bob 75027.1663@compuserve.com Copyright 1992-1995 Bob Hathaway All rights reserved. Permission is granted to freely copy and distribute this document but only with this full header attached and at no cost to others with the exception of a nominal distribution fee, if any. No sale, resale or reprinting is granted without the explicit written permission of the author. Anonymous FTP Sites and Hypertext Server: anonymous@zaphod.uchicago.edu:/pub/CompObj9.faq(.Z) (128.135.72.61) anonymous@rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/comp.object/*_Part_* (18.181.0.24 Tmp) http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~scg/OOinfo/FAQ/index.html (new IAM location) Mail Server: (See also section 1.24) mail mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu Subject: send usenet/comp.object/* Zaphod is preferred over rtfm for anonymous ftp retrieval, as it provides a single file. Rtfm contains the FAQ as posted. To use the hypertext system, see APPENDIX E, entries 27. Comp.Object Archive: A new and workable comp.object archive is now available on the www, with much thanks to Markus A. Beckmann, beckmann@informatik.mathematik.uni-mainz.de. http://aaimzb.mathematik.uni-mainz.de/Personal/Mitarbeiter/comp.object.idx.html Object Currents: A related and free new on-line Object resource edited by yours truly: http://www.sigs.com/objectcurrents - Please take a look! Contributors: Per Abrahamsen, Margaret Burnett, Edwardo Casais, Stewart Clamen, Dennis De Champeaux, Mike DeVaney, Eric Dujardin, Piercarlo Grandi, Tim Harvey, Brian Henderson-Sellers, Urs Hoelzle, Paul Johnson, Bill Kinnersley, Oscar Nierstrasz, James Odell, David Wheeler, Eoin Woods, and many others whose contributions have helped this document to fulfull its objective of bringing object-oriented concepts and systems to everyone. Special thanks to Object Systems, Geodesic Systems and Cyberdyne Systems for providing the support and resources needed to make this effort possible. Object Systems was primarily a "think tank" and producer of object-oriented technologies, Geodesic Systems brings the latest in object-oriented theory and technique to practical and widespread use, as does Cyberdyne. And to kick off the new Appendix G, Commercial OO Libraries and Systems, I'm introducing our own new product (partly developed by me:-), the Great Circle (TM) automatic memory management system for C and C++. I've used it on several of my own projects where it automatically fixed all memory leaks instantly. New formatted and submitted entries for Appendix G are most welcome. Objective: In the spirit of other FAQs, to provide a simple document to answer the most frequently asked and recurring questions and to allow new users to understand frequently discussed topics and terms used in comp.object. This should bring new comp.object readers and/or writers to at least an introductory level of comprehension as soon as possible. Other goals (hopes) are to provide a quick and current reference on available systems such as object- oriented languages, CASE, OODB and etc. and to provide good references to current and relevant OO systems, groups, texts and literature. Disclaimer: This document does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author's or any contributor's companies. There are no explicit or implicit guarantees implied by this document. While object systems are a constantly changing and moving target with a broad diversity of often conflicting methodologies, constructs, terminologies, approaches, languages, implementations and etc. and comp.object has a wide diversity of readers and writers ranging from students, professors and researchers in academia to beginners, professionals, top-notch experts and leaders in industry with a broad range of experience and backgrounds ranging across many paradigms, this FAQ can certainly not aspire to satisfy all of them completely but instead attempts to provide the most well-rounded treatment of object-oriented concepts and realizations primarily from the mainstream and popular authors and systems and further to provide a collection of available systems and tools in the appendices. Several improvements are planned for future FAQs, including a glossary. SECTION 1: BASICS 1.1) What Is An Object? 1.2) What Is Object Encapsulation (Or Protection)? 1.3) What Is A Class? 1.4) What Is A Meta-Class? 1.5) What Is The Infinite Regress Of Objects And Classes? 1.6) What are MOPs and Reflection? 1.7) What Is Inheritance? 1.8) What Is Multiple Inheritance? 1.9) Does Multiple Inheritance Pose Any Additional Difficulties? 1.10) What Is Dynamic Inheritance? 1.11) What Is Shared (Repeated) Inheritance? 1.12) Why Use Inheritance? 1.13) Why Don't Some People Like Inheritance? 1.14) What Is Specialization/Generalization/Overriding? 1.15) What Is The Difference Between Object-Based And Object-Oriented? 1.16) Is A Class An Object? 1.17) Is An Object A Class? 1.18) What Is A Method? (And Receiver And Message) 1.19) What Are Multi-Methods And Multiple-Polymorphism? 1.20) What Is OOP? 1.21) What Is OOA/OOD (And Where Can I Get What I Need On It)? 1.22) Where Did Object-Orientation Come From? 1.23) What Are The Benefits Of Object-Orientation? 1.24) What Other FAQs Are available? SECTION 2: TYPING 2.1) What Is Polymorphism? 2.2) What Does Polymorphism Boil Down To In OO Programming Languages? 2.3) What Is Dynamic Binding? 2.4) Is There A Difference Between Being A Member Or Instance Of A Class? 2.5) What Is This I Read About ML And Functional Programming Languages? 2.6) What Is the Difference Between Static And Dynamic Typing? 2.7) What Is A Separation Between Type And Class (Representation)? 2.8) What Are Generics And Templates? SECTION 3: GENERAL 3.1) What Is The "Classical" Object-Oriented Paradigm? 3.2) What Is The "Delegation/Prototyping" Object-Oriented Paradigm? 3.3) Are There Any Other Object-Oriented Paradigms? 3.4) What Are The Major Object-Oriented Programming Languages Today? 3.5) What Are Object-Oriented Databases And Persistence? 3.6) What Are Object-Oriented Operating Systems? 3.7) What Are The Current Object-Oriented Methodologies? 3.8) What Is The OMG/OMA/ORB/CORBA? 3.9) Why Is Garbage Collection A Good Thing? 3.9b) Why is Garbage Collection Necessary For Object-Oriented Programming? 3.10) What Can I Do To Teach OO To The Kids? 3.11) What Is Available On Object-Oriented Testing? 3.12) What Distributed Systems Are Available? 3.13) What Is The MVC Framework? 3.14) What Is Real-Time? 3.15) What Is Available on OO Metrics? 3.16) What Are Visual Object-Oriented Programming Systems? 3.17) What Tutorials Are Available On Object-Oriented Concepts and Languages? SECTION 4: COMMONLY ASKED LANGUAGE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS 4.1) What Is Downcasting? 4.2) What Are Virtual Functions? 4.3) Can I Use Multiple-Polymorphism Or Multi-Methods In C++? 4.4) Can I Use Dynamic Inheritance In C++? ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIXES APPENDIX A VIPS APPENDIX B OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASES AND VENDORS APPENDIX C OBJECT-ORIENTED LANGUAGES AND VENDORS APPENDIX D OBJECT-ORIENTED CASE (OOA/D/P TOOLS) AND VENDORS APPENDIX E ANONYMOUS FTP SITES APPENDIX F MAGAZINES, JOURNALS AND NEWSLETTERS APPENDIX G COMMERCIAL OBJECT-ORIENTED LIBRARIES AND SYSTEMS [Another appendix on commercial object-oriented class libraries should be added soon] SECTION 1: BASICS ================== Suggested Readings: [Booch 91, 94] Others to be added... 1.1) What Is An Object? ----------------------- There are many definitions of an object, such as found in [Booch 91, p77]: "An object has state, behavior, and identity; the structure and behavior of similar objects are defined in their common class; the terms instance and object are interchangeable". This is a "classical languages" definition, as defined in [Coplien 92, p280], where "classes play a central role in the object model", since they do not in prototyping/delegation languages. "The term object was first formally applied in the Simula language, and objects typically existed in Simula programs to simulate some aspect of reality" [Booch 91, p77]. Other definitions referenced by Booch include Smith and Tockey: "an object represents an individual, identifiable item, unit, or entity, either real or abstract, with a well-defined role in the problem domain." and [Cox 91]: "anything with a crisply defined boundary" (in context, this is "outside the computer domain". A more conventional definition appears on pg 54). Booch goes on to describe these definitions in depth. [Martin 92, p 241] defines: "An "object" is anything to which a concept applies", and "A concept is an idea or notion we share that applies to certain objects in our awareness". [Rumbaugh 91] defines: "We define an object as a concept, abstraction or thing with crisp boundaries and meaning for the problem at hand." [Shlaer 88, p 14] defines: "An object is an abstraction of a set of real-world things such that: * all of the real-world things in the set - the instances - have the same characteristics * all instances are subject to and conform to the same rules" and on identifying objects: "What are the *things* in this problem? Most of the things are likely to fall into the following five categories: Tangible things, Roles, Incidents, Interactions, and Specifications." [Booch 91, 4.3] covers "Identifying Key Abstractions" for objects and classes based on an understanding of the problem domain and [Jacobson 92] provides a novel approach to identifying objects through use-cases (scenarios), leading to a use-case driven design. Jacobson also calls for managing complexity with specialized object categories [Jacobson 94]: Ordinary Objects - Typical OOPL objects Use-Cases and Actors - Actors <--> Use-Cases <--> Object Model Objects Megaobjects - Composite objects (~ subsystems with inheritance) Frameworks*(Typical) - Abstract MO meant for reuse and extension Patterns** (Typical) - Framework-like, crsp. classes and comm patterns only Application Objects - In the Object Model Interface - E.g. GUI Control - Introduced in design for control purposes Entity - Correspond to real-world objects Component Objects - Utility and Implementation hiding objects Utility - Set, Array, ... Impl. Hiding - Distr. Arch., specific DBMS, OS Unrelated to Ivar Jacobson but relevant to the topic: * There was a Software Frameworks Assoc. and magazine until last year, but a review of their last conference is available by email thanks to Adam Wildavsky, send requests to adamw@panix.com. **There is a patterns mailing list, email: patterns-request@cs.uiuc.edu, with the HEADING "subscribe". See also st.cs.uiuc.edu for some info on patterns. See also http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/users/patterns/patterns.html The implementation of objects could roughly be categorized into descriptor- based, capability-based, and simple static-based approaches. Descriptor- based approaches (e.g. Smalltalk handles) allow powerful dynamic typing, as do the capability-based approaches which are typically found in object- oriented databases and operating systems (object id's). A "proxy" based approach with an added layer of indirection to Smalltalk's handles is found in Distributed Smalltalk which allows transparent, distributed, and migrating objects [Kim 89, ch 19 and Yaoqing 93]. Simple static approaches are found in languages such as C++, although the new RTTI facility will supply simple dynamic typing (checked downcasting) similar to those introduced by Eiffel in 1989 through the notion of assignment attempt, also known as type narrowing. Descriptor-based approaches can have pointer semantics and can be statically typeless (or just "typeless", as in Smalltalk) where references (variables) have no type, but the objects (values) they point to always do. An untyped pointer (such as void* in C++) and an embedded dynamic typing scheme are used in more conventional languages to fully emulate this style of dynamically typed programming (see sections 2.3, 4.3, and [Coplien 92]). Below is a simple example to show a most trivial case of OO implementation. It is primarily intended to introduce new terms. See [Cardelli 85] for another semantic definition of OO using functions for methods and for a view of types as sets of values. Simple statically-typed objects (static and auto vars and temps in C++ and expanded types in Eiffel) can be viewed as instances of a record type, whose record fields are called instance variables (Smalltalk) or member data (C++). The record (class) may also contain operations which are called methods (Smalltalk) or member functions (C++) which are equivalent to a function taking an object of the record type, called the receiver, as the first parameter. The receiver is called self (Smalltalk) or this (C++). Members will denote both instance variables and methods. Inheritance is roughly equivalent to a loosely coupled variant record, with derived classes as variant parts and with multiple-inheritance concatenating several records to serve as a base. A virtual member in statically typed languages is a base class member that can be set or respecified by a derived class. This is roughly equivalent to a pointer or function pointer in the base class being set by the derived class. [Stroustrup 90] covers the implementation details of virtual member functions in C++, which also involve an offset for the receiver to handle multiple- inheritance. This is an example of dynamic binding, which replaces a switch statement on variant parts with a single call, reducing code size and program complexity (fewer nested programming constructs) and allowing variants to be added without modifying client code (which causes higher defect injection rates during maintanance and debugging). Virtual members in dynamically typed languages are more flexible because static typechecking requirements are dropped. See section 2.5. The terms method/member function, instance variable/member data, subclass/ derived class, parent class/base class, and etc. will be used interchangeably. As pointed out in [Stroustrup 90, p197], the base/derived class terminology may be preferable to the sub/super-class terminology, and is preferred in this document also. Delegation/prototyping languages [Kim 89, ch3; Ungar 87, Sciore 89] have a more flexible kind of object which can play the role of classes in classical OO languages. Since there is no separate class construct in these languages, and only objects, they are referred to as single-hierarchy, or 1 Level systems. Objects contain fields, methods and delegates (pseudo parents), whereas classical object-oriented languages associate method, field and parent definitions with classes (and only associate state and class with objects, although vtables of function pointers for dynamic binding are an exception). However, one-level objects often play the role of classes to take advantage of sharing and often instances will simply delegate to parents to access methods or shared state, otherwise idiosyncratic objects, a powerful and natural concept, will result. Typical 1 Level objects can contain any number of fields, methods and parents and any object can be used as a template/exemplar, thus performing the classical role of a class. In typical prototyping systems, parents (as any other member) can be added or changed dynamically, providing dynamic multiple inheritance (or more typically simple delegation). Here, the term "Prototype" usually refers to prototype theory, a recent theory of classification where any object can be inherited from or cloned to serve as a prototype for newly created instances. [The Author also uses the term for languages providing high quality support for rapid prototyping, although this usage is atypical] See [Booch 94, pp 154-155] for a brief discussion of prototype theory in the context of OOA and OOD. It is common in such systems for an object to "become" another kind of object by changing its parent. A good example is a window becoming an icon, as window and icon objects display different behavior (although cognitive differences are significant too:-) Delegation refers to delegating the search for an attribute to a delegate, and is therefore more of a pure message passing mechanism (as with dynamic scoping) than inheritance, which also typically specifies non-shared state when used for representation. Chambers has proposed an interesting variation called "Predicate Classes" [Chambers 93] as a part of his Cecil language. These classes will only be parents when certain predicates are true. This can support a types/classes as collections of objects view, which is the same as the types as sets of values view taken by [Cardelli 85]. [Martin 92] provides some examples of this view applied during OOA. 1 level systems therefore provide the most flexible and powerful capabilities. Self is a good example of a delegation-based single hierarchy language [Ungar 87]. 1.2) What Is Object Encapsulation (Or Protection)? --------------------------------------------------- [Booch 91, p. 45] defines: "Encapsulation is the process of hiding all of the details of an object that do not contribute to its essential characteristics." [Coad 91, 1.1.2] defines: "Encapsulation (Information Hiding). A principle, used when developing an overall program structure, that each component of a program should encapsulate or hide a single design decision... The interface to each module is defined in such a way as to reveal as little as possible about its inner workings. [Oxford, 1986]" Some languages permit arbitrary access to objects and allow methods to be defined outside of a class as in conventional programming. Simula and Object Pascal provide no protection for objects, meaning instance variables may be accessed wherever visible. CLOS and Ada allow methods to be defined outside of a class, providing functions and procedures. While both CLOS and Ada have packages for encapsulation, CLOS's are optional while Ada's methodology clearly specifies class-like encapsulation (Adts). However most object-oriented languages provide a well defined interface to their objects thru classes. C++ has a very general encapsulation/protection mechanism with public, private and protected members. Public members (member data and member functions) may be accessed from anywhere. A Stack's Push and Pop methods will be public. Private members are only accessible from within a class. A Stack's representation, such as a list or array, will usually be private. Protected members are accessible from within a class and also from within subclasses (also called derived classes). A Stack's representation could be declared protected allowing subclass access. C++ also allows a class to specify friends (other (sub)classes and functions), that can access all members (its representation). Eiffel 3.0 allows exporting access to specific classes. For another example, Smalltalk's class instance variables are not accessible from outside of their class (they are not only private, but invisible). Smalltalk's methods are all public (can be invoked from anywhere), but a private specifier indicates methods should not be used from outside of the class. All Smalltalk instance variables can be accessed by subclasses, helping with abstract classes and overriding. Another issue is per-object or per-class protection. Per-class protection is most common (e.g. Ada, C++, Eiffel), where class methods can access any object of that class and not just the receiver. Methods can only access the receiver in per-object protection. This supports a subtyping model, as any object other than the receiver is only satisfying an abstract type interface, whereby no method or object structure can be inferred in the general case. 1.3 What Is A Class? -------------------- A class is a general term denoting classification and also has a new meaning in object-oriented methods. Within the OO context, a class is a specification of structure (instance variables), behavior (methods), and inheritance (parents, or recursive structure and behavior) for objects. As pointed out above, classes can also specify access permissions for clients and derived classes, visibility and member lookup resolution. This is a feature-based or intensional definition, emphasizing a class as a descriptor/constructor of objects (as opposed to a collection of objects, as with the more classical extensional view, which may begin the analysis process). Original Aristotlean classification defines a "class" as a generalization of objects: [Booch 91, p93] "a group, set, or kind marked by common attributes or a common attribute; a group division, distinction, or rating based on quality, degree of competence, or condition". [Booch's definition in the context of OOD] "A class is a set of objects that share a common structure and a common behavior." "A single object is simply an instance of a class." The intension of a class is its semantics and its extension is its instances [Martin 92]. [Booch 94, 4.2] proposes 3 views of classification as useful in OO analysis and design: classical categorization (common properties), conceptual clustering (conceptual descriptions), and prototype theory (resemblance to an exemplar). He advocates starting with the former approach, turning to the second approach upon unsatisfactory results, and finally the latter if the first two approaches fail to suffice. 1.4) What Is A Meta-Class? --------------------------- [See also section 1.6] A Meta-Class is a class' class. If a class is an object, then that object must have a class (in classical OO anyway). Compilers provide an easy way to picture Meta-Classes. Classes must be implemented in some way; perhaps with dictionaries for methods, instances, and parents and methods to perform all the work of being a class. This can be declared in a class named "Meta-Class". The Meta-Class can also provide services to application programs, such as returning a set of all methods, instances or parents for review (or even modification). [Booch 91, p 119] provides another example in Smalltalk with timers. In Smalltalk, the situation is more complex. To make this easy, refer to the following listing, which is based on the number of levels of distinct instantiations: 1 Level System All objects can be viewed as classes and all classes can be viewed as objects (as in Self). There is no need for Meta-Classes because objects describe themselves. Also called "single-hierarchy" systems. There is only 1 kind of object. 2 Level System All Objects are instances of a Class but Classes are not accessible to programs (no Meta-Class except for in the compiler and perhaps for type-safe linkage, as in C++). There are 2 kinds of distinct objects: objects and classes. 3 Level System All objects are instances of a class and all classes are instances of Meta-Class. The Meta-Class is a class and is therefore an instance of itself (really making this a 3 1/2 Level System). This allows classes to be first class objects and therefore classes are available to programs. There are 2 kinds of distinct objects (objects and classes), with a distinguished class, the metaclass. 5 Level System What Smalltalk provides. Like a 3 Level System, but there is an extra level of specialized Meta-Classes for classes. There is still a Meta-Class as in a 3 Level System, but as a class it also has a specialized Meta-Class, the "Meta-Class class" and this results in a 5 Level System: object class class class (Smalltalk's Meta-Classes) Meta-Class Meta-Class class The "class class"es handle messages to classes, such as constructors and "new", and also "class variables" (a term from Smalltalk), which are variables shared between all instances of a class (static member data in C++). There are 3 distinct kinds of objects (objects, classes, and metaclasses). 1.5) What Is The Infinite Regress Of Objects And Classes? ---------------------------------------------------------- In the authors opinion, a myth. The story goes an object is an instance of a class (Meta-Object), a class is an instance of a Meta-Class, which must also be an instance of a Meta-Meta-Class, which must also be an instance of a Meta- Meta-Meta-Class, ... Closure can be achieved with an instance-of loop, as with a Meta-Class being an instance of itself or with a "Meta-Class - Meta-Class class" instance-of loop (as in Smalltalk). 1.6) What Are MOPs And Reflection? ----------------------------------- MOP is an acronym for Meta-Object Protocol. This is a system with Meta-Classes accessible to users [Kiczales 92, Paepcke 93]. In CLOS terminology, an introspective protocol provides a read only capability (e.g. what is this object's class, give info on this class, etc.) and an intercessory protocol provides a write capability which allows system modification (e.g. add the following method or instance to this class, perform inheritance this way, etc.). Because inheritance can be used to perform differential changes, intercessory protocols allow users to not only define new frameworks but to specialize existing system frameworks differentially without affecting them and their extant objects. Thus, many frameworks can interoperate together simultaneously. This is a good example of object-oriented reuse, since the compiler itself is reused thru specialization to provide new frameworks. "Reflective" systems are systems with MOPs (not to be confused with reflexive systems, which often refer to systems implemented in terms of themselves, or bootstrapped). Reflective systems are inevitably reflexive (as are most quality compilers), providing a direct program interface to the system. 1.7) What Is Inheritance? -------------------------- Inheritance provides a natural classification for kinds of objects and allows for the commonality of objects to be explicitly taken advantage of in modeling and constructing object systems. Natural means we use concepts, classification, and generalization to understand and deal with the complexities of the real world. See the example below using computers. Inheritance is a relationship between classes where one class is the parent (base/superclass/ancestor/etc.) class of another. Inheritance provides programming by extension (as opposed to programming by reinvention [LaLonde 90]) and can be used as an is-a-kind-of (or is-a) relationship or for differential programming. Inheritance can also double for assignment compatibility (see section 2.7). In delegation languages, such as Self, inheritance is delegation where objects refer to other objects to respond to messages (environment) and do not respecify state by default. Inherited parents can specify various flavors of state. Delegation languages don't specify new state by default (to do so requires cloning), C-based (C++, Objective-C, etc.), lisp-based (CLOS, Flavors, Scheme, etc.), and Pascal-based (Ada95, Modula-3, Object Pascal, etc.) OO languages do, but with multiple- inheritance can also share parents within a class lattice (CLOS and Eiffel provide this as a default at the level of slots and features, respectively). Inheritance also provides for member lookup, or internal environment. Various schemes exist, for example C++ finds the closest match within a scope but causes an ambiguity error iff more than one parent has match, CLOS creates a linear precedence list, Self provides parent priorities, and Eiffel forces renaming for any parent member conflicts. Defining inheritance (with a thorough description or denotational semantic definition, or both) can avoid confusion about which inheritance scheme is being used (especially in OOD), because inheritance has many variations and combinations of state and environment (sometimes with complex rules). Inheritance can also be used for typing, where a type or class can be used to specify required attributes of a matching object (see sections 2.1, 2.7 and [Cardelli 85]). It would be more judicious to have discussions on how inheritance should be defined instead of over what it is, since it has many existing uses and semantics. An example of the is-a-kind-of relationship is shown below. Is-a is often used synonymously, but can be used to show the "object is-a class" instantiation relationship. In classical OO, inheritance is a relationship between classes only. In one-level systems, is-a (object instantiation) and is-a-kind-of (inheritance) are merged into one [Ungar 87, Madsen 93, Sciore 89]. Computer / | \ Mainframe Mini Personal / \ ... / \ Data Proc Scientific PC Workstation Class hierarchies are subjective [Booch 91, 4.2; Lakoff 87] and usually drawn with the parent class on top, but more demanding graphs (as is often the case in [Rumbaugh 91]) allow any topology, with the head of an arrow indicating the base class and the tail indicating the derived class. Differential programming is the use of inheritance to reuse existing classes by making a small change to a class. Creating a subclass to alter a method or to add a method to a parent class is an example. 1.8) What Is Multiple Inheritance? ----------------------------------- Multiple Inheritance occurs when a class inherits from more than one parent. For example, a person is a mammal and an intellectual_entity, and a document may be an editable_item and a kind of literature. Mixin's is a style of MI (from flavors) where a class is created to provide additional attributes or properties to other classes. They are intended to be inherited by any class requiring them. Method combination, or calling sequences of before, after, and around methods or even several primary methods [Kim 89, ch 4], make good use of mixins by invoking their methods without explicitly calling them, allowing client class code to remain unchanged [Booch 91, p 113]. 1.9) Does Multiple Inheritance Pose Any Additional Difficulties? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, it does. Any name can be simply resolved to a class member with single inheritance by simply accessing the first name encountered for data members and by accessing the first signature match (or ambiguity) encountered for methods (at least one way, C++ hides some member functions). Since several distinct parents can declare a member within a multiple inheritance hierarchy, which to choose becomes an issue. Eiffel forces derived classes to rename parent members that conflict. Self prioritizes parents. CLOS merges member "slots" (instance variables) with the same name into a single slot, as did the earlier flavors. C++ declares an error iff a conflict arises, but a class qualifier can be used to explicitly disambiguate. Smalltalk renders same names for instance variables of subclasses illegal. On the other hand, multiple-inheritance can be seen as required for basic object-oriented programming, because many objects in the real world belong to several classes. In classical systems without MI, a class which should inherit from more than one class must textually include all but one of those classes in its interface, causing code duplication (and a messy interface). 1.10) What Is Dynamic Inheritance? ----------------------------------- Dynamic inheritance allows objects to change and evolve over time. Since base classes provide properties and attributes for objects, changing base classes changes the properties and attributes of a class. A previous example was a window changing into an icon and then back again, which involves changing a base class between a window and icon class. More specifically, dynamic inheritance refers to the ability to add, delete, or change parents from objects (or classes) at run-time. Actors, CLOS, and Smalltalk provide dynamic inheritance in some form or other. Single hierarchy systems, such as Self, provide dynamic inheritance in the form of delegation [Ungar 87]. See also [Kim 89, chs 1, 3] for a discussion and [Coplien 92] for some implementation discussion in C++. 1.11) What Is Shared (Repeated) Inheritance? --------------------------------------------- Multiple Inheritance brings up the possibility for a class to appear as a parent more than once in a class graph (repeated inheritance), and there is then a potential to share that class. Only one instance of the class will then appear in the graph (as is always the case in CLOS, because all *members* with the same name will be shared (receive a single slot) with the greatest common subtype as its type). C++ provides an alternative, where only parents specified as virtual (virtual bases) are shared within the same class lattice, allowing both shared and non-shared occurrences of a parent to coexist. All "features" in Eiffel (C++ members) of a repeated parent that are not to be shared must be renamed "along an inheritance path", else they are shared by default. This allows a finer granularity of control and consistent name resolution but requires more work for parents with many features. 1.12) Why Use Inheritance? --------------------------- Inheritance is a natural way to model the world or a domain of discourse, and so provides a natural model for OOA and OOD (and even OOP). This is common in the AI domain, where semantic nets use inheritance to understand the world by using classes and concepts for generalization and categorization, by reducing the real-world's inherent complexity. Inheritance also provides for code and structural reuse. In the above Computer class diagram, all routines and structure available in class Computer are available to all subclasses throughout the diagram. All attributes available in Personal computers are also available to all of its subclasses. This kind of reuse takes advantage of the is-a-kind-of relationship. Class libraries also allow reuse between applications, potentially allowing order-of-magnitude increases in productivity and reductions in defect rates (program errors), as library classes have already been tested and further use provides further testing providing even greater reliability. With differential programming, a class does not have to be modified if it is close to what's required; a derived class can be created to specialize it. This avoids code redundancy, since code would have to be copied and modified otherwise. See [Raj 89] for an alternative approach as found in Jade. Polymorphism is often explicitly available in many OO languages (such as C++, CLOS, Eiffel, etc.) based on inheritance when type and class are bound together (typing based on subclassing, or subclass polymorphism), since only an object which is a member of (inherits from) a class is polymorphically assignment compatible with (can be used in place of) instances or references of that class. Such assignment can result in the loss of an object's dynamic type in favor of a static type (or even loss of an object's representation to that of the static class, as in C++ slicing). Maintaining the dynamic type of objects can be provided (and preferred); however, C++ provides both sliced and non- sliced replacement in a statically typed environment (see section 2.1). 1.13) Why Don't Some People Like Inheritance? ---------------------------------------------- Some people complain that inheritance is hierarchical (which is what most object-oriented languages provide). They would also like to see more operations available (set operations are quite common in specialized systems). The former is a kind of language dependent feature commonly found in object- oriented languages which are then associated with the term "inheritance" (although they don't need to be. For example, delegation languages allow graph inheritance stuctures). Some don't like the coupling of classes (as in Jade), but in the author's opinion many of their complaints are easily answered. In systems that provide inheritance, inheritance provides a simple and elegant way to reuse code and to model the real world in a meaningful way. Others complain multiple inheritance is too complicated because it brings up the issues of shared bases and member conflict resolution. But most modern systems support Multiple Inheritance by employing semantic resolution strategies or renaming, and most consider MI to be highly desirable. See the latter part of section 1.9 for an example of why MI is important. Some prefer association to MI, claiming "roles" (as defined in [Rumbaugh 91]) should be associations and inheritance should be reserved for a single hierarchy "creation" mechanism, however this loses polymorphism and loses the use of inheritance for typical classification. Representation "roles" can be supported by dynamic multiple inheritance (DMI) in many situations. 1.14) What Is Specialization/Generalization/Overriding? -------------------------------------------------------- To create a subclass is specialization, to factor out common parts of derived classes into a common base (or parent) is generalization [Booch 91, p56]. Overriding is the term used in Smalltalk and C++ for redefining a (virtual in Simula and C++) method in a derived class, thus providing specialized behavior. All routines in Smalltalk are overridable and non- "frozen" features in Eiffel can be "redefined" in a derived class. Whenever a method is invoked on an object of the base class, the derived class method is executed overriding the base class method, if any. Overriding in Simula is a combination of overloading and multiple-polymorphism because parameters do not have to be declared. Eiffel and BETA are examples of languages allowing any member to be redefined and not just methods, as is typical. 1.15) What Is The Difference Between Object-Based And Object-Oriented? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Object-Based Programming usually refers to objects without inheritance [Cardelli 85] and hence without polymorphism, as in '83 Ada and Modula-2. These languages support abstract data types (Adts) and not classes, which provide inheritance and polymorphism. Ada95 and Modula-3; however, support both inheritance and polymorphism and are object-oriented. [Cardelli 85, p481] state "that a language is object-oriented if and only if it satisfies the following requirements: - It supports objects that are data abstractions with an interface of named operations and a hidden local state. - Objects have an associated type. - Types may inherit attributes from supertypes. object-oriented = data abstractions + object types + type inheritance These definitions are also found in [Booch 91, Ch2 and Wegner 87]. [Coad 91] provides another model: Object-Oriented = Classes and Objects + Inheritance + Communication with messages Stroustrup's first edition of [Stroustrup 91, '86 p. 37] defines object based as: "... storing type identification in each object, brings us to a style of programming often referred to as "object based"", which is quite different from C+W's. A more modern definition of "object-oriented" includes single-hierarchy languages and perhaps object id's for unique objects. Object id's support the modern notion of relocatable, persistent and distributed objects that can even migrate across machines. Distributed Smalltalk's proxy objects [Kim 89, ch 19 and Yaoqing 93] provide another example of a distributable and migratable object facility. Separate type system support is another extension. [Booch 94, 2.2] proposes 7 "Elements of the Object Model"; 4 major and 3 minor: Major: Abstraction Encapsulation Modularity Hierarchy (Inheritance) Minor: Typing Concurrency Persistence 1.16) Is A Class An Object? ---------------------------- In C++ no, because C++ classes are not instances of an accessible class (a Meta-Class) and because C++ classes are not accessible to programs. Classes are objects in 3 Level Systems and above because classes are instances of meta-classes. But classes play a dual role, because objects can only be declared to be instances of a class (and class objects instances of a meta-class). In 1 Level (single-hierarchy) systems, all classes are objects. 1.17) Is An Object A Class? ---------------------------- In a Level 3 System and above yes, but only instances of a Meta-Class are Classes. Instances of a Class (ordinary objects) are not classes (excluding hybrid systems). However, all objects may be classes in single hierarchy systems, since any object may act as a class (provide object instantiation or act as a shared parent). 1.18) What Is A Method? (And Receiver And Message) --------------------------------------------------- A method implements behavior, which is defined by [Booch 91, p80]: Behavior is how an object acts and reacts, in terms of its state changes and message passing. A method is a function or procedure which is defined in a class and typically can access the internal state of an object of that class to perform some operation. It can be thought of as a procedure with the first parameter as the object to work on. This object is called the receiver, which is the object the method operates on. An exception exists with C++'s static member functions which do not have a receiver, or "this" pointer. The following are some common notations for invoking a method, and this invocation can be called a message (or message passing, see below): receiver.message_name(a1, a2, a3) receiver message_name: a1 parm1: a2 parm3: a3 Selector would be another good choice for message_name in the above examples, although keywords (or formal parameter names, like named parameters) are considered part of the selector in Smalltalk (and hence Objective-C). If done statically, this can be referred to as invocation, and message passing if done dynamically (true dynamic binding). Statically typed dynamic binding (e.g. C++ and Eiffel) is really in between (checked function pointers). See also section 1.19 below for a discussion on the functional (prefix) verses message based (receiver based) notation. 1.19) What Are Multi-Methods And Multiple-Polymorphism? -------------------------------------------------------- Multi-methods involve two primary concepts, multiple-polymorphism and lack of encapsulation. These issues are orthogonal. Multiple-polymorphism implies more than one parameter can be used in the selection of a method. Lack of encapsulation implies all arguments can be accessed by a multi-method (although packages can be used to restrict access, as in CLOS). Multi-methods can also imply a functional prefix notation, although the CLOS designers (who coined the term "multi-method") consider the functional and receiver based forms (messages) equivalent. Functional syntax was chosen "in order to minimize the number of new mechanisms added to COMMON LISP" [Kim ch 4, p70 (D. Moon)]. [Chambers 93] discusses multi-methods in his new OO language, Cecil. Multiple-polymorphism allows specialized functions or methods to be defined to handle various cases: +(int, int) +(int, float) +(int, complex) +(int, real) +(float, complex) +(float, real) +(float, float) The above functions are specialized to each of the cases required allowing single, highly cohesive and loosely coupled functions to be defined. This is also the true essence of object-oriented polymorphism, which allows objects to define methods for each specific case desired. In addition to better coupling and cohesion, multiple-polymorphism reduces program complexity by avoiding coding logic (switch statements) and because small methods further reduce complexity, as code complexity doesn't grow linearly with lines of code per method, but perhaps exponentially. This should be distinguished from double dispatch, a fancy name for single dispatch after a call, which only provides switching on a single argument per call (but for 2 levels), consistently ignoring the inherent type of parameters in messaging. Double dispatch is used in languages with static typing for simplicity and efficiency considerations. If all of the above types are Numbers, code can be written without concern for the actual classes of objects present: fn(one, two: Number): Number return one + two; The addition expression above will invoke the correct "+" function based on the inherent (true, actual, or dynamic) types of one and two. Only the inherent type of "one" would be used with double dispatch! In the author's opinion, this is a serious shortcoming. Further, double dispatch would only allow switching to the "fn" function based on the type of "one" also. This could lead to the use of switch statements based on type or complex coding in many real-world programming situations, unnecessarily. In the author's opinion, this should only be used as necessary, e.g. if the implementation language doesn't support multiple-polymorphism and either efficiency considerations dominate and double dispatch can be suffered, or an embedded dynamic typing scheme is used. Why do multi-methods allow open access to parameters? It allows efficient handling, like C++ friends, usually by allowing representation details of more than one object to be exposed. See [Kim ch 4, pp70-71 (D. Moon)] for an alternative explanation. While open access can be useful in some cases, it typically isn't recommended as a general OO practice (see section 1.15, C+W's requirement 1 for OO languages and Section 1.2 on Encapsulation) and also violates subtype polymorphism, because only subclass polymorphism is based on representation and not type. Polymorphic languages can be statically typed to provide strong type checking, efficiency, and to support a static programming idiom, but require restrictions in many cases, such as requiring overriding methods to have identical signatures with the methods they substitute (as in C++) or allowing covariant parameters but limiting base class usage (as in Eiffel). If these restrictions are dropped, multiple-polymorphism results. Thus a single overridable function declared in a base class may have several functions overriding it in a derived class differentiated only by their formal argument types. This therefore requires both static and dynamic typing, because no formal argument differentiation is possible without static types, as in Smalltalk, and no actual argument differentiation is possible without dynamic types (as in C++ and Eiffel). See section 2.3 for another example of multiple-polymorphism. There is some concern about the efficiency of run-time method selection as can occur with multiple-polymorphism (or even dynamic message passing). However, static analysis optimizations are commonly available in the literature, potentially providing a single static selection in many cases [See Agrawal 91, Chambers 92, Mugridge 91, and etc.]. But coupling the two cases of selector variables (as found in CLOS, Objective-C, and etc.) and several possible known selectors together with the general undecidability of dynamic types at compile-time renders dynamic typing and run-time selection (or checking) as unavoidable in the general case [a point often mistaken in comp.object. E.g. simple statically/strongly typed multi-methods still require dynamic types!] See [Booch 91], multiple-polymorphism, for a good CLOS example. 1.20) What Is OOP? ------------------- OOP stands for Object-Oriented Programming, the usual programming/hacking and etc. most programmers think of. Modern software engineering methodologies; however, consider OOP as the implementation/evolution of an OOD. 1.21) What Is OOA/OOD (And Where Can I Get What I Need On It)? --------------------------------------------------------------- See also section 3.7, the Annotated Bibliography, and APPENDIX D. The classified bibliography in [Booch 94] also contains entries on OOA(B), OOD(F) and OOP(G). [Booch 91] "In OOA, we seek to model the world by identifying the classes and objects that form the vocabulary of the problem domain, and in OOD, we invent the abstractions and mechanisms that provide the behavior that this model requires." [Coad 91] "OOA is the challenge of understanding the problem domain, and then the system's responsibilities in that light". "To us, analysis is the study of a problem domain, leading to a specification of externally observable behavior; a complete, consistent, and feasible statement of what is needed; a coverage of both functional and quantified operational characteristics (e.g. reliability, availability, performance)". "Design. The practise of taking a specification of externally available behavior and adding details needed for actual computer system implementation, including human interaction, task management, and data management details." And on Domain Analysis: "Whereas OOA typically focuses upon one specific problem at a time, domain analysis seeks to identify the classes and objects that are common to all applications within a given domain, [...]". - [Booch 91] [The following quotes on domain analysis are from [Berard 93]] "An investigation of a specific application area that seeks to identify the operations, objects, and structures that commonly occur in software systems within this area. - Dan McNicholl "Systems analysis states what is done for a specific problem in a domain while domain analysis states what can be done in a range of problems in a domain. ...A domain analysis is only useful in many similar systems are to be built so that the cost of the domain analysis can be amortized over the cost of all the systems. The key to reusable software is captured in domain analysis in that it stresses the reusability of analysis and design, not code. - Jim Neighbors "The process of identifying, collecting, organizing, and representing the relevant information in a domain based on the study of existing systems and their development histories, knowledge captured from domain experts, underlying theory, and emerging technology within the domain." - Kang et al. Object-oriented domain analysis (OODA) seeks to identify reusable items localized around objects, e.g., classes, instances, systems of interacting objects, and kits [frameworks]. OORA analysts and OOD designers will interact on a fairly frequent basis with the domain analysis effort. OOA and OOD stand for Object-Oriented Analysis and Object-Oriented Design, respectively. OOA strives to understand and model, in terms of object-oriented concepts (objects and classes), a particular problem within a problem domain (from its requirements, domain and environment) from a user-oriented or domain expert's perspective and with an emphasis on modeling the real-world (the system and its context/(user-)environment). The product, or resultant model, of OOA specifies a complete system and a complete set of requirements and external interface of the system to be built, often obtained from a domain model (e.g. FUSION, Jacobson), scenarios (Rumbaugh), or use-cases (Jacobson). [Shlaer 88] is often credited as the first book on OOA, although their method adds OO techniques to the traditional structured analysis principles of Yourdon and Constantine. Their complete approach ([Shlaer 88, 92]) consists of information modeling and recursive design, or OOA/RD and represents a recent addition to the structured analysis family (as does Martin and Odell). [Yourdon 92] provides a critique, although may only refer to their earlier work. Many other methodologies including Rumbaugh's OMT, Martin and Odell's OOA/D, and many others, also share common ground with SA and other existing analysis methodologies with such constructs as associations (E-R), functional models, and even DFD's. Booch, Jacobson, and Wirfs-Brock are examples of OO methodologies representing a greater departure from the conventional "structured" techniques, with greater emphasis on objects. OOram [Reenskaug 91] provides support and emphasis on types and roles as guiding principles, which is quite powerful. [Booch 94] presents a methodology which is an evolutionary step beyond the first edition by incorporating a collection of the best features from several of the major OO methodologies, as does HP's new FUSION methodology. A new Unified Modeling Language (previously Unified Method) is now being worked on by Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh, and Ivar Jacobson at Rational Software which should be made into a public standard, perhaps to be adopted by the OMG. The .8 docs can be found online from the Rational home page, http:/www.rational.com. The usual progression is from OOA to OOD to OOP (implementation) and this Universal Process Model roughly corresponds to the Waterfall Model [Royce 70]. See [Humphrey 89] and [Yourdon 92] for a few of many discussions on software life-cycle models and their use. Humphrey also details Worldy and Atomic Process Models for finer grained analysis and design in the Defined Process (see below) and discusses other alternatives to the task oriented models. He also provides the following critisisms on the Waterfall Model which had led to Boehm's seminal work on the Spiral Model: * It does not adequately address changes * It assumes a relatively uniform and orderly sequence of development steps * It does not provide for such methods as rapid prototyping or advanced languages Modern OO methodologies directly address these points and emphasize the incremental, iterative, evolutionary, concurrent and situational nature of software development. [Boehm 86] presents a seminal spiral life-cycle model with a risk-driven incremental prototyping approach. [Booch 91, 6.1] proposes a "round-trip gestalt" design with analyze-design iterations and an overall system perspective and [Berard 93] proposes an (incremental) "parallel-recursive design" with analyze-design-implement-test iterations. [Coad 91b] presents the following development cycle breakdown: Waterfall- Analysis Design Programming Spiral- Analysis, prototyping, risk management Design, prototyping, risk management Programming, prototyping, risk management [Boehm, 1988] Incremental- A little analysis A little design A little programming Repeat [Gilb, 1988] [Author's note: The spiral model is often incremental and may waterfall if called for.] Since classes and objects are used in all phases of the OO software life-cycle, the process is often referred to as seamless, meaning there is no conceptual gap between the phases as is often the case in other software development methodologies, such as the analysis (DFD's) to design (structure charts) to programming gaps found in traditional structured analysis and design. Seamlessness together with naturalness is a big advantage for consistency. A problem domain has many realizations, or differing OOAs. An OOA has many realizations, or differing OODs, but a similar notation is often used for the two. An OOD also has many realizations, or differing OOPs, but allows a selection from among various languages for implementation (choosing the best language to implement the design). But some, such as Bjarne Stroustrup, don't like OOA and OOD getting too far from OOP (implementation independent), for fear that great discrepancies could occur between OOD and OOP by losing sight of the implementation language, which in some cases is predetermined. See also [Stroustrup 91]. From a greater perspective, the SEI has developed the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), a process-based TQM model for assessing the level of an organization's software development and which is often required of government contractors in the US [Humphrey 89]. The CMM also serves as a 5 level improvement process by specifying steps for organizations to progress to the next level, ultimately leading to statistical (process) control and sustained improvement. Watts S. Humphrey is now working on the Personal Software Process (PSP), a scaled down version of the CMM for individuals [Humphrey 95]. Next should follow a team- based software process (TSP?). Other CMM's in the works at the SEI include a personnel management CMM (PM-CMM). Level 1: Initial: Every project is handled differently; ad hoc and chaotic. Level 2: Repeatable: Every project is handled similarly. Level 3: Defined: Standard processes are defined and used for all projects. Level 4: Managed: A measurable basis for all improvements to the process. Level 5: Optimizing: Emphasis on defect prevention and optimizing/continually improving the process. CMM documentation is available online from: http://ricis.cl.uh.edu/CMM and ftp.sei.cmu.edu/pub/cmm/ See also: Kitson, D.H. and Masters, S. "An Analysis of SEI Software Process Assessment Results 1987-1991", CMU/SEI-92-TR-24 Humphrey, W., Snyder, T. and Willis, R. "Software Process Improvement at Hughes Aircraft", IEEE Software, July 1991 Dion, R., "Elements of a Process Improvement Program," IEEE Software, July 1992. "Concepts on Measuring the Benefits of Software Process Improvement," CMU/SEI-93-TR-9. See also [Yourdon 92], [Wilkie 93], and [Booch 94] for discussions on this often cited model. There is also an ISO 9000 standard [ISO] applicable to software quality and ami working group in Europe helping to creat the ISO SPICE [Rout 95] standard (among other work), which is similar in scope to the CMM. To join the ami mailing list email to: ami-request@aut.alcatel.at with the following message: subscribe firstname, lastname, e-mail address. Object-oriented analysis now includes "Enterprise Modeling" [Martin 92], also found in [Jacobson 92], and along with recent business process "reengineering" efforts places information systems within an organizational perspective by modeling entire organizations or a large part of them, with the information processing system and software products development as integrated components. [Yourdon 92] even calls for "global modeling"! 1.22) Where Did Object-Orientation Come From? ---------------------------------------------- Simula was the first object-oriented language providing objects, classes, inheritance, and dynamic typing in 1967 (in addition to its Algol-60 subset). It was intended as a conveyance of object-oriented design. Simula 1 was a simulation language, and the later general-purpose language Simula 67 is now referred to as simply Simula. Smalltalk was the next major contributor including classes, inheritance, a high-powered graphical environment and a powerful dynamic typing mechanism (although these existed to some extent in Simula). Self is somewhat of a Smalltalk-based next generation language, as is BETA a followup to Simula (by its original designers). [Meyer 88] contains a brief summary and history of Simula and Smalltalk, among other OO languages. 1.23) What Are The Benefits Of Object-Orientation? --------------------------------------------------- Reuse, quality, an emphasis on modeling the real world (or a "stronger equivalence" with the RW than other methodologies), a consistent and seamless OOA/OOD/OOP package, naturalness (our "object concept"), resistance to change, encapsulation and abstraction (higher cohesion/lower coupling), and etc. On resistance to change, system objects change infrequently while processes and procedures (top-down) are frequently changed, providing object-oriented systems with more resilient system organization. [Harmon 93]: Faster development Increased Quality Easier maintenance Enhanced modifiability [Booch 94]: Exploit power of OOPs Reuse of software and designs, frameworks Systems more change resilient, evolvable Reduced development risks for complex systems, integration spread out Appeals to human cognition, naturalness 1.24) What Other FAQs Are Available? ------------------------------------- FAQ's are cross-posted to news.answers and are archived on anonymous ftp from: rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet (also usenet-by-hierarchy, etc.) rtfm archives several FAQs pertinent to OO (alternative/original sites are listed). comp.lang.ada ajpo.sei.cmu.edu:public/comp-lang-ada/cla-faq[12] comp.lang.beta ftp.daimi.aau.dk:pub/beta/faq/beta-language-faq.txt comp.lang.c++ sun.soe.clarkson.edu:pub/C++/FAQ [128.153.12.3] comp.lang.clos comp.lang.eiffel ftp.cm.cf.ac.uk:/pub/eiffel/eiffel-faq comp.lang.modula3 comp.lang.oberon comp.lang.objective-c http://www.marble.com/people/dekorte/Objective-C/objc.html comp.lang.sather ftp.ICSI.Berkeley.EDU:pub/sather [not on rtfm] comp.lang.scheme ftp.think.com:/public/think/lisp/scheme-faq.text comp.lang.smalltalk xcf.Berkeley.EDU:misc/smalltalk/FAQ/SmalltalkFAQ.entire comp.object zaphod.uchicago.edu:/pub/CompObj8.faq(.Z) (also www) comp.object.logic ftp.cs.cmu.edu:(2)prg_1.faq,prg_2.faq [128.2.206.173] comp.software-eng Notes: 1) xcf.Berkeley.EDU is 128.32.138.1 2) /afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/ai-repository/ai/pubs/faqs/prolog/ 3) BETA FAQ www (most current): http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~beta/FAQ http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~beta/info Email: info@mjolner.dk with body: send BETA beta-faq 4) Modula-3: ftp.vlsi.polymtl.ca:pub/m3/m3-faq.ps. http://froh.vlsi.polymtl.ca/m3/m3-faq.html. Archives: gatekeeper.dec.com:pub/DEC/Modula-3/comp.lang.modula3 Newsgroup relay mailing list; message to m3-request@src.dec.com 5) comp.lang.eiffel archive: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/CLE/archive_index.html See APPENDIX E:60 for a CDROM with Internet FAQs. A new C++ libraries FAQ is posted monthly to comp.lang.c++ and should be on rtfm soon. Contact cpplibs@trmphrst.demon.co.uk. It contains anonymous ftp sites and commercial libraries and may be merged with this FAQ eventually. Many FAQs are also available from mail-servers, however most can be accessed by the rtfm mail-server. Mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with help and index in the body with no leading spaces and on separate lines for more information. Example Unix Command (will retrieve this FAQ in about 26 pieces (and growing)): mail mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu Subject: send usenet/comp.object/* There is also a great ftp site for sci.virtual-worlds on: stein.u.washington.edu (140.142.56.1) - home of sci.virtual-worlds, huge faq w/ great info! - if unable to use try ftp.u.washington.edu /public/virtual-worlds [While VR may not be directly related to comp.object, it is most interesting! - The Author] SECTION 2: TYPING ================== There are many definitions of type (and class and related concepts). Many authors define the terms as applied by their particular approach or language, however we shall proceed in the face of this diversity. References [Blair 89] Some Typing Topics. [Booch 91] Small Section on Typing. [Cardelli 85] Discussion on Object-Oriented Typing. [Gunter 94] Theoretical Aspects of Object-Oriented Programming. [Kim 89, ch1] Discussion on Some Research Topics. 2.1) What Is Polymorphism? --------------------------- Polymorphism is a ubiquitous concept in object-oriented programming and is defined in many ways, so many definitions are presented from: Websters', Author, Strachey, Cardelli and Wegner, Booch, Meyer, Stroustrup, and Rumbaugh. Polymorphism is often considered the most powerful facility of an OOPL. > Webster's New World Dictionary: Polymorphism 1. State or condition of being polymorphous. 2. Cryall. crystallization into 2 or more chemically identical but crystallographically distinct forms. 3. Zool., Bot. existence of an animal or plant in several forms or color varieties. polymorphous adj. having, assuming, or passing through many or various forms, stages, or the like. Also, polymorphic. [ Author's Definition: Polymorphism is the ability of an object (or reference) to assume (be replaced by) or become many different forms of object. Inheritance (or delegation) specifies slightly different or additional structure or behavior for an object, and these more specific or additional attributes of an object of a base class (or type) when assuming or becoming an object of a derived class characterizes object-oriented polymorphism. This is a special case of parametric polymorphism, which allows an object (or reference) to assume or become any object (possibly satisfying some implicit or explicit type constraints (parametric type), or a common structure), with this common structure being provided by base classes or types (subclass and subtype polymorphism, respectively). "Poly" means "many" and "morph" means "form". The homograph polymorphism has many uses in the sciences, all referring to objects that can take on or assume many different forms. Computer Science refers to Strachey's original definitions of polymorphism, as divided into two major forms, parametric and ad-hoc. Cardelli and Wegner followup with another classification scheme, adding inclusion polymorphism for subtyping and inheritance. > Strachey's Original Definition [Strachey 67]: "Parametric polymorphism is obtained when a function works uniformly on a range of types; these types normally exhibit some common structure. Ad-hoc polymorphism is obtained when a function works, or appears to work, on several different types (which may not exhibit a common structure) and may behave in unrelated ways for each type." Parametric polymorphism is also referred to as "true" polymorphism, whereas ad-hoc polymorphism isn't (apparent polymorphism). > Cardelli and Wegner's Definition [Cardelli 85]: C+W refine Strachey's definition by adding "inclusion polymorphism" to model subtypes and subclasses (inheritance). Strachey's parametric polymorphism is divided into parametric and inclusion polymorphism, which are closely related, but separated to draw a clear distinction between the two forms, which are then joined as specializations of the new "Universal" polymorphism. |-- parametric |-- universal --| | |-- inclusion polymorphism --| | |-- overloading |-- ad hoc --| |-- coercion Polymorphic Languages: some values and variables may have more than one type. Polymorphic Functions: functions whose operands (actual parameters) can have more than one type. [...] If we consider a generic function to be a value, it has many functional types and is therefore polymorphic. Polymorphic Types: types whose operations are applicable to operands of more than one type. Parametric Polymorphism: a polymorphic function has an implicit or explicit type parameter which determines the type of the argument for each application of that function. Inclusion Polymorphism: an object can be viewed as belonging to many different classes that need not be disjoint; that is, there may be inclusion of classes. The two forms of "Universal Polymorphism", parametric and inclusion are closely related, but are distinct enough in implementation to justify separate classifications. Parametric polymorphism is referred to as generics. Generics can be syntactic, where each instantiation creates a specialized version of the code allowing fast running execution, but in a "true polymorphic system", only a single implementation is used. On inheritance is subtype polymorphism: "Subtyping on record types corresponds to the concept of inheritance (subclass) in languages, especially if records are allowed to have functional components." Author's Notes: Implicit parametric polymorphism can be implemented with type inferencing schemes [Aho 85]. ML is prototypical in providing this facility. Inclusion polymorphism is common and is found in languages such as Simula, Ada95, C++, CLOS, Eiffel and etc. (subclass polymorphism). Smalltalk also uses inclusion polymorphism; its used in declaring classes, and subclass polymorphism is used in practice but not enforced. For inheritance, inclusion polymorphism specifies an instance of a subclass can appear wherever an instance of a superclass is required. For subtyping (subtype polymorphism), the same applies because all operations required by the supertype are present in the subtype (subtype is subset of supertype). Cardelli and Wegner view classes as sets of objects (resulting in subtype objects are a subset of supertype objects, or an extensional view), as contrasted with a feature based (intensional) approach (where subtypes are supersets of (contain) supertypes). MI provides an interesting example here, as it is set intersection with an extensional view and set union with an intensional view. Details are left as an exercise for the reader. Ada generics and C++ templates provide explicit syntactic generics. While Ada may infer some actual generic parameters (operations) and C++ doesn't require explicit instantiation of its template functions, formal generic parameters must still be declared and many bodies are generated. Inclusion polymorphism can refer to subtyping, or having at least as much or more than required. Since derived classes can inherit structure and behavior from base classes, such inheritance is an example of inclusion polymorphism with respect to representation (subclassing). An example of inclusion polymorphism with respect to assignment (and initialization, or replacement if viewed in an almost symbolic way) occurs when object types may be specified and assignment is based on actual object membership in that type (often of the CLOS is-a-member-of form in OO). Emerald provides another example of an object- oriented language using inclusion polymorphism with respect to replacement; however, inclusion is with respect to subtyping only with abstract types ("bounded quantification" by C+W. C+W's parameters are subtype polymorphic but lose the inherent type). Any object possessing all required operations is acceptable and no inheritance relation is required (subtype polymorphism). They refer to this as "best-fitting" types [Black 86]. The original Trellis/ Owl also had such a facility but with two separate inheritance hierarchies, although it was abandoned in favor of a single class-based approach for simplicity. See also section 2.7. [As inclusion polymorphism covers both subtype and subclass polymorphism, perhaps IP could be further divided in C+W's above classification.] > Booch's Definition [Booch 91, p. 517]: polymorphism A concept in type theory, according to which a name (such as a variable declaration) may denote objects of many different classes that are related by some common superclass; thus, any object denoted by this name is able to respond to some common set of operations in different ways. Booch also has several sections devoted to polymorphism. [The author notes Booch's definition above is clearly in the context of conventional, classical OO and subclass polymorphism.] > Meyer's Definition [Meyer 88, sect. 10.1.5 Polymorphism]: "Polymorphism" means the ability to take several forms. In object-oriented programming, this refers to the ability of an entity to refer at run-time to instances of various classes. In a typed environment such as Eiffel, this is constrained by inheritance: ... [The Author notes Meyer has a following section 10.1.7 on Static Type, dynamic type, which is relevant, but claims "... there is no way the type of an object can ever change. Only a reference can be polymorphic: ...". Meyer is clear between the concept and the Eiffel realization in his polymorphism definition above, but here neglects the "becomes" facility as found in several dynamically typed OO languages such as Actors, CLOS, Self and Smalltalk, which allows an object (and not just a reference) to change its class.] > Stroustrup's Definition [Stroustrup 90, p. 209]: The use of derived classes and virtual functions is often called "object- oriented programming". Furthermore, the ability to call a variety of functions using exactly the same interface - as is provided by virtual functions - is sometimes called "polymorphism". [The Author notes this is a functional view of polymorphism (as provided in C++). [Stroustrup 91, p. 136] has an example of polymorphism with void *'s, but a newer template function is incomparably preferable, as implied in [Stroustrup 90, ch 14]] Rumbaugh's Definition [Rumbaugh 91, p. 2]: "Polymorphism" means that the same operation may behave differently on different classes. 2.2) What Does Polymorphism Boil Down To In OO Programming Languages? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In C++, virtual functions provide polymorphism. This is because a polymorphic object (pointer or reference (or such parameter)) is assignment compatible with any object of a derived class. Is this polymorphism in itself? Objects can take on objects of different forms (the derived classes), but of what use is it? To make any difference, the differing forms must have some effect. In dynamically typed languages, polymorphic objects are passed messages and will respond in whatever way the object has defined (usually starting from its most derived class and working its way up). But for static objects, a virtual function is invoked. This is the stored method from the derived class that overrode the virtual method from its base class, providing specialized behavior for the polymorphic object; and hence, polymorphism. This common pure statically typed example is, of course, an example of inclusion polymorphism, subclass polymorphism to be more specific (see section 2.1). Pure statically typed subtype polymorphism, as provided in Emerald, can be implemented similarly [Black 86]. 2.3) What Is Dynamic Binding? ------------------------------ Dynamic binding has two forms, static and dynamic. Statically-typed dynamic binding is found in languages such as C++ (virtual functions) and Eiffel (redefinition). It is not known which function will be called for a virtual function at run-time because a derived class may override the function, in which case the overriding function must be called. Statically determining all possibilities of usage is undecidable. When the complete program is compiled, all such functions are resolved (statically) for actual objects. Formal object usage must have a consistent way of accessing these functions, as achieved thru vtables of function pointers in the actual objects (C++) or equivalent, providing statically-typed dynamic binding (this is really just defining simple function pointers with static typechecking in the base class, and filling them in in the derived class, along with offsets to reset the receiver). The run-time selection of methods is another case of dynamic binding, meaning lookup is performed (bound) at run-time (dynamically). This is often desired and even required in many applications including databases, distributed programming and user interaction (e.g. GUIs). Examples can be found in [Garfinkel 93, p80] and [Cox 91, pp 64-67]. To extend Garfinkels example with multiple-polymorphism, a cut operation in an Edit submenu may pass the cut operation (along with parameters) to any object on the desktop, each of which handles the message in its own way (OO). If an (application) object can cut many kinds of objects such as text and graphical objects, multiple-polymorphism comes into play, as many overloaded cut methods, one per type of object to be cut, are available in the receiving object, the particular method being selected based on the actual type of object being cut (which in the GUI case is not available until run-time). Again, various optimizations exist for dynamic lookup to increase efficiency (such as found in [Agrawal 91] and [Chambers 92]). Dynamic binding allows new objects and code to be interfaced with or added to a system without affecting existing code and eliminates switch statements. This removes the spread of knowledge of specific classes throughout a system, as each object knows what operation to support. It also allows a reduction in program complexity by replacing a nested construct (switch statement) with a simple call. It also allows small packages of behavior, improving coherence and loose coupling. Another benefit is that code complexity increases not linearly but exponentially with lines of code, so that packaging code into methods reduces program complexity considerably, even further that removing the nested switch statement! [Martin 92] covers some of these issues. 2.4) Is There A Difference Between Being A Member Or Instance Of A Class? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes (but be careful of context). To use C++ terminology, an object (not a reference) is defined to be an instance of exactly one class (in classical OO), called its most derived class. An object not directly contained in any other is called the complete object [Stroustrup 90]. An object is a member of several classes, including all of the classes its declared (or most derived) class inherits from. With static typing and inclusion polymorphism based on class, if a polymorphic object (or reference) is made to refer to an object, that object must be a member of the polymorphic object's class. This also provides a good example of differing definitions among object- oriented languages, since a member is defined as above in CLOS, but a member of a class is one of its instance variables in C++. 2.5) What Is The Difference Between Static And Dynamic Typing? --------------------------------------------------------------- Static typing refers to types declared in a program at compile-time, so no type information is available on objects at run-time. Dynamic typing uses the inherent types of polymorphic objects, keeping track of the types of objects at run-time. Statically typed dynamic binding is a compromise (usually implemented with tables of function pointers and offsets), and is how statically-typed OO languages provide polymorphism. Some approaches provide both static and dynamic typing, sometimes with static typing providing type- safe programs and dynamic typing providing multiple-polymorphism [Agrawal 91] [Mugridge 91]. See also section 2.3. Static typing is more efficient and reliable, but loses power. Typical restrictions include only allowing a common set of base class functions (or any common functions for the more general subtyping or parametric polymorphic cases) to be available on formal objects and a lack of multiple-polymorphism (see section 1.19), both of which are overcome with dynamic typing. Many languages provide dynamic typing: Smalltalk, Self, Objective-C, and etc. A limited dynamic typing scheme, called RTTI (Run Time Type Identification), is even being considered for the C++ standard. A similar facility to safe downcasting (historically known as type narrowing), the thrust of RTTI, can also be found in recent versions of Eiffel. See section 3.4 for a categorization of common OO languages by type system. 2.6) What Is This I Hear About ML And Functional Programming Languages? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ML, Metalanguage, is a functional programming language with a strongly typed polymorphic type system [Wikstrom 87]. Russell (see Appendix E) is a more recent functional language and Haskell [Hudak 92] provides a more modern and "pure" example. Section 2.5 discusses why static typing has less power/ flexibility than dynamic typing and the same applies to ML (although see the appendixes for an experimental dynamic extension to ML, Alcool-90 and [Cardelli 85] for a proper placement of ML's type system). ML doesn't use inheritance for polymorphism; unlike OO languages, but provides the prototypical example of parametric polymorphism, so no inheritance is required. This is "true" or "pure" statically (or strongly) checked parametric polymorphism, by Strachey's (and Cardelli and Wegner's) definitions. Smalltalk is an example of a dynamically-typed language which does not check types during assignment (and hence for parameters) and therefore provides parametric polymorphism without static constraints (by Strachey's definition). However, Smalltalk's style uses inclusion polymorphism in practise and inheritance for subclassing (representation). 2.7) What Is A Separation Between Type And Class (Representation)? ------------------------------------------------------------------- For a short answer: Subtype Polymorphism, as opposed to Subclass Polymorphism, is the best answer in OO. Parametric polymorphism is a related concept where this is also true, but is of a different flavor (and usually requires object attributes by use. See also section 2.1). A type can be considered a set of values and a set of operations on those values. This can insure type-safe programming. However, the representation of types (classes in OO) can be separated from the notion of type allowing many representations per type while still maintaining reasonable type-safety. In many languages, a type has a single representation insuring all operations performed on that type are well defined (statically bound) and providing for efficiency by taking advantage of that representation wherever used. In many OO languages, subclassing and dynamic binding provides for greater flexibility by providing object specialization. However, in many OO languages classes are used for assignment compatibility forcing an assigned object to inherit (transitively) from any polymorphic object's class (inclusion polymorphism based on class, or subclass polymorphism). This insures all operations to be performed on any polymorphic object are satisfied by any replacing objects. This also insures all types share a common representation, or at least a common base interface specification. By separating type from class, or representation (or perhaps separating class from type, by the aforementioned definition of type), a replacing object must satisfy the operations or type constraints of a polymorphic object (subtype polymorphism) but are not required to do to do so by an inheritance relation (subclass polymorphism), as is typical in most OOPLs. Dropping this restriction is somewhat less type-safe, because accidental matches of method signatures can occur, calling for greater care in use. [Black 86] discusses this issue in Emerald. The same issue arises in parametric polymorphism (generics/templates), as any method matching a required signature is accepted, calling for careful matching of actual and formal generic parameters. The difference between static and dynamic binding in OO and dynamic binding and subtyping seems similar. A possible loss of semantic integrity/similarity is contrasted with greater power. It is possible to specify desired abstract properties of type specifications with mechanisms similar to Eiffel's pre-, post-, and invariant conditions. This helps to insure the semantic integrity of replacing objects and their behavior. [Liskov 93] provides a recent exposition. Abstract classes ([Stroustrup 91] and [Meyer 88]) in typing provide a facility similar to subtype polymorphism; however, ACs require type compatible classes to inherit from them, providing a subclass polymorphism facility, and ACs can also specify representation. Subtyping is therefore most useful to avoid spreading knowledge of classes throughout a system, which is a high priority for loosely coupled modules and in distributed programming [Black 87]. The formal type system found in [Cardelli 85], Emerald/Jade [Black 86] and [Raj 89], original trellis/Owl, an experimental C++ extension (See Appendix E, Signatures), Sather (originally Eiffel-based), and an Eiffel superset [Jones 92] are all examples of OO systems providing subtype polymorphism. Functional languages such as ML, Russell, and Haskell provide a separation with pure parametric polymorphism (as is also commonly found in OO languages in addition to inclusion polymorphism). See also [Cook 90], "Inheritance Is Not Subtyping", for a formal approach. 2.8) What Are Generics And Templates? -------------------------------------- Short Answer: Parametric Polymorphism (although various implementations provide various subsets). Generics (or Templates in C++) refer to the ability to parameterize types and functions with types. This is useful for parameterized classes and polymorphic functions as found in languages such as Ada, C++, Eiffel, and etc., although these are "syntactic" or restricted forms [Cardelli 85]. Generics are orthogonal to inheritance, since types (and classes) may be generically parameterized. Generics provide for reusability in programming languages. An example is a Stack with a generically parameterized base type. This allows a single Stack class to provide many instantiations such as a Stack of ints, a Stack of any fundamental or user defined type, or even a Stack of Stacks of ... Another example is a polymorphic sort function taking a base type with a comparison operator. The function can be called with any type (containing a comparison operator). See [Booch 87b] for several examples in Ada and [Stroustrup xx] and [Murray 93] for examples in C++. While generics have many advantages, typical limitations include a static nature, which is an advantage for strong typechecking but a potential disadvantage when causing dynamic compilation (leading to a time/space efficiency tradeoff), and sources can cause inlining and create source code dependencies and expand code size (unlike a single-body or "true" parametrically polymorphic implementation. Generics can also be viewed as a special case of type variables. Functions are typically generic in statically-typed parametrically-polymorphic languages. One such popular functional language is ML, in which all functions are generic. Russell and Haskel are more modern variants (references are forthcoming, however see APPENDIX E). SECTION 3: GENERAL =================== References: (many more are to come) [Coplien 92] Covers C++, symbolic, exemplar (single-hierarchy), etc. [Kim 89] Covers many OO systems. 3.1) What Is The "Classical" Object-Oriented Paradigm? ------------------------------------------------------- This refers to the usual class and object model. Its any 2+ level system as described in section 1.4. See also [Coplien 92]. 3.2) What Is The "Delegation/Prototyping" Object-Oriented Paradigm? -------------------------------------------------------------------- See [Kim 89, ch 1,3]. This is the 1 Level System as Described under Meta-Classes. Delegation refers to the delegating of responsibility and can be applied to inheritance. When a derived class does not have a desired attribute, it "delegates" responsibility to one of its base classes. In delegation systems, each object has a delegate list instead of a parent list. Thus, delegation's primary emphasis is on message passing where an object could delegate responsibility of a message it couldn't handle to objects that potentially could (its delegates). Any object can be added to the delegate list, giving dynamic inheritance (of a sort). Typically, delegation and prototyping languages also have "part inheritance" in which fields and methods can be added and deleted from objects. This makes for easy "prototyping", which allows for objects to be constructed piece by piece at run-time, although the term "prototyping" in the context of delegation languages usually refers to objects serving as prototypes for object instantiation, or exemplars. Next's NextStep OS provides delegation using Objective-C, providing an example of delegation in a class-based language [Garfinkel 93]. 3.3) Are There Any Other Object-Oriented Paradigms? ---------------------------------------------------- There are many alternatives in OO. Emerald/Jade ([Black 86] and [Raj 89]) provides one, where inheritance is replaced with a roughly equivalent form where reuse occurs at a finer degree of granularity - method and instance variables - with subtype polymorphism making up the difference. CLOS [Kim 89, ch 4] has a looser coupling of methods to classes and doesn't distinguish a receiver, but packages can help make up the difference. Object Specialization [Sciore 89] is an example of a hybrid approach between delegation and classical systems, where parent classes have an extra level of indirection and inheritance hierarchies are specified on a per object/class basis. 3.4) What Are The Major Object-Oriented Programming Languages Today? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Statically-Typed: Add 1 To Cobol giving Cobol with Objects. C++ Classic-Ada Dragoon Emerald/Jade Java (comp.lang.java, http://java.sun.com/, Java Report & Conf: http://www.sigs.com, See Anon FTP) Object Pascal Trellis/Owl Dynamically-Typed: Actors Languages C+@ Flavors Python (new WWW, see http://www.python.org/) Self Smalltalk Both: Actor Ada95 BETA C++ (With RTTI) Cecil CLOS Eiffel Modula-3 Objective-C (http://www.marble.com/people/dekorte/Objective-C/objc.html) Sather 3.5) What Are Object-Oriented Databases And Persistence? --------------------------------------------------------- See also Appendices B and E and the comp.database.object newsgroup. Refs to be included in future FAQs. Object-Oriented Databases are databases that support objects and classes. They are different from the more traditional relational databases because they allow structured subobjects, each object has its own identity, or object-id (as opposed to a purely value-oriented approach) and because of support for methods and inheritance. It is also possible to provide relational operations on an object-oriented database. OODBs allow all the benefits of object-orientation, as well as the ability to have a strong equivalence with object-oriented programs, an equivalence that would be lost if an alternative were chosen, as with a purely relational database. Another way of looking at Object-Oriented Databases is as a persistent object store with a DBMS. Persistence is often defined as objects (and their classes in the case of OODBs) that outlive the programs that create them. Object lifetimes can be viewed as a hierarchy, with locals/automatics having the shortest default lifetime and objects stored indefinitely in an OODB (which are persistent) having the longest. Persistent object stores do not support query or interactive user interface facilities, as found in a fully supported OODBMS. Appendix B also contains references for object-oriented interfaces to relational databases and see APPENDIX E, Papers, Persistent Operating Systems. From the net: From: dbmsfacts@aol.com (DBMSfacts) Subject: ODMG Gopher and Web Addresses Date: 24 Oct 1994 13:10:02 -0400 The Object Database Management Group (ODMG) has set up Gopher and Web Servers at the following addresses: Gopher: gopher.odmg.org, port 2073 WWW: http://www.odmg.org:3083 These are still under construction. What you can find right now are addresses and contact information for ODBMS vendors, ODMG membership information, updates to Release 1.1 of The Object Database Standard: ODMG-93 along with ODL lex and yacc files. In the future, we will be adding more links to related sites, bibliographies, and a FAQ for ODBMSs. If you cannot access these servers, but would like information on the ODMG, send an email message to info@odmg.org and you will receive an automated reply. Doug Barry ODMG Executive Director 3.6) What Are Object-Oriented Operating Systems? ------------------------------------------------- Refs to be included in future FAQs. See also Appendix E. Object-Oriented Operating Systems provide resources through objects, sometimes all the way down to to the machine (OO architectures are found at the bottom). They are almost always distributed systems (DOS or DPOS), allowing objects to be passed freely between machines. They are typically capability-based since objects, and hence system resources, can only be accessed if a capability to them is available to programs. Here are some abstracts taken from several postings to the net. This list is by no means exhaustive. Apertos (Meta-Object-based Mikro-Kernel. See Appendix E, Papers:28) Chorus Micro-kernel (written in C++, COOL, See Appendix E, Papers:63) Choices (research OS, UofI, C++, supports SVR4, See Appendix E, Papers) GEOS (GeoWorks', written in Object Assembler, OO superset of 8086) Mach (CMU, supports BSD 4.3, really message-based) NachOS (written in C++, OS teaching/learning OS) Ouverture Project (ESPRIT funded OMG IDL defines inter-module interfaces) Peace (OO family-based parallel OS, See Appendix E, General) SOS Spring (Sun, written in C++) PenPoint OS (Go, written in C++) For the Spring Papers (free), Contact: Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Inc. M/S 29-01 2550 Garcia Avenue Mountain View, CA USA 94043 See also APPENDIX E, PAPERS, Persistent Operating Systems entry. From: whitney@oberon.Meakins.McGill.CA () Insight ETHOS: On Object-Orientation in Operating Systems ISBN 3 72811948 2 This thesis covers the design of an extensible object-oriented operating systems. The language used was Oberon-2. It includes a generalization of the Rider/Carrier principle, Object Directories as well as basic OS issues such as memory, file, tasking management. It covers extensible objected-oriented programming from hardware up. It reviews other designs such as Clouds and Choices which where written It reviews other designs such as Clouds and Choices which where written on C++. [[ The lack of type-tests in C++ was a problem in other designs.]] ETHOS was implemented as an operating system for the Ceres computers at the ETH. 3.7) What Are The Current Object-Oriented Methodologies? --------------------------------------------------------- Here is a list of OOSE Methodologies: Berard [Berard 93] BON [Nerson 92] Booch [Booch 94] Coad/Yourdon [Coad 91] Colbert [Colbert 89] de Champeaux [de Champeaux 93] Embley [Embley 92] EVB [Jurik 92] FUSION [Coleman 94] HOOD [HOOD 89] IBM [IBM 90,91] Jacobson [Jacobson 92] Martin/Odell [Martin 92] Reenskaug (OOram, was OORASS) [Reenskaug 91] ROOM [Selic 94] Rumbaugh et al. [Rumbaugh 91] Shlaer and Mellor [Shlaer 88 and 92] Wasserman [Wasserman 90] Winter Partners (OSMOSYS) [Winter Partners] Wirfs-Brock et al. [Wirfs-Brock 90] Further Ideas And Techniques: Meyer [Meyer 88] Stroustrup [Stroustrup 91] See APPENDIX D for CASE systems supporting these methodologies (several from the originators themselves). See also section 1.21 for a discussion on OOA/OOD and etc. Summaries and comparisons will be provided in future FAQs. Suggestions for inclusion of other major or new methodologies should be sent to the FAQ author. Here are some comparison studies posted to the net: Arnold, P., Bodoff, S., Coleman, D., Gilchrist, H., Hayes, F., An Evolution of Five Object Oriented Development Methods, Research report, HP Laboratories, June 1991 de Champeaux, Dennis and Faure, Penelope. A comparative study of object- oriented analysis methods. Journal of Object Oriented Programming (JOOP), pp 21-32. Vol.5, No. 1, 3/4-92 Fichman R.G. & Kemerer C.F. OO and Conventional Analysis and Design Methodologies. Computer, Oct 1992, Vol 25, No. 10, p 22-40 Fichman, Robert and Kemerer, Chris. Object-Oriented and Conventional Analysis and Design Methods - Comparison and Critique. IEEE-Comp, Oct, 1992, pp 22-39. OOA, OOD, conventional analysis, conventional design, DeMarco SA, Yourdon SA, Bailin OO requirements specification, Coad-Yourdon OOA, Shlaer-Mellor OOA, Yourdon-Constantine SD, Martin information engineering design, Wasserman OOSD, Booch OOD, Wirfs-Brock responsibility-driven design. The following 2 reports are out of print. [van den Goor et.al., 1992] G. van den Goor, S. Hong and S. Brinkkemper, A Comparison of Six Object-oriented Analysis and Design Methods. Report Center of Telematics and Information Technology, University of Twente, the Netherlands, and Computer Information Systems Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA, 1992, 163 pages. [Hong et.al. 1992] S. Hong, G. van den Goor, S. Brinkkemper, A Formal Approach to the Comparison of Object Oriented Analysis and Design Methodologies, Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (IEEE Computer Society Press, Hawaii) 1993, Vol. IV, pp. 689-698. [From Shuguang...] readers may download the paper if they want, though they may continue to request hard copies. We are currently extending the paper to compare ten OO methods and should be available shortly. My URL is: http://cis.gsu.edu/~shong =================================================================== * Shuguang Hong, Ph.D. cisssh@gsusgi2.gsu.edu * * Computer Information Systems Dept. Tel: (404)651-3887 * * College of Business Administration Fax: (404)651-3842 * * Georgia State University * * Atlanta, GA 30302-4015 www: http://cis.gsu.edu/~shong/ * =================================================================== Monarchi, David and Puhr, Gretchen I. A Research Typology for Object-Oriented Analysis and Design. CACM/September 1992/Vol.35, No.9, pp35. [Wilkie 93] summarizes, compares, and provides examples of Booch, Wirfs-Brock, Hood, Coad and Yourdon, Winter Partners, Shlaer and Mellor, Jacobson, Wasserman et al, Rumbaugh, Reenskaug et al, and Colbert. Wirfs-Brock, R.J. and Johnson, R.E., "Surveying Current Research in Object- Oriented Design," The Communications of ACM, (33, 9) Sept. 1990, pp. 104-1124. Fowler, M. "Describing and Comparing Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methods," In Object Development Methods, Carmichael, A. ed., SIGS Books, (1994), pp.79-109. A new version is going to be published soon. Contact the author <100031.3311@compuserve.com> for details on its availability'. Also commercially available: An Evaluation of Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodologies (9) J. Cribbs, C Roe, S. Moon SIGS Books (212) 274-0640 $149. Object-Oriented Methodology Comparison Study (10 methodologies) Berard, Booch, Coad/Yourdon, Colbert, Embley, IBM, Martin/Odell, Rumbaugh, Shlaer/Mellor, Wirfs-Brock. Also contains refs to several previous studies. Berard Software Engineering 101 Lakeforest Blvd., Suite 360, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Contact Person: Jim Youlio Phone: 301-417-9884 Fax: 301-417-0021 email: info@bse.com [Hong et.al. 1992], [van den Goor et.al., 1992] The authors have prepared a revision (See above) that includes the following OO methods: Booch, G. - Object-oriented analysis and design with applications, 1994. Champeaux, D. de - Object-oriented system development, 1993. Coad, P., and Yourdon, E. - Object-oriented analysis (2nd edition), 1991a. Coad, P., and Yourdon, E. - Object-oriented design, 1991b. Coleman, D. - Object-oriented development, the Fusion method, 1994. Henderson-Sellers, B. and Edwards, J.M. - Methodology for Object-oriented Software Engineering of Systems, draft manuscript, 1994. Jacobson, I. - Object-oriented software engineering, 1993. Martin, J., Odell, J. - Object-oriented analysis and design, 1992. Martin, J., Odell, J. - Principles of object-oriented analysis and design, 1993. Rumbaugh, J. et.al. - Object-oriented modeling and design, 1991. Shlaer, S., Mellor, S.J. - Object-oriented systems analysis: Modeling the world in states, 1992. Wirfs-Brock, R. et.al. - Designing object-oriented software, 1990. We are currently approaching publishers for the publication of this report as a book. This book should be out in the spring of 1995. If you are interested in obtaining this book you can send an e-mail to Sjaak Brinkkemper (sjbr@cs.utwente.nl), which we will forward to the publisher. The authors, regretfully, cannot supply ftp, postscript, TEX, or whatsoever. 3.8) What Is the OMG/OMA/ORB/CORBA? ------------------------------------ Contents: (3.8.1) Contact Information (3.8.2) OMG Summary (3.8.3) Mail Server Access (3.8.4) OMG Publications - First Class (Bi-Monthly Newsletter) - Object Management Architecture Guide (OMA) - The Common Object Request Broker: Arch. and Spec. (Corba) - Pricing (3.8.5) Implementations (Brief) (3.8.6) Implementation Descriptions (3.8.7) Books, Articles, And Literature 3.8.1 Contact Information __________________________ Contact Person: Richard Soley (technical director) soley@omg.com FTP Sites: omg.org:pub/* omg.org:pub/NEC_DII/93-1-2.tar... *CORBA (DII) (corba.ps.Z) omg.org:pub/OMG_IDL_CFE_1.2/bin* idl.SunOS4.x, idl.Solaris2.x claude.ifi.unizh.ch:under pub/standards/spec CORBA Spec WWW: http://www.omg.org/ http://conf4.darpa.mil/corba-ada/ORBs.html http://www.acl.lanl.gov/sunrise/DistComp/Objects/corba.html http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/corba.html http://www.dstc.edu.au/AU/research_news/omg/corba.html Headquarters: Marketing Office: 492 Old Connecticut Path 3823 Birchwood Drive Framingham, MA 01701 Boulder, CO 80304 Tel: 508-820-4300 Tel: 303-444-8129 Fax: 508-820-4303 Fax: 303-444-8172 3.8.2 OMG Summary __________________ From: soley@emerald.omg.ORG (Richard Mark Soley) Subject: OMG In answer to your general question about the OMG, here's a brief overview. Feel free to call, fax or email for more information. -- Richard Soley Vice President & Technical Director Object Management Group, Inc. and coincidentally, MIT '82, SM '85, PhD '89 (EECS) The Object Management Group (OMG) is an international software industry consortium with two primary aims: (*) promotion of the object-oriented approach to software engineering in general, and (*) development of command models and a common interface for the development and use of large-scale distributed applications (open distributed processing) using object-oriented methodology. In late 1990 the OMG published its Object Management Architecture (OMA) Guide document. This document outlines a single terminology for object-oriented languages, systems, databases and application frameworks; an abstract framework for object-oriented systems; a set of both technical and architectural goals; and an architecture (reference model) for distributed applications using object-oriented techniques. To fill out this reference model, four areas of standardization have been identified: 1) the Object Request Broker, or key communications element, for handling distribution of messages between application objects in a highly interoperable manner; 2) the Object Model, or single design-portability abstract model for communicating with OMG-conforming object-oriented systems; 3) the Object Services, which will provide the main functions for realising basic object functionality using the Object Request Broker - the logical modeling and physical storage of objects; and 4) the Common Facilities will comprise facilities which are useful in many application domains and which will be made available through OMA compliant class interfaces. The OMG adoption cycle includes Requests for Information and Proposals, requesting detailed technical and commercial availability information from OMG members about existing products to fill particular parts of the reference model architecture. After passage by Technical and Business committees to review these responses, the OMG Board of Directors makes a final determination for technology adoption. Adopted specifications are available on a fee-free basis to members and non-members alike. In late 1991 OMG adopted its first interface technology, for the Object Request Broker portion of the reference model. This technology, adopted from a joint proposal (named "CORBA") of Hewlett-Packard, NCR Corp., HyperDesk Corp., Digital Equipment Corp., Sun Microsystems and Object Design Inc. includes both static and dynamic interfaces to an inter- application request handling software "bus." Unlike other organizations, the OMG itself does not and will not develop nor sell software of any kind. Instead, it selects and promulgates software interfaces; products which offer these interfaces continue to be developed and offered by commercial companies. In order to serve OMG membership interested in other object-oriented systems arenas besides the distributed system problem, the Group supports Special Interest Groups for discussion of possible standards in other areas. These groups at present are: 1) Object Oriented Databases; 2) OO Languages; 3) End-User Requirements; 4) Parallel Processing; 5) Analysis & Design Methodologies; 6) Smalltalk; and 7) Class Libraries. Any company, university/research institution or individual, whether end-user or vendor, can become a member of this body. Administrative details are given at the end of this paper. 3.8.3 Mail Server Access _________________________ Information via Mail Server: Send the following commands in a letter to the mail server. mail omg_server@omg.org help (how to use file server) index (return a list of all available files) get (get files returned by index) log (logs info on server) address [match] (index a directory, pattern 'match' files) size (max file size to send) list mail list docs get docs/doclist.txt get docs/91-12-1.ps CORBA spec [although it looks a little old] Recommended (from the net): mail omg_server@omg.org Subject: help index list list mail list docs get docs/doclist.txt 3.8.4 OMG Publications _______________________ Below is from omg.org:pub/CORBA > First Class (Bi-Monthly Newsletter) First Class is OMG's non-commercial bi-monthly 28-page newsletter. First Class provides current information on Object Technology developments, both technically and commercially. First Class offers an open editorial forum on numerous Object Technology topics and issues. This publication features commentaries from software industry leaders, informative user case histories, OT training information and the latest object- oriented product announcements. All OMG activities and the ongoing development of the Object Management Architecture are regularly reported. > Object Management Architecture Guide (OMA) The members of the OMG have a shared goal of developing and using integrated software systems. These systems should be built using a methodology that supports modular production of software; encourages reuse of code; allows useful integration across lines of developers, operating systems and hardware; and enhance long- range maintenance of that code. As an organization, OMG believes that the object-oriented approach to software construction best supports their goals. The OMA publication outlines the groundwork for technology response to Request for Proposals (RFP) and the adoption of specifications. > The Common Object Request Broker: Arch. and Spec. (Corba) The CORBA, as defined by the OMG's Object Request Broker (ORB), provides the mechanisms by which objects transparently make requests and receive responses. The ORB provides interoperability between applications on different machines in heterogeneous distributed environments and seamlessly interconnects multiple object systems. The Common Object Request Broker Architecture and Specification described in this published document is a self- contained response to the Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the ORB Task Force of the OMG. > Pricing [Here's why you don't see the specifications posted to the net or available via ftp! These are from the list of literature and periodicals listed in omg.org:pub/CORBA] o I would like a one year subscription to First Class ______ for $40 U.S., ______ for $50 outside U.S. o I would like to order ______ copy(s) of the Object Management Architecture (OMA) Guide for $50 each. o I would like to order ______ copy(s) of the CORBA for $50 each. o [Combinations] Contact documents@omg.org or omg_documents@omg.org for more of the same... 3.8.5 Implementations (Brief) ______________________________ > DEC ObjectBroker Version 2.5 (Version 2.1 was ACA) Full implementation of OMG CORBA 1.1. Digital's ObjectBroker is a 100 % compliant implementation of CORBA and is available on these platforms: IBM AIX, IBM MVS(port in progress), HP-UX, Macintosh, MS-Windows 3.1, NT, OSF/1, SunOS, ULTRIX, Digital VAX/VMS, Digital OpenVMS Contact: Andrew Comas comas@nyo.dec.com (212) 856-2507 Digital Equipment Corporation. ObjectBroker 110 Spit Brook Road Nashua, New Hampshire 03062-2698 > DOME - The C++ Object Request Broker runs on VAX/VMS, Unix, PC http://www.octacon.co.uk/onyx/external/oot.co.uk Anon ftp: ftp.octacon.co.uk/external/oot/domedemo.exe; also from http. > HP ORB Plus and HP Distributed Smalltalk Full implementation of the OMG CORBA 1.1 Object Request Broker. Also DOMF. Hewlett-Packard Distributed Computing Group 19447 Pruneridge Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014-9974 (USA) Ian Fuller ian@cup.hp.com (408) 447-4722 > HyperDesk (Westborough MA) HD-DOMS, rich_fraser@hyperdesk.com Runs on SPARC, HP/UX, IBM RS-6000, Data General Aviion, MS-Windows (client API only), NetWare (planned, Novell owns part of HyperDesk). > IBM SOM (System Object Model) Available on AIX and OS/2. See Distributed Computing Monitor, March 93 for a detailed review. > ILU (free, see APPENDIX E entry 59) Object RPC compatible with OMG CORBA 1.2 spec (will compile OMG IDL and generate OMG compliant code for OMG-specified languages). parcftp.parc.xerox.com:/pub/ilu/ilu.html > IONA Technologies, Dublin Orbix, info@iona.ie First full and complete implementation of OMG's CORBA. > NCR 'Cooperative Frameworks' -- a Distributed Object Foundation (1) C++ ORB toolkit consisting of over 300 C++ classes and runtime libraries (2) CORBA 1.1 toolkit > ORBELINE - The SMART Object Request Broker - PostModern Computing Complete implementation of CORBA. Free academic; com. eval licence avail. SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.3, and OSF/1 versions of ORBeline available; will consider making other platforms available if enough interest. See Appendix E. http://www.pomoco.com/ > ROLSCH CONSULTING (RC-ORB) Implements ORB spec, DOS/Windows 3.1, 12 user license: $99. Ref: Datamation, LOOK AHEAD Section, August 1. German Company. > SUITESOFTWARE (SuiteDOME) - an open system, standards compliance, object-oriented architecture, support for heterogeneous environments, support for Remote Data Access (RDA), Remote Procedure Calls (RPC), Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM), and Object Request Broker (ORB). > Sun DOE > Tivoli > CS Dept. University of Zurich, Switzerland. maffeis@ifi.unizh.ch The ELECTRA Toolkit (not finished) 3.8.6 Implementation Descriptions ___________________________________ The OMG also has a (Corporate) Membership list and "known CORBA supporters" list with their info package. > The ELECTRA Toolkit CS Dept. University of Zurich, Switzerland. maffeis@ifi.unizh.ch The ELECTRA Toolkit Subject: ORB Implementations Date: Tue, 4 May 1993 13:12:36 +0200 (MET DST) From: Silvano Maffeis something like an Object Broker, but it is *not* CORBA compatible (yet). Electra is a research project and not available yet. Its a toolkit for building failure resilient, distributed applications in C++. It supports object-groups, virtual synchrony, multithreading etc. Electra is based on the HORUS toolkit (which is "the new ISIS implementation" developed at Cornell, Ithaca NY.) An overview paper to electra is available from: ftp.ifi.unizh.ch: pub/techreports/electra.ps.Z > HD_DOMS HD-DOMS (HyperDesk Distributed Object Management System). A CORBA-compliant DOMS. Includes a GUI API driver for prototyping and exercising objects, a bundled object database for persistent object storage, a Kerberos-based authentication service, a location service, a set of base classes to speed development, and a test script language. Revision 1.0 has been shipping since beginning of '92. Revision 1.1 (which includes support for CORBA's static client interface) is available now, and a NetWare version is in the works. Submitted a C++ language mapping for IDL to the OMG recently. HyperDesk Corporation 2000 West Park Drive Westboro, MA 01581 (508)366-5050 > HP ORB Plus and HP Distributed Smalltalk ============================================================================ SUBJECT: HP INTRODUCES DISTRIBUTED-COMPUTING SOLUTION FOR BUILDING SCALABLE, OBJECT-ORIENTED APPLICATIONS DATE: September 27, 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via First! -- Hewlett-Packard Company today introduced a distributed-computing solution for building scalable, object-oriented applications. With HP ORB Plus, programmers can develop scalable, object-based applications that can be distributed throughout the enterprise. HP also introduced an enhanced version of HP Distributed Smalltalk. HP ORB Plus and HP Distributed Smalltalk are major components of HP's overall distributed-computing strategy, which is designed to give customers integrated, desktop access to enterprise-wide information and resources in distributed heterogeneous systems environments. Of all computer companies, HP believes it is best positioned to help customers take advantage of distributed computing. HP provides a wide variety of distributed-computing products, understands how to help customers adopt new technology for maximum business benefit, and offers worldwide support and training programs, ranging from analysis and design to deployment. HP ORB PLUS: CORBA AND DCE COMBINED HP ORB Plus is the only environment that combines the complete CORBA 1.1 specification from the Object Management Group with the DCE standard from the Open Software Foundation(tm) as its transport mechanism. DCE is designed to let developers write one application and then deploy it -- without modification -- on any other system that supports DCE. HP ORB Plus reduces the complexity of developing distributed applications so programmers can concentrate on the application itself without needing to know multiple operating systems, networking protocols or where application objects are stored. The DCE (Distributed Computing Environment) standard provides an integrated set of services that can be used separately or together to provide a distributed computing environment that's easy to administer. The CORBA (common-object-request-broker architecture) specification provides a standard for how objects (in applications, repositories or class libraries) make requests and receive responses across a distributed network. HP ORB PLUS DETAILS HP ORB Plus consists of several components: the Distributed Object Management Facility (DOMF), object services, developers' and administrative tools, and sample applications. HP's DOMF provides a location-transparent object-communication mechanism across heterogeneous networks by using the DCE standard. This object- enabling technology specification was jointly developed with SunSoft. By following a common specification, HP and SunSoft have made it easier for their customers to port applications between their platforms. In addition, HP is working with IBM to integrate HP's DOMF with IBM's System Object Model with extensions for distribution. This integration will eventually provide users with complete scalability, portability and interoperability of distributed applications across HP and IBM platforms. This is part of the companies' planned approach toward a standards-based, "plug-and-play" object-oriented environment. This will give developers, system administrators and end users language-neutral, enterprise-wide, heterogeneous support for building, managing and using distributed object- oriented applications. "We're so convinced of the value of object technology that we're staking our entire company on it," said Richard Tanler, president and chief executive officer of Information Advantage, Inc. "Our object-based applications for retailers provide the means to a competitive business edge. We plan to use HP ORB Plus to develop new object-based products that retailers can distribute to end users throughout headquarters, all chain stores, and warehousing and distribution operations." HP DISTRIBUTED SMALLTALK 2.0 In a related announcement, HP introduced Version 2.0 of HP Distributed Smalltalk. This toolset works with VisualWorks from ParcPlace Systems to provide programmers with a rapid development environment for creating and running distributed applications. These applications can use object databases (currently OpenODB from HP and Gemstone from Servio) as their storage mechanism to facilitate the reuse of objects. Applications built using HP Distributed Smalltalk currently run without modification on HP, Sun and IBM UNIX(R) system-based workstations. They also will run on Apple Macintosh computers and on any PC running the Windows 3.1 or Windows NT operating systems from Microsoft(R) Corp., once VisualWorks 2.0 is released (expected within two months.) New HP Distributed Smalltalk 2.0 features include the following: -- easier deployment, with the ability to run multiple HP Distributed Smalltalk-based applications on a single system; -- up to 400 percent increased performance, through quicker sending and receiving of remote messages, and reusable object libraries; -- run-time version, for full production deployment; and -- easier development, with remote object browsing so developers can find and use objects more quickly. TECHNICAL DETAILS AND AVAILABILITY HP's DOMF includes the object request broker, interface- definition- language compiler, static and dynamic invocation interface and interface repository. In addition to these OMG-specific features, most developers writing distributed, object-oriented applications require additional interfaces to use objects effectively. So developers don't need to create their own, HP has supplied several object-service interfaces for developers to use. That's why HP ORB Plus includes OMG interfaces and implementations for properties, life cycle, associations, event notification and naming. HP's limited release of HP ORB Plus to key developers is designed so that customer input can be incorporated into the product early in its development cycle. The initial version will work with the C++ programming language. For the generally available Developer's Kit, C++, C and Smalltalk interoperability is planned so objects written in different languages can be combined into one application. The Developer's Kit is scheduled to be available mid- 1994; prices will be announced then. HP ORB Plus runs on the HP Apollo 9000 Series 700 workstations and HP 9000 Series 800 business servers. Hewlett-Packard Company is an international manufacturer of measurement and computation products and systems recognized for excellence in quality and support. The company's products and services are used in industry, business, engineering, science, medicine and education in approximately 110 countries. HP has 94,900 employees and had revenue of $16.4 billion in its 1992 fiscal year. EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Hewlett-Packard Company Lynne Hanson, 408/447-1415, Cupertino, Calif. Jill Kramer, 408/447-4275, Cupertino, Calif. ================== For more information about HP ORB Plus, contact Kathy Litch (litch_k@apollo.hp.com). For more information about HP Distributed SmallTalk, contact Jerry Boortz (jerry_boortz@hp4000.desk.hp.com). > Iris RDOM From: rcbc@cs.cornell.edu (Robert Cooper) Subject: Re: DCE vs. CORBA Reply-To: rcbc@isis.com Product: Isis Reliable Distributed Object Manager(tm) (RDOM) Company: Isis Distributed Systems, Inc., Ithaca NY, USA. Isis RDOM(tm) is a fault tolerant distributed ORB platform for reliable multi-lingual object-oriented applications. RDOM provides an "object group" paradigm for constructing complex applications out of collections of cooperating objects. RDOM is built on top of the Isis Distributed Toolkit(tm). RDOM provides interfaces from Smalltalk (Parcplace), Objective-C, and C++, and runs on most Unix workstations. RDOM is currently not CORBA compliant, but will be brought to compliance during 3Q93. Status: RDOM has been at beta test sites since January. General release of the Smalltalk and Objective-C language interfaces is expected in June. The C++ interface in August. Customers include AMD, Consilium and Swiss Bank Corp). > Object-Oriented Technologies DOME Product: DOME - Distributed Object Management Environment Company: Enquiries: info@oot.co.uk Object Oriented Technologies Ltd, 1st Floor, Lawrence House, 1A Morrell St, Leamington Spa, England CV32 5SZ Telephone: +44 (0) 1926 833488 Fax: +44 (0) 1926 883370. Short Description: DOME provides heterogenous distribution across many platforms and networks, including: UNIX, Windows, Windows NT, OS/2, OSF/1 (AXP), OpenVMS, SunOs, Solaris, HP-UX, SGI Unix, Stratus FTX, TCP/IP, NetBIOS, XTI As a fully peer-to-peer product DOME can be used to build systems using any combination of the above. Long Description: DOME is an ORB toolkit for the production of user-configured ORBs and servers. It is a multi-threaded high performance ORB suitable for use in large scale commercial systems and embedded real-time systems. DOME is non-intrusive, meaning that the application development is separated from the means of distribution and the problem of distributed object management; this allows the application to be built and tested on a single machine using local resources. Existing software can also be incorporated easily, providing integration for legacy systems. DOME is constructed as a C++ class library, from which ORBs can be configured and constructed to best suit the runtime environment. This provides great flexibility since new classes can be derived from existing ones and the resulting configurations implemented to user-specific requirements. Database distribution can be as simple persistent files, RDBMSs, OODMS, or a combination of these. DOME has a CORBA-conformant interface, and is CORBA 1.0 compliant with the following divergences - additions: - full C++ binding, - integral support for GUI development, - network monitoring & analysis, - transaction management, - location broking, - enhanced security; ommissions: - dynamic invocation, which is seen as detrimental to performance and network security; however, DOME does allow stream operators to perform the same function. DOME was first released in August 1993; version 2 in May 1994. > ORBELINE - The SMART Object Request Broker ORBeline is a complete implementation of OMG's Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). ORBeline goes beyond the standard specification to provide a SMART communication framework allowing you to easily develop large distributed applications that are robust, scalable, flexible and maintainable. ORBeline incorporates PostModern's proven communication framework that links thousands of nodes. See Appendix E:65 for a complete description and anon FTP info. > Orbix Orbix Iona Technologies Ltd. 8-34 Percy Place Dublin 4 Ireland The latest release of Orbix, Version 1.2, includes an Object Loader function for the first time, as well as an upgraded Interface Repository, a new approach to filtering, and more code examples to guide programmers. Orbix was launched in June 1993 as the first full and complete implementation of the Object Management Group's (OMG's) Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard. With Orbix, programmers can develop distributed, object oriented applications following a consistent and straightforward, standards-based model. With Orbix Version 1.2 IONA has added the ability to dynamically load objects at runtime through its Object Loader function. This enables developers to more easily integrate Orbix applications with existing data stores be they traditional flat file databases, relational databases or object oriented databases. The improved Interface Repository is an integral part of IONA's CORBA implementation. The Interface Repository operates as a dynamic browser which is populated with all objects or services available at runtime keeping programmers informed of the functions, attributes and characteristics of objects and services. In version 1.2 IONA has also extended the whole approach to filtering of requests, and has made it easier for users to integrate Orbix with their security systems providing for improved reliability of distributed systems built using Orbix. IONA has also extensively extended the number, and scope, of code examples it ships with the product to help developers learning how to use the system. IONA released Orbix for SunSoft Solaris and SunOS at the Object World exhibition in San Francisco, Calif., June 1993. Since then it has rolled out versions of Orbix for Microsoft Windows NT, Silicon Graphics IRIX and HP/UX. IONA demonstrated a version of Orbix for Microsoft Windows 3.1 at Object World in London, England last October. Orbix for Microsoft Windows 3.1 is now in beta. In January 1994, IONA and SunSoft Inc. signed an agreement to align their implementations of CORBA. The two companies demonstrated interoperability between IONA's Orbix running on Microsoft Windows 3.1 and SunSoft's Distributed Objects Everywhere (DOE) on Solaris. In addition Orbix-TP, integration with Tuxedo for transaction processing, has just entered beta testing. Work is underway on Orbix-FT, integration with the Isis distributed system, will deliver a fault-tolerant ORB. Paul Hickey, tel: +353-1-6686522 Iona Technologies Ltd., fax: +353-1-6686573 8-34 Percy Place, email: pth@iona.ie Dublin 4 Ireland Availability ------------ The full Orbix availability and release schedule looks like: Operating System C++ Compiler Release Date ------------------------------------------------------- SunOS 4.1 SPARCompiler 2.1 NOW SunOS 4.1 SPARCompiler 3.0.2 NOW SunOS 4.1 Lucid 3.1 NOW SunOS 4.1 GNU 2.5.8 NOW Solaris 2.x SPARCompiler 3.0.2 NOW Solaris 2.x SPARCompiler 4.0 NOW Solaris 2.x GNU 2.5.7 NOW IRIX 4.0.5H Native NOW IRIX 5.x Native NOW HP-UX Native NOW Microsoft Windows NT Visual C++ NOW Microsoft Windows NT Borland NOW Microsoft Windows 3.1 Visual C++ In Beta IBM AIX C Set++ 4th Qtr OSF/1 DEC C++ 4th Qtr SCO Native 4th Qtr UnixWare Computer Innovations 4th Qtr Ultrix DEC C++ 4th Qtr Release of Orbix on OS/2 is also imminent. Documents Available from IONA ----------------------------- electronic mail server - server@iona.ie anonymous ftp file server - ftp ftp.iona.ie World Wide Web - http://www.iona.ie/ > NCR 'Cooperative Frameworks' -- a Distributed Object Foundation From: Randy Volters Subject: re-post: NCR Cooperative Frameworks (new phone no.) November 19, 1993 NCR ANNOUNCES BETA AVAILABILITY OF 'Cooperative Frameworks' -- a Distributed Object Foundation Product Background - NCR Cooperative Frameworks(TM) were first released for sale in 10/1991 as "the frameworks" part of the NCR COOPERATION(TM) product, and are based on NCR's submission to OMG. Cooperative Frameworks release 3.0 makes the product available apart from COOPERATION. Product Description - Cooperative Frameworks is a distributed object foundation for building computing applications and services on networks of heterogeneous computers. Cooperative Frameworks consists of an integrated suite of C++ class libraries that: - defines and implements a comprehensive enterprise architecture and methodology for creating distributed implementations of C++ classes over networks - allows customers to build and use object services over a network - supports TCP/IP, NetBIOS, Lan Manager NetBEUI and OSI protocols, X.25 NCR Cooperative Frameworks currently has two portable ORB toolkits (others are planned for future release) -- (1) C++ ORB toolkit consisting of over 300 C++ classes and runtime libraries (2) CORBA 1.1 toolkit Both are for: - wrapping existing databases and legacy applications for improved availability and maintainability on systems of heterogeneous computers, operating systems and networks - building next-generation, object-oriented, distributed computing applications for networks of heterogeneous computers, operating systems and network operating systems Cooperative Frameworks come with predefined object services for implementing distributed systems: - Naming - network implementation of X.500 directory provides object naming service - Logging - provides local and server based error logging - Fine-grain Data Management - class libraries are designed around fine grained objects, developers can build distributed objects as large or as small as needed - Persistence - the same object stream model for communication between internal ORB functions is used to support object persistence. Persistent objects can be files, relational or object databases - Dynamic Service Location - provides a mechanism for registering services and entities in a distributed system and invoking targeted services based on service characteristics -- rather than names - Dynamic Service Activation - provides a mechanism for object activation when method invocations are required, and deactivation when not needed - Event Service (Release 3.1) - Implements an OMG/JOSS compliant event service - Network Configuration Tools - simplifies creation of directory entries required for cross domain operation in a multiple domain heterogeneous network. NCR Cooperative Frameworks run on multiple UNIX platforms, including HP-UX, Sun Solaris, NCR 3000 UNIX and NCR StarServer UNIX SVR4; and on MS Windows 3.1. Cooperative Frameworks has been demonstrated on Novell NetWare v3.11, and was originally developed on MS OS/2 v1.x. Development environments supported include CFRONT and C++ Workbench from NCR, HP Softbench Sun SPARCworks and Borland IDE. Implementation - implementation is for client/server system architectures as a set of DLL and shared libraries Languages used for IDL mapping - IDL bindings for C, (or object services can be implemented directly in C++) Release date - Release 3.0 is available now to early developers with general availability set for December, 1993; Release 3.1 will be available to early developers 1Q 1994 with general availability set for 2Q 1994 Product interoperability - Full interoperability between NCR Cooperative Framework implementations on supported platforms is available now; interoperability with selected CORBA 1.1 ORBs and CORBA 2.0 ORBs is planned Company Name - NCR Corporation (An AT&T Company) Address -- Software Products Division-Columbia 3245 Platt Springs Road West Columbia SC 29170 Phone (803) 939-7500 FAX (803) 939-7745 Contact Name Randy Volters, Sr. Product Manager Cooperative Frameworks Email: Randy.Volters@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM Ext. 7774 Company Description - NCR, AT&T's computer business, brings computing and communications solutions together to provide people easy access to information and to each other -- anytime, anywhere. > SUITESOFTWARE (SuiteDOME) Overview Variety may make life more interesting, but it only complicates the task of connecting employees with the information they need. In a world of heterogeneous, distributed computer systems, it's an ongoing struggle to provide easy access to data while maintaining and updating a collection of incompatible hardware platforms, operating systems, applications, databases, network protocols, and the like. To simplify the technical challenges, reduce the time and effort required, and still be able to exploit all of an organization's on-line data, information technology (IT) managers are turning to middleware - run-time system software that is layered between an application program and the operating system and that, in a distributed, heterogeneous environment, supplies the functions that would have been provided by the application's native operating system. To do this effectively, middleware must be able to interpret the differences between operating systems, network protocols, databases, and file systems; access and distribute data; guarantee system security; and scale up to accommodate even the largest systems. When middleware achieves this, it makes enterprise computing a reality. As a result, middleware is quickly emerging as the best solution for overcoming system incompatibilities, and middleware such as SUITESOFTWARE's Distributed Object Management Environment (DOME) Software System makes it possible for organizations to build large scale, heterogeneous, distributed systems that can run virtually any application in the enterprise, accessing virtually any data. DOME - Covering the Enterprise The DOME Software System is comprehensive middleware that provides all of the essential services necessary to unify distributed applications and data into a single system. With DOME, companies can develop applications on any platform they choose and then easily distribute them across heterogeneous environments throughout the enterprise. The DOME system can accomplish this complex task because it offers: - an open system - standards compliance - object-oriented architecture - support for heterogeneous environments - and support for Remote Data Access (RDA), Remote Procedure Calls (RPC), Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM), and Object Request Broker (ORB). o Open System DOME is an open system that provides an interface between all of a customer's applications, making it possible to share information between new and legacy applications. DOME provides a solution today and its open platform structure accommodates future technologies. o Standards Compliant DOME is compliant with the following standards: - OMG/CORBA - SAG - MOMA - ISO - OLE Microsoft - CCITT X.500 - Kerberos 5.4 (Security) DOME allows message transfer from one object to another object, provides the ability to find an object, register an object, register the message interface to an object, and dynamically invoke an object. DOME also provides object services beyond the Object Request Broker (ORB) and contains a directory and name service that provides more functionality than specified by the X.500 standard. Because DOME goes beyond what many of the standards require, it makes the task of creating distributed applications, especially in very large distributed environments, even easier. SUITESOFTWARE is a member of various standards groups and conforms its products to industry standards as they are adopted. o Object-Oriented Architecture Because DOME's architecture is object-oriented, there are significant benefits. - True messaging for workflow management and EDI - Queue- and bus-based (rather than send-based) design provides store-and-forward, broadcasting, and subscribing functionality - Full recovery capabilities - Different levels of messaging service for positive/negative acknowledgment and start-on-demand - Hierarchical namespace with true domains for complete scalability - Concern registration and event notification - Logical name translation for true aliasing - Kerberos 5.4 compatible security/authentication and access control - Implementation of additional protocols through a communications layer - Co-existence of multiple development and/or production environments on a single node - Platform independent time services and exception handling These beneficial functions have resulted in measurable time and labor savings while freeing systems personnel to concentrate on critical issues. o Support for Heterogeneous Environments DOME runs on the major UNIX platforms as well as in other interactive computing environments, such as OS/2 and Windows. DOME Software System Components The DOME software system is composed of the core DOME product, DOME SecurityTM, DOMEshellTM scripting and prototyping language, and the DOME Data Manager (DDMTM) database access manager. [...] The DOME Data Manager is a complete relational DBMS engine that provides access to distributed data. Features DDM provides autonomy for distributed data sites, but it also supplies the means for consolidating data for specific applications. It can read and write data across numerous DBMSs, and it makes distributed data management transparent, so that the user never needs to know the physical location of data, the server of access, or the underlying vendor in order to process requests. From the user's perspective, the enterprise is a single logical database located in its entirety on the local machine. This is possible because DDM maps the application's logical view of the environment into the enterprise's physical environment of multiple nodes, disparate operating systems, and multiple DBMSs. DDM can manipulate data across a large number of databases and data locations, and it is also interoperable. By conforming to the SQL Access Group's Call Level Interface standard, DDM can interoperate with any number of third-party GUI and CASE tools. Among the GUIs are Powerbuilder,, Visual Basic,, and Uniface,. Among the CASE tools are ERwin,, Popkin,, and Knowledgeware,. ? 1995 SUITESOFTWARE DOME, DOMEshell, DOME Security, DOME Data Manager, and DDM are trademarks of SUITESOFTWARE. All other products and product names are copyrighted by, trademarks of, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Support and Deliverables Customer Support SUITESOFTWARE places particular emphasis on support and continuing education. The broad technical and business systems background of our staff of fully trained professionals ensures "real world" responses to problems. SUITESOFTWARE `s support staff is available by telephone, FAX, and e-mail to help customers maximize the use of the DOME Software System and obtain quick resolutions to problems. Deliverables Optical or magnetic media containing all files required to load and execute DOME plus PostScriptTM versions of DOME documentation. Hardcopy versions of all DOME documentation are available for a nominal additional cost. Configuration Requirements Disk space and memory requirements are dependent on the installation platform. SUITESOFTWARE sales representatives are available to help determine configuration requirements for particular computer systems. SUITESOFTWARE 801 East Katella Ave., Suite 210, Anaheim, CA 92805 Telephone: (714) 938-8850 FAX: (714) 978-1840 E-mail: customer_support@suite.com 3.8.7 Books, Articles, And Literature -------------------------------------- This section is expected to grow considerably in the future. "Distributed Object Computing With CORBA", C++ Report, July/August 1993 The Object Database Standard: ODMG-93 edited by: R.G.G. Cattell published by Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Mateo, California [Covers CORBA standards with respect to OODBs] 3.9) Why is Garbage Collection A Good Thing? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are two entries on garbage collection, the first is an excellent entry written for the FAQ by Paul Johnson and the second is from the FAQ author's company on the necessity of garbage collection for object-oriented programming and technique. From: Paul Johnson (paj@gec-mrc.co.uk) Garbage collection (GC) is a facility in the run-time system associated with a language which will automatically reclaim objects which are no longer used. OO Languages which require garbage collection include Eiffel, Smalltalk and CLOS. C and C++ can have garbage collection retrofitted (see [3] and [4] below). [Ada has switchable GC, too -bob] Without GC programmers must explicitly deallocate dynamic storage when it is no longer needed (in C this is done by a call to free(3)). There are a number of problems with this: 1: Bugs due to errors in storage deallocation are very hard to find, although products are available which can help. 2: In some circumstances the decision about whether to deallocate storage cannot be made by the programmer. Drawing editors and interpreters often suffer from this. The usual result is that the programmer has to write an application-specific garbage collector. 3: An object which is responsible for deallocating storage must be certain that no other object still needs that storage. Thus many modules must co-operate closely. This leads to a tight binding between supposedly independent modules. 4: Libraries with different deallocation strategies are often incompatible, hindering reuse. 5: In order to avoid problems 3 and 4, programmers may end up copying and comparing whole objects rather than just references. This is a particular problem with temporary values produced by C++ overloaded operators. 6: Because keeping track of storage is extra work, programmers often resort to statically allocated arrays. This in turn leads to arbitrary restrictions on input data which can cause failure when the assumptions behind the chosen limits no longer apply. For instance many C compilers limit expression nesting, identifier length, include file nesting and macro stack depth. This causes problems for programs that generate C. One partial solution to a lack of GC is reference counting. In this scheme each object keeps a count of references to it. When this count drops to zero the object is automatically deallocated. However this is inefficient (swapping two references will result in three decrements, three increments and six comparisons) and cannot reclaim circular data structures. Two systems that use a reference count GC are the Interviews C++ graphics library and the Unix file system (the link count). Opponents of GC reply that it introduces an overhead which is unacceptable in some applications. However the overhead of manual storage deallocation is probably as high as GC. GC algorithms are also available with good real-time behaviour. [Further, GC can perform compaction improving locality of reference.] Further Reading: [1] "Object-Oriented Software Construction" by Meyer puts the argument for GC. [2] "Uniprocessor Garbage Collection Techniques," by Paul R. Wilson, in Memory Management (proceedings of 1992 Int'l Workshop on Memory Management, Sept. 1992, St. Malo, France, Yves Bekkers and Jacques Cohen, eds.), Springer Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science #637. This is an excellent summary of the state of the art in GC algorithms. This and other papers about garbage collection are available in PostScript via anonymous ftp (cs.utexas.edu:pub/garbage/gcsurvey.ps. [See APPENDIX E] [3] "Garbage Collection in an Uncooperative Environment" by Boehm and Weiser. Software --- Practise and Experience vol 18(9), pp 807-820. Sept 1988. This describes GC in C and C++. ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/gc/gc.html [4] Geodesic Systems provides GC for C and C++. See http://www.geodesic.com and Appendix G. 3.9b) Why is Garbage Collection Necessary for Object-Oriented Programming? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Spertus Geodesic Systems mps@geodesic.com There are several reasons why true object-oriented programming requires garbage collection. 1. Manual Memory Management Breaks Encapsulation. Program components frequently need knowledge of an entire program to determine the last use of an object and provide deletion. This makes reuse of the component nearly impossible. For example, methods and functions taking a container as an argument need to know of or make assumptions about the rest of the program to determine ownership of the objects in the container. Attempts to encapsulate memory management with reference counting, the "poor man's garbage collector", are usually misguided. Reference counting has worse performance than GC, awkward syntax, and poor semantics, which typically include failure to reclaim cycles, inability to handle stack and static objects, lack of polymorphism, and problems with interior pointers (e.g. arrays and multiple inheritance). Intensive research [1] in garbage collection has completely solved the above problems and made reference counting an inadequate substitute for true GC. 2. Implementation Hiding is not Compatible with Manual Memory Management Implementation hiding is a pillar of object-oriented programming, but explicit memory management requires implementation-dependent low-level knowledge of how memory is structured. For example, programmers often use "copy on write" to efficiently implement pass-by-value semantics. However, to manage memory explicitly, a program has to know if it has a copy of an object or the object itself. Programmers sometimes use reference counting to encapsulate copy-on-write memory management. However, this only works well in simple cases like strings where the data is not polymorphic and does not contain pointers. 3. Message Passing Leads to Dynamic Execution Paths Manual memory management must make assumptions about a program's order of execution to make a compile-time determination of the last user of an object. While this is often possible in procedural languages, the object- oriented paradigm of objects sending messages to each other (possibly from different threads) makes it impossible to statically determine the last user of an object. For example, event driven GUI programs frequently have no clear order of execution. Other dynamic control structures, such as exceptions, also make static analysis of memory usage at compile-time impossible. 4. Differing Memory Management Schemes Hinder Reuse Because no memory management scheme is universal enough for all applications, manually managed components and libraries often use incompatible memory management schemes. For example, there are common container libraries using each of the following schemes: a) Doubly specified empty and remove methods with one including a memory delete, placing the memory management burden on the client, who must call the appropriate method. b) Switches indicating deletion. Many applications must clear the switch to support long-lived data and keep track of ownership of data shared by multiple containers, leaving many memory management issues unaddressed. c) Value semantics store objects rather than references, inhibiting data sharing and carrying expensive performance costs when complex objects are copied by value. d) Reference counting, which was already discussed. Any components or libraries that use containers with different memory management strategies are difficult to use with each other. 5. Garbage Collection Works It is not enough to merely find fault with manual memory management. One also has to show that garbage collection provides a better alternative. Early versions of garbage collection were merely crude implementations of mark-and-sweep that left much to be desired. However, garbage collection has advanced as rapidly as most computer-related technologies and is now a robust, mature technology.[1] Many object-oriented languages specify garbage collection for all or part of their memory. Even C and C++ have at least one commercially supported garbage collector that can transparently and compatibly manage both new and existing programs. [2] Garbage collected programs are usually as fast and responsive as their manually managed brethren. [3] In fact, multi-media programmers sometimes choose treadmill collectors [4] over hand-management because of its superior real-time performance as manual management usually has difficulty scheduling destructor calls smoothly. Of course, garbage collected programs are generally more reliable and easier to develop, maintain, and reuse than manually managed programs. Finally, garbage collection can be mixed with manual management to provide the programmer with the broadest set of tools, and garbage collection is much too important a tool to be absent from any object-oriented programmer's toolbox. References [1] Paul R. Wilson, "Uniprocessor Garbage Collection Techniques", 1992 International Workshop on Memory Management, Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science series. [2] Geodesic Systems, Great Circle(TM) Automatic Memory Management System. http://www.geodesic.com/GreatCircle/index.html. [3] Detlefs, Dosser, and Zorn, "Memory Allocation Costs in Large C and C++ Programs". ftp://cs.colorado.edu/pub/techreports/zorn/CU-CS-665-93-ps.Z. [4] Henry Baker, "The Treadmill: Real-Time Garbage Collection without Motion Sickness". ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/NoMotionGC.html 3.10) What Can I Do To Teach OO To The Kids? --------------------------------------------- Smalltalk (in its original 1972 version) was initially intended to make computer programming easy enough for children. The idea was that manipulating objects was something more intuitive and natural than coding procedures. Other entries or suggestions are welcome, please send to the author of the FAQ. 3.11) What Is Available On Object-Oriented Testing? --------------------------------------------------- [This entry was donated by Doug Shaker and is certainly a FAQ] Testing of Object-Oriented Programming (TOOP) FAQ/Resource Summary Posted to comp.object, comp.lang.c++, comp.lang.smalltalk and comp.software.testing. Last revised on 93.10.27. The most notable change is in the additions to the Software section. Also a couple of articles added to the Written Material section. > What? This is a summary of resources on the Testing of Object-Oriented Programming that have been mentioned to me over the net, in email, or other means. Sections include Written Material, Courses, and Software. It is kind of like an FAQ, though it isn't organized that way. > Who? I work for a Unix software house, Qualix Group, in the US. Here is my sig: - Doug Shaker voice: 415/572-0200 fax: 415/572-1300 email: dshaker@qualix.com mail: Qualix Group 1900 S. Norfolk St., #224 San Mateo, CA 94403 I am NOT a researcher on the testing of object-oriented programming. I just collate the stuff that is sent to me by people who REALLY know something. See the section "ACKs" at the end. I just think it is important. > Why? Why is this important? If classes are really to be reused in confidence, they must be blatantly correct. The classes must be easily testable during initial evaluation by the client programmer. They must also be testable under different OS configurations, different compiler optimizations, etc. This means that testing modules must be constructed in a way which is recognized as correct and the modules must be shipped with the class libraries. As soon as one major class library vendor starts to ship real test code with their libraries, all of the other vendors will be forced, by market pressure, to do so as well, or face market share erosion. Think about it. If you had to recommend a class library to a committee that was choosing a basis for the next five years of work, wouldn't you feel safer with a class library that could be auto-tested in your environment? > Written Material Berard, Edward. Essays on Object-Oriented Software Engineering. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. $35. This book has two chapters on testing of object-oriented software, focusing on how to do it. Berard, Edward. Project Management Handbook. Must be purchased direct from Berard Software Engineering, Ltd., 902 Wind River Lane, Suite 203, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878. $225. The book focuses on the management of OOP projects. It includes one chapter on testing OO software and one chapter on quality assurance. Bezier, Boris, "Software Testing Techniques", 2nd edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990, 503pp, $43, ISBN 0-442-20672-0. While this is not specifically about testing of OOP, it is mentioned so often by so many people as a definitive software testing work, that I have to mention it anyway. Cheatham Thomas J., and Lee Mellinger, "Testing Object-Oriented Software Systems", Proceedings of the 18th ACM Annual Computer Science Conference, ACM, Inc., New York, NY, 1990, pp. 161-165. Doong, Roong-Ko and Phyllis G. Frankl, "Case Studies on Testing Object-Oriented Programs", Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on Testing, Analysis, and Verification (TAV4), 1991, ACM, Inc., New York, NY, 1991, pp. 165-177. Fiedler, Steven P., "Object-Oriented Unit Testing", Hewlett-Packard Journal, April, 1989, pp. 69-74. Firesmith, D.G., "Testing Object-Oriented Software", Proceedings of 11th. TOOLS USA Conference, Santa Barbara, Aug 1993, pp 407-426. Frankl, Phyllis G. and Roong-Ko Doong, "Tools for Testing Object-Oriented Programs", Proceedings of the 8th Pacific Northwest Conference on Software Quality, 1990, pp. 309-324. One author can be reached at pfrankl@polyof.poly.edu. Graham, J.A., Drakeford, A.C.T., Turner, C.D. 1993. The Verification, Validation and Testing of Object Oriented Systems, BT Technol J. Vol 11, No 3. One author's email address is jgraham@axion.bt.co.uk. Harrold, Mary Jean, John D. McGregor, and Kevin J. Fitzpatrick, "Incremental Testing of Object-Oriented Class Structures", International Conference on Software Engineering, May, 1992, ACM, Inc., pp. 68 - 80. Hoffman, Daniel and Paul Strooper. A Case Study in Class Testing. To be Presented at the IBM Center for Advanced Studies Fall Conference, October 1993, Toronto. Email addresses for authors are dhoffman@csr.uvic.ca and pstropp@cs.uq.oz.au. Describes an approach to testing which the authors call Testgraphs. An example is worked out in C++ which tests a commercial class. Hoffman, D. M. A CASE Study in Module Testing. In Proc. Conf. Software Maintenance, pp. 100-105. IEEE Computer Society, October 1989. Hoffman, D.M. and P.A. Strooper. Graph-Based Class Testing. In 7th Australian Software Engineering Conference (to appear), 1993. Klimas, Edward "Quality Assurance Issues for Smalltalk Based Applications", The Smalltalk Report, Vol. 1, No. 9, pp.3-7. The author's email address is "ac690@cleveland.freenet.edu". Lakos, John S. "Designing-In Quality in Large C++ Projects" Presented at the 10th Annual Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, Portland, Oregon, October 21, 1993. Abstract: The focus of this paper is on ensuring quality by designing software that avoids acyclic component dependencies. This in-turn permits incremental, hierarchical testing. The importance of good physical design becomes a key factor only for large and very large projects. Intuition gained from smaller projects leads to errors in large designs. Compile-coupling ("Insulation") is also discussed. Copies of the postscript file can be obtained by sending email to "john_lakos@warren.mentorg.com". Leavens, G. T., "Modular Specification and Verification of Object-Oriented Programs", IEEE Software, July 1991, pp. 72-80. Love, Tom. Object Lessons. SIGS Books, 588 Broadway #604, New York, NY 10012. $49. This book eloquently elucidates the need for testing of object- oriented code and has a chapter on how it was done at Stepstone during the first release of their initial class library. Marick, Brian. The Craft of Software Testing, Prentice-Hall, in press. Makes the argument that testing of object-oriented software is simply a special case of testing software which retains state and which is reused. The author can be reached at info@testing.com. Narick, Brian. "Testing Software that Reuses", Technical Note 2, Testing Foundations, Champaign, Illinois, 1992. Copies may be obtainable via email. The author can be reached at info@testing.com. Murphy, G.C., Wong, P. 1992, Towards a Testing Methodology for Object Oriented Systems, M.P.R Teltech Ltd. A poster at the Conference on Object Oriented Programming Systems, Languages and Applications ACM. Copies of this paper can be obtained through townsend@mprgate.mpr.ca. Murphy, G. and P. Wong. Object-Oriented Systems Testing Methodology: An Overview. Techical Report TR92-0656, MPR Teltech Ltd., October 1992. Perry, D.E. and G.E. Kaiser, "Adequate Testing and Object-Oriented Programming", Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, 2(5):13-19, Jan/Feb 1990. Purchase, Jan A. and Russel L. Winder, "Debugging tools for object-oriented programming", Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, June, 1991, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 10 - 27. Smith, M. D. and D. J. Robson, " A Framework for Testing Object-Oriented Programs", JOOP, 5(3):45-53, June 1992. Describes ways in which the usual approach to software testing could be adapted for object-oriented software. This paper, or one with the same title and authors, is available by anonymous ftp from vega.dur.ac.uk as "/pub/papers/foot.dvi". Smith, M. D. and D. J. Robson, "Object-Oriented Programming - the Problems of Validation", Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Software Maintenance 1990, IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA., pp. 272-281. Taylor, David. "A quality-first program for object technology", Object Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2, July-August 1992, pp17-18. SIGs Publications. The article talks some about why testing is important for OOP and describes one quality program. Theilen, David. "No Bugs. Delivering error free code in C and C++.", Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN:0-201-60890-1. Turner, C. D. and D. J. Robson, "The Testing of Object-Oriented Programs", Technical Report TR-13/92, Computer Science Division, School of Engineering and Computer Sciences (SECS), University of Durham, England. Includes a survey of existing literature on testing of OO programs. Testing of OOP is compared with traditional software testing. A state-based approach is described. This paper is available by anonymous ftp from vega.dur.ac.uk in /pub/papers. Get "toop.ps.Z" for A4 paper and "toopus.ps.Z" for US letter paper formatting. Turner, C. D. and D. J. Robson, "A Suite of Tools for the State-Based Testing of Object-Oriented Programs", Technical Report TR-14/92, Computer Science Division, School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS), University of Durham, Durham, England. Describes a series of tools for the generation and execution of test cases for OOP. These tools assume a state-based testing approach. This paper is available by anonymous ftp from vega.dur.ac.uk in /pub/papers. Get "tools.ps.Z" for A4 paper formatting or get "toolsus.ps.Z" for US letter formatting. Turner, C. D. and D. J. Robson, "Guidance for the Testing of Object- Oriented Programs", Technical Report TR-2/93, Computer Science Division, School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS), University of Durham, Durham, England. Discusses different methods of making class declarations and the implications of those methods for testing. This paper is available by anonymous ftp from vega.dur.ac.uk in /pub/papers. Get "guide.ps.Z" for A4 paper formatting or get "guideus.ps.Z" for US letter formatting. Turner, C. D. and D. J. Robson, "State-Based Testing and Inheritance", Technical Report TR-1/93, Computer Science Division, School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS), University of Durham, Durham, England. Discusses the implications of inheritance for testing, particularily incremental testing. This paper is available by anonymous ftp from vega.dur.ac.uk in /pub/papers. Get toopinht.ps.Z" for A4 paper formatting or get "toopinhtus.ps.Z" for US letter formatting. Wong, P. Automated Class Exerciser (ACE) User's Guide. Technical Report TR92-0655, MPR Teltech Ltd., September 1992. > Courses Berard Software Engineering, Inc. teaches a seminar on Testing of Object-Oriented Software (TOOS). The next one scheduled that I know of is November 8-12, in Washington. Call 301-417-9884 for details. Quality Fractals, Inc. has a course called "Testing Object-Oriented Software". Contact: 508-359-7273 (Box 337, Medfield, MA 02052). The course is taught by Shel Siegel of YESS!, Inc. Contact: 916-944-1032. > Software There is a smalltalk class library in the Univ. of Illinois archives which includes a simple Tester class written by Bruce Samuelson (bruce@utafll.uta.edu). It is a general superclass for application specific classes that test non-interactive objects such as trees, collections, or numbers. It is not suitable for testing user interface components such as windows, cursors, or scroll bars. The filein includes Tree classes, Tester itself, and subclasses of Tester that are used to validate the Tree classes. For ParcPlace Smalltalk (ObjectWorks 4.1 and VisualWorks 1.0). To get it ftp the file "/pub/st80_vw/TreeLW1.1" from st.cs.uiuc.edu. IPL Ltd. (in the UK) has a testing tool called Cantata which allows for testing C++, but as far as I am able to determine, it has no special features for C++ testing. From the product literature: Cantata allows testing to be performed in an intuitive way making the tool exceptionally easy to use and productive in operation. Cantata is suitable for testing software written in either C or C++. Cantata provides comprehensive facilities for all forms of dynamic testing, including: functional testing, structural testing, unit testing and integration testing. Cantata has been specifically designed to operate in both host and target systems and so allow full portability of tests between these environments. For more information contact IPL: IPL Ltd. Eveleigh House, Grove Street, Bath BA1 5LR UK (0225) 444888 (0225) 444400 (FAX) email: shaun@iplbath.demon.co.uk TestCenter from CenterLine will do coverage testing of C++ (and C) code. Also does some memory debugging (similar to Purify) and regression testing. Highlights from CenterLine literature: *Automatic run-time error-checking on executables to enhance quality *Automatic memory leak detection on executables to optimize memory use *Graphical test coverage to highlight any code not executed during test runs *Intuitive GUI for easy test analysis *Programmatic interface to output files and cumulative code coverage to support batch-mode and regression testing *No recompilation needed, resulting in quick turnaround *Complete C and C++ language support *Integration with leading programming tools for maximum productivity gains MicroTech Pacific Research (mpr.ca) has a C++ class testing tool called ACE (Automated Class Exerciser) which is available under non-disclosure agreement. It is not currently for sale. If you are interested, contact Paul Townsend, townsend@mprgate.mpr.ca. Software Research Inc. (625 Third St, San Francisco, CA 94107-1997, voice: 1-415-957-1441, email: info@soft.com) has a coverage tool for C++ that is called tcat++. It is an extension of SRI's tcat program. Quality Assured Software Engineering (938 Willowleaf Dr., Suite 2806, San Jose, CA 95128, voice: 1-408-298-3824 ) has a coverage tool for C and C++ called MetaC. It also dones some syntax checking and memory allocation checking. A group of volunteers is building a C++ test harness for the automated testing of C++, C and Perl programs. The system is called ETET (Extended Test Environment Toolkit). To join the group of volunteers, send email to etet_support@uel.co.uk The software is available via anonymous FTP from bright.ecs.soton.ac.uk (152.78.64.201) as "/pub/etet/etet1.10.1.tar.Z". They are looking for other FTP sites - sned email to the above address if you can provide one. This is a beta release and _should_ compile on any POSIX.1 system. As much of this work is being done by SunSoft, my guess is that the software will have the fewest problems on SunOS or Solaris releases. > ACKs Thanks to the following for helping assemble this list: Benjamin C. Cohen, bcohen@scdt.intel.com Brian Marick, marick@hal.cs.uiuc.edu Bruce Samuleson, bruce@utafll.uta.edu Daniel M. Hoffman, dhoffman@uvunix.uvic.ca Edward Klimas, ac690@cleveland.freenet.edu John Graham, J.Graham@axion.bt.co.uk Jim Youlio, jim@bse.com Jeffery Brown, jeffrey.brown@medtronic.com Lars Jonsson, konlajo@etna.ericsson.se Manfred Scheifert, ch_schie@rcvie.co.at Mark Swanson, mswanson@mechmail.cv.com Mary L. Schweizer, mary@gdwest.gd.com Michael Einkauf, Michael_Einkauf@iegate.mitre.org Paul Townsend, townsend@mprgate.mpr.ca Phyllis G. Frankl, pfrankl@polyof.poly.edu Rachel Harrison, rh@ecs.soton.ac.uk Risto Hakli, rkh@tko.vtt.fi Russ Hopler, russ@bse.com Stephane Barbey, barbey@di.epfl.ch Tony Reis, tonyr@hpsadln.sr.hp.com Yawar Ali, yali@bnr.ca 3.12) What Distributed Systems Are Available? --------------------------------------------- The following post helps to provide some answers with at least a partial list. See also Appendix E. From: rmarcus@bcsaic.boeing.com (Bob Marcus) Newsgroups: comp.object,comp.client-server Subject: Distributed Computing Products Overview Date: 17 Sep 93 00:02:40 GMT Organization: Boeing Computer Services DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING PRODUCTS OVERVIEW There was a recent posting concerning the relationship between OMG's CORBA and Distributed Transaction Processing Monitors. In general, there is a lot of uncertainty as to how the various distributed computing tools, products and environments might work together. Below is the outline of an eight-page posting to the Corporate Facilitators of Object-Oriented Technology (CFOOT) mailing list addressing these issues. Let me know if you would like a copy of the posting and/or to be added to the CFOOT mailing list. Bob Marcus rmarcus@atc.boeing.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME GENERAL REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MULTIPROTOCOL NETWORK TRANSPORTS Peer Logic (PIPES) ATT (Transport Layer Interface) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MICROKERNELS OSF(Mach) Chorus Systems (Chorus) Microsoft (NT) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- REMOTE PROCEDURE CALLS NobleNet (EZ-RPC) Netwise (Netwise-RPC) ATT/Sun (TI-RPC) OSF (DCE/RPC) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CONVERSATIONAL PROGRAMMING IBM(Common Programming Interface-Communications) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MESSAGING PRODUCTS System Strategies/IBM (MQ Series) Horizon Strategies (Message Express) Covia Systems(Communications Integrator) Momentum Software(X-IPC) Creative System Interface (AAI) Digital (DECmessageQ) HP (Sockets)(BMS) IBM (DataTrade)(DAE) Suite Software (SuiteTalk) Symbiotics (Networks) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PUBLISH AND SUBSCRIBE MESSAGING Sun(Tooltalk) Teknekron (Teknekron Information Bus) ISIS(Distributed News) Expert Database Systems (Rnet) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS OSF/DCE ISIS(Distributed Toolkit) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSACTION PROCESSING MANAGERS Unix Systems Lab (Tuxedo) Information Management Company (Open TransPort) NCR (TopEnd) Transarc (Encina) IBM/HP/Transarc (Open CICS) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DISTRIBUTED WORKSTATION EXECUTION SYSTEMS Aggregate Systems (NetShare) Platform Computing(Utopia) ISIS(Resource Manager) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OBJECT REQUEST BROKERS Hyperdesk (Distributed Object Manager) IBM Distributed System Object Model(DSOM) Microsoft (Distributed OLE) Iona Technologies Ltd. (Orbix) BBN (Cronus) ISIS (RDOM) Qualix (NetClasses) Symbiotics (Networks!) Digital(ACA Services) Object-Oriented Technologies (SuiteDOME) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SYSTEM MANAGEMENT OSF (Distributed Management Environment) Legent Digital Analysis (HyperManagement) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DISTRIBUTED DEVELOPMENT/EXECUTION PRODUCTS Texas Instruments (Information Engineering Facility) HP (SoftBench) Digital (COHESIONworX) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DISTRIBUTED DEVELOPMENT/EXECUTION PRODUCTS Independence Technologies (iTRAN) Intellicorp(Kappa) ISIS Distributed Systems (RDOM) Early, Cloud & Company (Message Driven processor) Expersoft(XShell) Cooperative Solutions(Ellipse) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.13) What Is The MVC Framework? -------------------------------- MVC stands for Model-View-Controller. This framework was originally adopted in Smalltalk to support Graphical User Interfaces. Views support graphical interfacing, controllers handle interaction, and models are the application objects. See [Krasner 88] and [LaLonde 90b]. From: Carl Petter Swensson Prof. Trygve Reenskaug is generally cited as being the creator of the MVC concept. He worked with the Smalltalk group at Xerox PARC as a visiting scientist in 78/79. During this stay at Xerox PARC he developed the MVC. I know him well and have talked to him about this. He confirms it, although stating that it was a collaborative effort at Xerox PARC. The implementation of MVC in Smalltalk-80 has since been further developed by ParcPlace Systems. He has worked with Smalltalk in a commercial and research environments since then. His group at the Centre for Industral Research in Oslo (now part of the SINTEF group) had the only Smalltalk-78 implementation outside Xerox PARC. He is now working with Taskon AS. The ideas that initially gave MVC has been developed further and is the basis of the work Trygve is currently doing on the OOram methodology. 3.14) What is Real-Time? ------------------------ Real-time is our linear extrapolation/perception of imaginary time (along the quantum wave function (OTU) in ten dimensions, of course). [This section is YTBI] 3.15) What Is Available on OO Metrics? -------------------------------------- This section is still building. http://www.sbu.ac.uk/~csse/publications/OOMetrics.html [Berard 93] contains an elaborate bibliography and section on OO metrics. [Booch 94] also contains some coverage. Also: Object Oriented Software development Mark Lorenz ISBN 0-13-726928-5 Prentice Hall Software Metrics Grady-Caswell ISBN 0-13-821844-7 Prentice Hall Measuring Software Design Quality Card-Glass ISBN 0-13-568593-1 Prentice Hall From: trilk@informatik.tu-muenchen.de (Joern Trilk) Newsgroups: comp.object,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.databases.object Subject: Re: In search of OO Metrics Date: 20 Jun 1994 14:29:27 GMT Organization: Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany >... Here are some references: @article{inheriting:1993, author = {G. Michael Barnes and Bradley R. Swim}, title = {Inheriting software metrics}, journal = {JOOP}, year = {1993}, month = {Nov./Dec.}, volume = {6}, number = {7}, pages = {27-34} } @article{a-new-metr:1993, author = {J.-Y. Chen and J.-F. Lu}, title = {A new metric for object-oriented design}, journal = {Information and Software Technology}, year = {1993}, month = apr, volume = {35}, number = {4}, pages = {232-240} } @inproceedings{towards-a-:1991, author = {Shyam R. Chidamber and Chris F. Kemerer}, title = {Towards a Metrics Suite for Object Oriented Design}, booktitle = {OOPSLA '91 Proceeedings}, year = {1991}, pages = {197-211} } @inproceedings{software-m:1992, author = {J. Chris Coppick and Thomas J. Cheatham}, title = {Software Metrics for Object-Oriented Systems}, booktitle = {CSC '92 Proceedings}, year = {1992}, pages = {317-322} } @inproceedings{some-metri:1991, author = {B. Henderson-Sellers}, title = {Some metrics for object-oriented software engineering}, booktitle = {TOOLS Proceedings}, year = {1991}, pages = {131-139} } @article{object-ori:1993, author = {Wei Li and Sallie Henry}, title = {Object-Oriented Metrics that Predict Maintainability}, journal = {J. Systems Software}, year = {1993}, volume = {23}, pages = {111-122} } @inproceedings{workshop-r:1992, author = {Teri Roberts}, title = {Workshop Report - Metrics for Object-Oriented Software Development}, booktitle = {OOPSLA '92 (Addendum to the Proceedings)}, year = {1992}, pages = {97-100} } @techreport{softwareme:1991, author = {A. Buth}, title = {Softwaremetriken f{\"u}r objekt-orientierte Programmiersprachen}, institution = {Gesellschaft f{\"u}r Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung}, year = {1991}, month = jun, number = {545}, type = {Arbeitspapiere der GMD} } The Software Engineering FAQ lists the following references concerning metrics for object-oriented systems: Date: 26 Jan 1993 Originally collected by: ZUSE%DB0TUI11.BITNET@vm.gmd.de (Horst Zuse) a. Morris Kenneth L. Metrics for Object-Oriented Software Development Environments (master's thesis). 1989, MIT. b. Rocacher, Daniel: Metrics Definitions for Smalltalk. Project ESPRIT 1257, MUSE WP9A, 1988. c. Rocacher, Daniel: Smalltalk Measure Analysis Manual. Project ESPRIT 1257, MUSE WP9A, 1989. d. Lake, Al: A Software Complexity Metric for C++. Annual Oregon Workshop on Software Metrics, March 22-24, 1992, Silver Falls, Oregon, USA. e. Bieman, J.M.: Deriving Measures of Software Reuse in Object Oriented Systems. Technical Report #CS91-112, July 1991, Colorado State Universty, Fort Collins/ Colorado, USA. Hope this helps, Joern ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Joern Trilk Phone: ++49-89-2105-2391 Institut fuer Informatik (H1) Fax: ++49-89-2105-5296 TU Muenchen Email: trilk@informatik.tu-muenchen.de 80290 Muenchen ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsgroups: comp.software-eng From: scottw@advsysres.com (Scott A. Whitmire) Subject: Re: Any good OO metrics? Organization: Advanced Systems Research Date: Mon, 28 Nov 1994 05:58:29 GMT In <3baqhn$crg@newsbf01.news.aol.com>, cjdavies@aol.com (Cjdavies) writes: >Has anyone come up with metrics that work realistically for OO >development? The old lines of code, cyclomatic complexity and Halstead >metrics don't work so well with OO languages such as Smalltalk (or any >language that facilitates reuse). Also, has anyone adapted function >points to OO languages? Any ideas would be most welcome. >Thanks, >Colin Davies. Several people have been working in metrics for oo development. For a quick synopsis, check out my article in the "Encyclopedia of Software Engineering" edited by John Marciniak and published by John Wiley & Sons. The article gives an overview of the work being done in the field, and what needs to be done. It is a couple of years old now, but there really isn't that much going on. I did run into one book called "Object-Oriented Software Metrics" (I forget the authors), but I didn't think much of it. Your assessment of LOC, cyclomatic complexity, and Halsted are right on the money. As for function points and OO, I think you'll find two papers useful. The first is a chapter I wrote for the "Software Engineering Productivity Handbook" edited by Jessica Keyes and published by McGraw-Hill. It applies standard function points to OO software. I suspect you'll find standard function points wanting. I use an extension I developed a couple of years ago called 3D function points. I have an electronic (plain text) version of the paper I can send if you like. Metrics and OO development are fairly new to each other. I am working on ways to measure such design characteristics as cohesion, coupling, complexity, similarity and the like. I haven't been too thrilled with the work that has been done so far. Much of it has serious theoretical and technical flaws. Scott A. Whitmire scottw@advsysres.com Advanced Systems Research 25238 127th Avenue SE tel:(206)631-7868 Kent Washington 98031 fax:(206)630-2238 Consultants in networking, network-based applications, and software metrics. 3.16) What Are Visual Object-Oriented Programming Systems? See also http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/computing/visual.html. There is also a comp.lang.visual and FAQ, similar to the www html above. Visual programming is the use of graphics and graphical techniques in computer programming. It is becoming more common to see many approaches to visual/graphical programming languages emerging that incorporate the object-oriented programming philisophy. Toward this end, developers of new programming languages and programming environments are exploring how to combine visual programming with object-oriented programming by investigating how the basic concepts of OOP -- data abstraction, instantiation, composition, and specialization -- create new opportunities for programming using visual means of construction. A workshop on this topic was conducted at the 1993 OOPSLA, and a workshop summary appeared as part of the 1993 OOPSLA Addendum. Several of the presenters at the workshop developed full versions of their presentations, which are available in book form: Visual Object-Oriented Programming: Concepts and Environments, Margaret Burnett, Adele Goldberg, and Ted Lewis, editors, Prentice-Hall/Manning Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1995. http://www.cs.orst.edu/techpub/vlib/vlib/Visual-OOP/CARD.html ----- Margaret Burnett . e-mail: burnett@cs.orst.edu Assistant Professor . WWW page: http://www.cs.orst.edu/~burnett/ Computer Science Dept. . Oregon State University . Corvallis, Oregon 97331 USA . 3.17) What Tutorials Are Available On Object-Oriented Concepts and Languages? Date: Thu, 25 May 95 17:31:21 EDT From: wheeler@ida.org (David Wheeler) A list of C/C++ tutorials, including online tutorials, is maintained at: http://vinny.csd.mu.edu/learn.html Note that C and C++ are treated together. One of the tutorials listed is the course: "Introduction to Object Oriented Programming Using C++", a self-paced class within the Globewide Network Academy [GNA]; this course may be found at: http://uu-gna.mit.edu:8001/uu-gna/text/cc/index.html Another course listed is the Coronado Enterprises C++ Tutorial, which assumes that the user is already familiar with C (not necessarily ANSI C). It may be downloaded from: anonymous@oak.oakland.edu:simtel/msdos/cpluspls/cptuts22.zip anonymous@oak.oakland.edu:simtel/msdos/cpluspls/cptutt22.zip One Ada 95 on-line tutorial is Lovelace, which is intended for those who are already familiar with other algorithmic programming languages and are somewhat familiar with object orientation. Lovelace is available at: anonymous@lglftp.epfl.ch:/pub/Ada/HTML/lovelace.zip http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Ada/Tutorials/Lovelace/lovelace.html Other Ada tutorials are listed in: http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Ada/Tutorials/Lovelace/othert.html The Sather home page includes a list of Sather tutorials in its "Getting Started" section: http://http.icsi.berkeley.edu/Sather/ The BETA language is introduced in: http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~beta/Tutorials/BETAintroduction/BETAintroduction.html A large list of SELF-related papers available electronically is at: http://self.stanford.edu/papers/papers.html The Booch design method is briefly described in http://www.itr.ch/tt/case/BoochReferenz/ For a list of many different resources of computer-language-specific information, see the YAHOO list of computer languages at: http://www.yahoo.com/Computers/Languages/ SECTION 4: COMMONLY ASKED LANGUAGE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ====================================================== 4.1) What is Downcasting? -------------------------- Downcasting is the term used in C++ for casting a pointer or reference to a base class to a derived class. This should usually be checked with an embedded dynamic typing scheme if such a scheme is not present in the language, such as with a typecase (Modula-3) or inspect (Simula) construct. In C++, it is even possible to use conversion functions to perform some checks, although the proposed RTTI will perform checked downcasting as its primary ability. 4.2) What are Virtual Functions? --------------------------------- Look under "Dynamic Binding" and "Polymorphism". 4.3) Can I Use Multiple-Polymorphism Or Multi-Methods In C++? --------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, but you'll need to embed a dynamic typing scheme to do it. With dynamic types in place, an overriding method in a derived class can explicitly check argument types in a switch statement and invoke the desired method emulating multiple-polymorphism [See Coplien 92]. For true CLOS multi-methods, the above technique implemented as a base function (CLOS defgeneric), switching to specialized functions (CLOS methods, made friends of all arguments) will provide the functional calling syntax, multiple- polymorphism and access to parameters found in CLOS. This can require some complex switching, which is somewhat mitigated when multiple-polymorphism is implemented with virtual functions. Future FAQs should contain more detail. 4.4) Can I Use Dynamic Inheritance In C++? ------------------------------------------- Yes, [Coplien 92] describes a scheme where a class can contain a pointer to a base class that can switch between its derived classes, providing a limited form. Earlier chapters contain entries on bypassing C++'s message system and even bypassing static linking. Future FAQs should contain more detail. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ====================== [Agrawal 91] R. Agrawal et al. "Static Type Checking of Multi-Methods". OOPSLA 91. Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages, and Applications. ACM Press. Addison Wesley. Compile-time checking and optimizations for multi-methods. [Aho 86] Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi, and Jeffrey D. Ullman. Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1986. Authoritative, classic book on compilers and optimizations. Type chapter contains section on type inferencing (using ML as an example). [Berard 93] Edward V. Berard. Essays on Object-Oriented Software Engineering. Prentice Hall. Many topics on OOSE, includes coverage of OO domain and requirements analysis. [Black 86] A. Black et al. Object-Structure in the Emerald System. OOPSLA '86 Conference Proceedings, SIGPLAN Notices (Special Issue), Vol. 21, n0. 11, pp 78-86. [I believe there is a more recent article, YTBI] The original article on Emerald. OO language without inheritance but with abstract types and static subtype polymorphism. Also designed for distributed programming and reuse. See article for references: Jade on reuse [Raj 89]) and Distr. Prog. [Black 87] A. Black, N. Hutchinson, E. Jul, H. Levyand L. Carter. Distribution and Abstract Types in Emerald, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. SE13, no. 1 Jam., pp 65-76. Subtype polymorphism for distributed programming in Emerald [Black 86]. [Blair 89] "Genericity vs Inheritance vs Delegation vs Conformance vs ..." Gordon Blair, John Gallagher and Javad Malik, Journal of Object Oriented Programming, Sept/Oct 1989, pp11-17. Recommended by a reader, but the Author has yet to review this article. [Boehm 86] B.W. Boehm. A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement. Software Engineering Notes, Aug., vol. 11 (4), p 22. Presents an alternative evolutionary approach to the strict waterfall software engineering life-cycle. Now a classic, most OO methodologies now emphasize the iterative or evolutionary approach to software development. [Booch 87] Grady Booch. Software Engineering with Ada. 2nd Ed. Benjamin Cummings. Booch in his early years. Mostly object-based programming with Ada. [Booch 87b] Grady Booch. Software Components With Ada, Structures, Tools, and Subsystems. Benjamin Cummings. A taxonomy and collection of object-based components in Ada (includes code). Has many examples with generics. [Booch 91] Booch, Grady. Object-Oriented Design With Applications. Benjamin Cummings. The often referred to book on OOD. Offers design notation and methodology. Brief coverage of OOA and elaborate OOD/P coverage in the applications. Good on basic principles and has case studies in Smalltalk, Object Pascal, C++, CLOS and Ada. Also contains an *elaborate* classified bibliography on many areas of OO. [Booch 94] Grady Booch. Object-Oriented Analysis And Design With Applications, 2nd Ed. Benjamin Cummings. ISBN 0-8053-5340-2. The next FAQ should be updated to the second edition. All examples are now in C++. Booch incorporates several other major methodologies including Wirf-Brock's CRC (Class-Responsibility-Collaboration) and Jacobson's Use- Cases. [Cardelli 85] L. Cardelli and P. Wegner. On Understanding Types, Data Abstraction, and Polymorphism. ACM Computing Surveys vol. 17 (4). Long, classic article on Object-Oriented Types, Data Abstraction and Polymorphism. Formal coverage with a type system analysis model as well. [Chambers 92] Craig Chambers. The Design and Implementation of the SELF Compiler, an Optimizing Compiler for Object-Oriented Programming Languages. Dept of Computer Science, Stanford University, March 1992. Covers type optimizations for OO compilers. See Appendix E, PAPERS. [Chambers 93] Craig Chambers. Predicate Classes. Proceedings ECOOP '93 O. Nierstrasz, LNCS 707. Springer-Verlag, Kaiserslautern, Germany July 1993 pp 268-296 "... an object is automatically an instance of a predicate class whenever it satisfies a predicate expression associated with the predicate class. The predicate expression can test the value or state of the object, thus supporting a form of implicit property-based classification that augments the explicit type-based classification provided by normal classes. By associating methods with predicate classes, method lookup can depend not only on the dynamic class of an argument but also on its dynamic value or state. [...] A version of predicate classes has been designed and implemented in the context of the Cecil language. See Appendix E, PAPERS. [de Champeaux 93] Dennis de Champeaux, Doug Lea, Penelope Faure. Object-Oriented System Development. Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-56355-X. Covers an integrated treatment of OOA and OOD. Takes serious the computational model of one thread per object. Gives more than usual attention to the OOA&D micro process. Presents a unique OOD language. [Coad 91] Peter Coad and Edward Yourdon. Object-Oriented Analysis, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall. Coad and Yourdon's OO analysis method. [Coad 91b] Peter Coad and Edward Yourdon. Object-Oriented Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall. Coad and Yourdon's OO design method. [Coleman 94] Derek Coleman, et. al. Object-Oriented Development - The Fusion Method. Prentice-Hall Object-Oriented Series. ISBN 0-13-338823-9 Fusion is considered to be a second generation OOAD method in that it builds on successful components of a number of first generation methods (OMT, Booch, CRC, Objectory, etc). However, this has been done with the requirements of industrial software developers in mind. And so issues of traceability, management etc. have been taken into consideration and the Method provides full coverage from requirements through to code. [Cook 90] W.R. Cook, W.L.Hill, P.S. Canning. Inheritance Is Not Subtyping. Appeared in [Hudak 90] and Gunter 94]. Theoretical article on the separation between type and class, or as the authors state between implementation inheritance and subtyping. [Coplien 92] James O. Coplien. Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms. Addison Wesley. Covers advanced C++ programming and performing other more advanced and dynamic styles of OO in C++. [Colbert 89] E. Colbert. The Object-Oriented Software Development Method: a practical approach to object-oriented development. Tri-Ada Proc., New York. Presents the Object-Oriented Software development method. Has emphasis on objects. [Cox 86,91] Cox, Brad J. Object-Oriented Programming, An Evolutionary Approach. Addison Wesley. The original book on Objective-C. Coverage on object-oriented design and programming. Also covers Objective-C implementation, even into object code. Objective-C... '91 AW by Pinson and Wiener provide another good text. [Embley 92] D.W. Embley, B.D. Kurtz, S.N. Woodfield. Object-Oriented Systems Analysis, A Model-Driven Approach. Yourdon Press/Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Presents the Embley and Kurtz OO methodology. [Garfinkel 93] Simson L. Garfinkel and Michael K. Mahoney. NeXTSTEP PROGRAMMING STEP ONE: Object-Oriented Applications. Springer-Verlag. Introduction to the NextStep environment and applications development. [Goldberg 83] Adele Goldberg and David Robson. Smalltalk-80 The Language and Its Implementation. Addison Wesley. The original book on Smalltalk. Covers implementation. Also known as "the Blue Book". Out of print. Superceded by [Goldberg ??]. [Goldberg ??] Adele Goldberg and David Robson. Smalltalk-80: The Language. Addison-Wesley. The "Purple Book". Omits the obsolete abstract virtual machine description from the Blue Book. [Gunter 94] Carl A. Gunter and John C. Mitchell. Theoretical Aspects of Object- Oriented Programming. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-07155-X. Highly mathematical, formal coverage of object-oriented programming; primarily on typing. [Harmon 93] Paul Harmon. Objects In Action: Commercial Applications Of Object- Oriented Technologies. Jan, 1993. A-W ISBN 0-201-63336-1. Sponsored by the OMG to summarize the use of OO technology in industry and business, contains a brief history and summary of OO and many case studies. [HOOD 89] HOOD Working Group. HOOD Reference Manual Issue 3.0. WME/89-173/JB. Hood User Manual Issue 3.0. WME/89-353/JB. European Space Agency. Presnets the HOOD (Hierarchical Object-Oriented Design) OOSE methodology. From the European Space Agency. Based on Ada and object-based. [Hudak 90] P. Hudak. Principles of Programming Languages. ACM Press, pp 125 -135. Contains several articles, including [Cook 90]. [Hudak 92] Paul Hudak and Simon Peyton Jones. Haskell Report. SIGPLAN Notices. 1992, vol 27, no 5. Haskell reference. [Humphrey 89] Watts Humphrey. Managing the Software Process. Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-18095-2 Sponsored by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), the presented project management model is inspired by the work of Boehm, Brooks, Deming and Juran and represents a strong step in the direction of achieving 6 sigma defect rate prevention and optimizing the software development process for quality, productivity, and reliability. Presents the CMM, see section 1.21. [Humphrey 95] Watts S. Humphrey - "A Discipline for Software Engineering", 816 pp., $47.50, 1995, Addison-Wesley (1-800-824-7799) ISBN 0-201-54610-8 A scaled down version of [Humphrey 89] for individual software engineers. A new classic. See section 1.21. [IBM 90,91] Various Documents from the IBM International Technical Centers: GG24-3647-00, GG24-3641-00, GG24-3566-00, GG24-3580-00. Present IBM's OOSE methodology. [ISO] ISO Standards Compendium - ISO 9000 Quality Management, 5th edition. Switzerland. ISBN 92-67-10206-0. The complete standard. 9000-3 discusses software and 9004 is a quality management standard. [Jacobson 92] Ivar Jacobson, et al. Object-Oriented Software Engineering - A Use Case Driven Approach. ACM Press/Addison Wesley. Presents Jacobson's new OOSE methodology based on use cases. [Jacobson 94] Ivar Jacobson. Toward Mature Object Technology. ROAD, Vol. 1, No. 1, May-June. SIGS Publications. Overview of OOSE's object-oriented approach. Includes specialized objects and layering for complexity management. [Jones 92] Rick Jones. Extended type checking in Eiffel. Journal of Object- Oriented Programming, May 1992 issue, pp.59-62. Presents subtype polymorphic extension to Eiffel (static typing only). [Jurik 92] John A. Jurik, Roger S. Schemenaur, "Experiences in Object Oriented Development," ACM 0-89791-529-1/92/0011-0189. Presents the EVB OOSE methodology. Also: Barbara McAllister, Business Development, EVB Software Engineering, Inc., (301)695-6960, barb@evb.com. [Kiczales 92] Gregor Kiczales, Jim des Rivieres, Daniel G. Bobrow. The Art of the Metaobject Protocol. The MIT Press. Reflection and Metaobject Protocols (MOPs). Uses a CLOS subset, Clossette, as a foundation. [Kim 89] Won Kim and Frederick Lochovsky Editors. Object-Oriented Concepts, Applications, and Databases. Collection of articles on advanced OO and research systems. [Krasner 88] G. E. Krasner and S. T. Pope. A Cookbook for Using the Model-View- Controller User Interface Paradigm in Smalltalk-80. JOOP, vol 1, no 3, August/ September, 1988, pp 26-49, An early paper published on MVC. [Lakoff 87] George Lakoff. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About The Mind. UOC Press. An almost formal view of classification/categorization by the noted cognitive scientist, George Lakoff. His view blasts objectivism and contends to replace it with a subjectivist view, based on a study of humans, natural language, and concept formation. [LaLonde 90] Wilf R. LaLonde and John R. Pugh. Inside Smalltalk: Volume 1. Prentice Hall. Good introduction to Smalltalk. [LaLonde 90b] Wilf R. LaLonde and John R. Pugh. Inside Smalltalk: Volume 2. Prentice Hall. Excellent coverage of MVC. However, it's based on ParcPlace Smalltalk-80, version 2.5, which is obsolete. [Liskov 93] Barbara Liskov and Jeannette M. Wing. Specifications and Their use in Defining Subtypes. OOPSLA 93, pp 16-28. ASM SIGPLAN Notices, V 28, No 10, Oct. 1993. A-W ISBN 0-201-58895-1. Specifications on Subtype hierarchies. Helps to insure the semantic integrity of a separate subtype system. See section 2.7. [Madsen 93] Ole Lehrmann Madsen, Birger Moller-Pedersen, Kristen Nygaard: Object-oriented programming in the BETA programming language. Addison-Wesley, June 1993. ISBN 0 201 62430 3 The new and authoritative book on BETA, by the original designers. They are some of the same designers of the Simula languages, originating OO. Also just announced: Object-Oriented Environments: The Mjolner Approach Editors: Jorgen Lindskov Knudsen, Mats Lofgren, Ole Lehrmann Madsen, Boris Magnusson Prentice Hall: The Object-Oriented Series ISBN: 0-13-009291-6 (hbk) [Martin 92] James Martin and James J. Odell. Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Its primary purpose is to indicate how information engineering (IE) can be evolved to accommodate OO. The analysis portion (starting at Chapter 15) attempts to go back to 'first principles' and is based on a formal foundation. Therefore, the IE aspect is not required. Emphasis is more on analysis than design. [Meyer 88] Bertrand Meyer. Object-Oriented Software Construction. Prentice Hall. [Is there a new edition out?] The original book on Eiffel. Coverage on object-oriented design and programming. Also: [Meyer 92] Bertrand Meyer. Eiffel: The Language. Prentice Hall. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 1992. The definitive book on Eiffel by its author. [Meyer 94] Bertrand Meyer. Reusable Software: The Base Object-Oriented Components Libraries. The new Eiffel class Libraries. [Mugridge 91] Warwick B. Mugridge et al. Multi-Methods in a Statically-Typed Programming Language. Proc. ECOOP. Efficient implementation of Multi-Methods. [Murray 93] Robert B. Murray. C++ Strategies and Tactics. Addison Wesley. C++, has template examples. [Nerson 92] Jean-Marc Nerson. Applying Object-Oriented Analysis and Design. CACM, 9/92. Demonstrates the basics of the BON method/notation. Nerson: marc@eiffel.fr [Paepcke 93] Andreas Paepcke. Object-Oriented Programming: The CLOS Perspective. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-16136-2. CLOS, readable introduction to its metaobject protocol, comparisons with other languages, uses and methodology, and implementation. Develops a persistent object metaclass example. [Raj 89] R.K. Raj and H.M. Levy. A Compositional Model for Software Reuse. The Computer Journal, Vol 32, No. 4, 1989. A novel approach aading reuse to Emerald [Black 86] without inheritance. [Reenskaug 91] T. Reenskaug, et al. OORASS: seamless support for the creation and maintenance of object-oriented systems. Journal of Object-Oriented Programming, 5(6). Presents the Object-Oriented Role Analysis, synthesis, and Structuring OOSE methodology. [Reenskaug 95] T. Reenskaug, et al. WORKING WITH OBJECTS: The OOram Software Engineering Method Manning ISBN: 1-884777-10-4, PH ISBN: 0-13-452930-8. Accolades: "...the authors take you on a journey through object techniques filled with examples. You will come away from this book enriched, with a sound understanding of OT-based abstractions for modeling programs." Richard Mark Soley, OMG "The first method that deals realistically with reuse, and one of the few that comes close to describing what I do when I design." Ralph Johnson, University of Illinois "...the first complete account of role-based methods that have proven to be a step forward in OO design and development." [Rout 95] T.T. Rout. Ed. Software Process Assessment: Theory and Practice. Proceedings, 2nd International SPICE Symposium. Australian Software Quality Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia., June 1 - 2, 1995. ISBN 0 86857 676 X. Excellent coverage of the new SPICE standard: history, present details, goals. [Royce 70] W. W. Royce. Managing the Development of Large Software Systems. Proceedings of IEEE WESCON, August 1970. Introduces the Waterfall Process Model. [Rumbaugh 91] Rumbaugh James, et al. Object-Oriented Modeling and Design. Prentice Hall. The often referred to book on OOA/OOD. Introduces the Object Modeling Technique (OMT) OOA/D notation and methodology. Has case studies. [Sciore 89] Edward Sciore. Object Specialization. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, Vol. 7, No. 2, April 1989, p 103. A hybrid approach between delegation and classical OO. [Selic 94] Bran Selic, Garth Gullekson, and Paul T. Ward. Real-Time Object-Oriented Modeling. Published by John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-59917-4 OO method addresses complete lifecycle needs of real-time systems. Emphasizes executable models for early validation of requirements, architecture, and design combined with techniques for automatic generation of implementations. Specifically real-time with iterative and incremental development process. Single consistent graphical modeling concepts apply uniformly to OOA/D/I. [Shlaer 88] Sally Shlaer and Stephen J. Mellor. Object-Oriented Systems Analysis: Modeling the World in Data. Credited as the first book proposing an OOA method. [Shlaer 92] Sally Shlaer and Stephen J. Mellor. Object Lifecycles: Modeling the World in States. An addition to [Shlaer 88], provides dynamic modeling with a state- transition driven approach. [Strachey 67] C. Strachey. Fundamental Concepts in programming languages. Lecture Notes for International Summer School in Computer Programming, Copenhagen, Aug. Contains original, classical definition of polymorphism. [Stroustrup 90] Ellis, M.A., Stroustrup. The Annotated C++ Reference Manual. Addison Wesley. The ARM; the original and definitive book on C++. Serves as the ANSI base document for C++. Also covers C++ implementation. It is meant as a reference (including for compiler writers), not as a tutorial for beginners. Perhaps a better ref is [Stroustrup 91]. [Stroustrup 91] Stroustrup, B. The C++ Programming Language (2nd edition). Has the ARM, better reference for the use of C++ (recommended by bs). Contains sections on object-oriented software engineering. [Tasker 93] Dan Tasker. The Problem Space, Practical Techniques for Gathering & Specifying Requirements. ISBN: 0-646-12524-9. Avail only from author, dant@swdev.research.otc.com.au. Object-oriented requirements definition. Hypertext. Uses Rumbaugh's OMT as a base. See also APPENDIX D. [Ungar 87] D. Ungar and R.B. Smith. The Self Papers. [Entry To Be Completed] The documents on Self; a delegation/prototyping language. Also covers Self implementation and optimization. See also APPENDIX E, PAPERS section. [Wasserman 90] A.I. Wasserman et al. The Object-Oriented Software Design Notation for Software Design Representation. IEEE Computer, 23(3). Presents the Object-Oriented Structured Design (OOSD) OOSE methodology. Traditional structured techniques to OO, hybrid containing structured design and Booch. [Wegner 87] Peter Wegner. "Dimensions of Object-Based Language Design", Proceedings of OOPSLA '87, October 4-8 1987, SIGPLAN Notices (Special Issue), V22, No 12, pp168-182, 1987. [Wikstrom 87] Ake Wikstrom. Functional Programming Using Standard ML. Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-331661-0, 1987. ML reference. [Wilkie 93] George Wilkie. Object-Oriented Software Engineering - The Professional Developer's Guide. Addison Wesley. Covers OOSE, 11 popular analysis and design methodologies with examples, comparisons, and analysis, information systems (OODB), and case studies. [Winter Partners] Winter Partners A proprietary toolset (OSMOSYS) for OOA and OOD. Winter Partners London Office: Zurich Office: West Wing, The Hop Exchange 24a Southwark Street Florastrasse 44 London SE1 1TY CH-8008 Zurich England Switzerland Tel. +44-(0)71-357-7292 Tel. +41-(0)1-386-95 11 Fax. +44-(0)71-357-6650 Fax. +41-(0)1-386-95 00 [Wirfs-Brock 90] Rebecca Wirfs-Brock, Brian Wilkerson, Lauren Wiener. Designing Object Oriented Software, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice Hall. Presents a "Responsibility Driven Design" (RDD) with "Class, Responsibility, Collaboration" (CRC) technique, a modern and new OOA/OOD methodology. [Yaoqing 93] Gao Yaoqing and Yuen Chung Kwong. A Survey of Implementations of Parallel, Concurrent, and Distributed Smalltalk. ACM SIGPLAN Notices. Vol 28, No. 9, Sept 93. Covers implementations of Parallel, Concurrent, and Distributed Smalltalk. [Yourdon 92] Edward Yourdon. Decline and Fall of the American Programmer. YPCS. Excellent coverage of modern software engineering practice and world-class software development organizations. APPENDICES ========== APPENDIX A VIPS ================ These are individuals whose names appear in comp.object most often. Please send recommendations for *major* VIPS often cited or referenced. Booch, Grady ------------------------------- Grady Booch has been an object- based/oriented advocate for some time. He's written books such as Software Engineering with Ada [Booch 87], Software Components with Ada [Booch 87b], and OOA/D with Applications [Booch 91, 94]. His latest notations are often referred to as simply the "Booch" method or notation and he is Chief Scientist at Rational, a company providing training and automated support for the method with a tool named "Rose" (See Appendix D). The Booch method now incorporates many modern methods, including OMT, and Dr. Rumbaugh has recently joined forces with Grady at Rational. Cox, Brad --------- Founder of Objective-C, which grafts the Smalltalk facilities of an Object id and a messaging mechanism onto C. Author of [Cox 87]. Goldberg, Adele (Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls) ---------------------------------------- One of the founders of Smalltalk (with Alan Kay and Dan Ingalls). Coauthor of [Goldberg 83, ??], "Smalltalk-80 The Language and its Implementation". Smalltalk was invented by a group at Xerox PARC; and a spinoff, ParcPlace, is now marketing Smalltalk environments (see APPENDIX C). Meyer, Bertrand ------------------------------------- Founder of Eiffel, author of [Meyer 88]. Often posts to comp.lang.eiffel and comp.object [what a FAQ writer notices]. His company, Interactive Software Engineering, has a case tool called EiffelCase (see APPENDIX D). Nygaard, Kristen (and Dahl, Ole-Johan) -------------------------------------- Inventor of Simula, the first object-oriented programming language. Also inventor of object oriented design, for which Simula-67 was considered an implementation technique. Now B.B. Kristensen, O.L. Madsen, B. Moller- Pedersen, and K. Nygaard are working on BETA, their successor to Simula. Rumbaugh, Dr. James ------------------- Part of Rumbaugh, Blaha, Premerlani, Eddy and Lorenson, the authors of [Rumbaugh 91]. They all work for GE Corporate Research and Development Center in Schenectady New York (See below) and have an OOA/OOD notation/methodology called the "Object Modeling Technique" (OMT). It is a rather formal and complete method often discussed in comp.object. OMTool is the name of the CASE system provided by Martin Marietta which supports OMT. See APPENDIX D. Recently, Dr. Rumbaugh has joined forces with Chief Scientist Grady Booch at Rational: Rumbaugh@rational.com Shlaer, Sally (and Mellor, Stephen J.) -------------------------------------- >Sally Shlaer sally@projtech.com >Project Technology Training and Consulting using Shlaer-Mellor OOA/RD >Berkeley, CA (510) 845 1484 Also: steve@projtech.com Cofounder of the Shlaer/Mellor OOA/RD method, president of Project Technology. As shown above, occasionally posts to comp.object [what a FAQ writer notices]. Stroustrup, Bjarne (bs@alice.att.com) ------------------------------------- Inventor of C++, a C superset, which has probably gained the most widespread use of any object-oriented language today. Often found in comp.lang.c++ and comp.object. APPENDIX B OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASES AND VENDORS ================================================= This is a list of available Object-Oriented databases. Thanks go to Stewart Clamen, who's survey on schema evolution provided a good start. The list was updated March 1996 by Tim Harvey who keeps the mini-FAQ of object and object-relational vendors for the sister News group comp.object.databases. Additional short entries and corrections are encouraged; please send them to the author of the FAQ or Tim Harvey at: Email: timh@plaza.ds.adp.com rwi@teleport.com Voice: (503) 294-4200, Ext. 3313 The most recent copy of Stewart Clamen's summary on available databases support for schema evolution will be available indefinitely via anonymous FTP from BYRON.SP.CS.CMU.EDU:/usr/anon/OODBMS/evolution-summary. [Kim 89] covers a few of the research systems below in depth. Starred entries also have an entry in "APPENDIX E ANONYMOUS FTP SITES". See also section 3.5 for an Object Database Management Group (ODMG) reference. TABLE OF CONTENTS Extended Relational Database Model Research Systems POSTGRES* [marketed by Montage] Starburst [IBM almaden, entry NYI] Commercial Systems Illustra Montage [Research System POSTGRES] Omniscience ORDBMS Raima Database Manager/Velocis/Raima Object Manager Total ORDB [Cincom Systems] Object-Oriented Data Model Research Systems AVANCE CLOSQL ConceptBase* COOL/COCOON Encore* Exodus* Machiavelli MOOD4-PC* OBST/STONE* Ode* Oggetto Orion [marketed as ITASCA, see Entry] OTGen PLOB VODAK Commercial Systems ArtBASE EasyDB (Basesoft Open Systems, Sweden) GemStone IDB Object Database ITASCA Matisse NeoAccess OBST+ O2 Objectivity/DB ObjectStore Ontos [formerly VBase] Odapter/OpenODB program (HP) OOFILE Phyla POET Statice UniSQL Unisys Universal Repository Versant VisualWorks Other Models Research Systems GRAS* IRIS Commercial Systems IDL Kala Pick Interfaces Research Systems Penguin Commercial Systems AllegroStore (Franz) DBTools.h++ Object Gateway Persistence Subtleware Synchronicity (Smalltalk) EXTENDED RELATIONAL DB MODEL ---------------------------- Research Systems ________________ > POSTGRES (Berkeley) POSTGRES is an extended-relational database manager that supports inheritance, user-defined types, functions, and operators, ad-hoc queries, time travel, a rules system, tertiary storage devices, and very large typed objects, among other things. POSTGRES speaks postquel, a derivative of the quel query language originally designed at berkeley for the ingres database system. User functions may be written in C or in postquel. C functions will be dynamically loaded into the database server on demand, and either kind of function may be executed from the query language. POSTGRES and the papers that describe it are available free of charge from toe.CS.Berkeley.EDU (128.32.149.117) in directory pub/postgres. The code is stored in a directory named after the latest release; at the time of this writing, that directory is postgres-v4r1. The list of officially-supported ports is short (decstations running ultrix 4.x and sparcstations). Unofficially, many more are supported -- people elsewhere have done the ports and distribute their versions of the code. The list of unofficial ports is available in pub/postgres as file UNOFFICIAL-PORT-LIST. On Type Evolution: You ask explicitly about type evolution. We support schema modification on all classes, including user classes. This means that you can add attributes (instance slots) and methods at any time. Further, since postgres is a shared database system, such changes are instantly visible to any other user of the class. The language syntax supports attribute deletion, but the system won't do it yet. Since all data is persistent, removing attributes from a class requires some work -- you need to either get rid of or ignore all the values you've already stored. Contact: Paul Aoki The postgres code from uc berkeley is being commercialized by Miro Systems, Inc. [This seems to have been updated to Montage] Contact: paula hawthorn (paula@miro.com) dave segleau (dave@miro.com) Commercial Systems ------------------ > Illustra Illustra Information Technologies Ltd. Illustra is an Object-Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS). It supports SQL-3 and standard relational syntax and operations on tables. In addition, programmers may define new classes and methods inside the database server, and use them from client programs. Customers may build their own class extensions, or purchase extensions called DataBlades from Illustra and its partners. Illustra offers a wide collection of DataBlade modules, including time series support, spatial data handling, web publishing, document management, video and image support, and others. Illustra originated from Postgres. NOTE: Can use with Visual Basic. Illustra Information Technologies, Inc. 1111 Broadway Suite 2000 Oakland, CA 94607 U.S.A. Voice: (510) 652 8000 Fax: (510) 869 6388 Email: info@illustra.com sales@illustra.com resellers-info@illustra.com training-info@illustra.com Web: http://www.illustra.com Note: This web server uses Illustra OODBMS for backend. Ftp: ftp://ftp.illustra.com Illustra Information Technologies Ltd. 150 Minories London EC3N 1LS United Kingdom Voice: 0171-264-2185 Fax: 0171-264-2193 Email: 100436.1264@compuserve.com > Montage (ORDBMS) [Research System POSTGRES] >From: markh@montage.com (Mark Helfen) Subject: Montage Database - brief product announcement Followup-To: sales@montage.com Organization: Montage Software, Inc. Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 23:05:03 GMT The Montage object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) is now available from Montage Software, Inc. The Montage object-relational database management system includes the Montage Server(tm) database engine, the Montage Viewer(tm) -- a new visualization tool that simplifies queries of complex data -- and Montage DataBlades(tm), specialized modules that extend the capabilities of the database for specific applications. Montage represents the commercialization of the seven-year POSTGRES research project. The Montage Server extends the relational database model through its ability to handle complex information, and the inclusion of object- oriented facilities and capabilities. It uses the familiar relational row- column metaphor for all data, so that text, numbers and complex data are all viewed, managed, manipulated and queried the same way. The relational metaphor is extended to allow data of any size and complexity to be stored and accessed in the way that is most effective. SQL, used to access and manage data, is extended with SQL3-based capabilities to allow the definition of user data types and functions. The Montage Viewer uses visualization technology to organize information in visual terms -- by location, shape, color and intensity, for example. Similar to a "flight simulator," the Montage Viewer allows the user to visually navigate through data, refining each step by "panning" and "zooming" with a mouse. A DataBlade is a combination of data types and functions that are designed to support a specific application. Text, Spatial, and Image are the first of many DataBlades that will comprise a full-range of industry-specific products created by Montage, third parties and users based upon their own expertise. o The Text DataBlade expands the database's functionality by adding new data types and functions that manage text and document libraries, as well as a providing a new access method (Doc-Tree) which provides exceptional search performance for text. o The Image DataBlade supports image conversion, storage, manipulation, enhancement and management of more than 50 image formats, and performs automatic conversion of formats at the user's discretion. o Points, lines, polygons and their spatial relationships are now supported in the relational model with the Spatial DataBlade. The DataBlade defines nine basic spatial types and makes over 200 SQL functions available for use on spatial data, as well as supports the R-Tree access method for high speed navigation of spatial data. Montage Software was co-founded by Gary Morgenthaler of Morgenthaler Ventures and Dr. Michael Stonebraker of the University of California, Berkeley, . Morgenthaler is Montage Software's chairman of the board and Stonebraker serves as the company's chief technology officer. Morgenthaler and Stonebraker co- founded Ingres Corporation (then called Relational Technology, Inc.), in 1980. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Montage Software Inc. can be contacted at: email: sales@montage.com phone: (510) 652-8000 fax: (510) 652-9688 Mailing Address: Montage Software, Inc. 2000 Powell Street, Suite 1405 Emeryville, CA 94608 > Omniscience ORDBMS Omniscience Object Technology, Inc. Omniscience ORDBMS is a light weight scalable database managment system with a very small footprint suitable for small systems such as notebook computers running Microsoft Windows. It is built on top of a compact object kernal that supports programs written in SQL and Object-Oriented programming languages. Available for most platforms. Single user version costs $99. Omniscience Object Technology, Inc. 3080 Olcott Street, Suite 100-C Mountain View, CA 95054 U.S.A. Voice: (408) 562-0799 Fax: (408) 562-0757 Email: info@oot.com > Raima Database Manager/Velocis/Raima Object Manager Raima Corporation Offer the Raima Database Manager and Velocis as well as Raima Object Manager, a C++ programming interface/class library that lets developers interface their application with a Raima embedded database engine. Raima Database Manager (formerly db_VISTA) is a very efficient high performance database engine for C and C++ developers. The proven C-API includes over 200 functions for database manipulation and control. Available with source, RDM supports combined relation and network model database designs, transaction processing, and portability. Single-user versions start at $595, and multi-user versions begin at $1995. Velocis is an embeddable high performance, SQL client/server database engine for C and C++ programmers. It provides high through-put transaction processing, support for multiple API's and compliance with industry standards including ANSI SQL, Microsoft ODBC, and SAG CLI. Several unique features support development of very high performance, scalable applications. Velocis is available for Windows, Windows NT, Netware, OS/2, SCO, HP/UX, Solaris, and AIX. Prices start at $595 for Windows Standalone. Raima Object Manager is a class library that encapsulates object storage and database navigation into C++ class definitions to provide a consistent, object oriented interface to Velocis or Raima Database Manager. Combined, Raima Object Manager and Velocis provide a comprehensive feature set for your object oriented C++ database development. Includes source and supports popular operating systems. Priced at $495. Raima Corporation 1605 N.W. Sammamish Road Issaquah, WA 98027 U.S.A. Toll Free: 1-800-327-2462 Direct: (206) 557-0200 Email: dmorse@raima.com Web: http://www.raima.com > Total ORDB Cincom Systems, Inc. produce Total ORDB, a integrated set of object technology software products and services. Features include an object-relational data model, ANSI SQL with object-oriented extensions. Cost ranges from $2,400-$60,000 depending in usage. The TOTAL ORDB that CINCOM markets is a re-badged version of the UniSQL product, but there is a long-term technology agreement betwen the two organizations that will allow improvements made by one to the product to be shared with the other. Cincom Systems also produce TOTAL FrameWork, a business application development environment that integrates an object-relational database, object develoment tools and workflow automation tehncology. Cincom Systems, Inc. Cincinnati, OH U.S.A. Voice: (513) 662-2300 Email: info@cincom.com Web: http://www.cincom.com/ OO DATA MODEL ------------- Research Systems ________________ > AVANCE (SYSLAB) An object-oriented, distributed database programming language. Its most interesting feature is the presence of system-level version control, which is used to support schema evolution, system-level versioning (as a way of improving concurrency), and objects with their own notion of history. System consists of programming language (PAL) and distributed persistent object manager. REFERENCES: Anders Bjornerstedt and Stefan Britts. "AVANCE: An Object Management System". Proceedings of OOPSLA88. > CLOSQL (University of Lancaster) Status:- CLOSQL is a research prototype OODB designed primarily for prototyping various schema evolution and view mechanisms based on class versioning. The system is built using CommonLISP. It would really only be of interest to other parties as a research tool. Requirements:- Common LISP including CLOS standard. The Graphical user interface requires the Harlequin LispWorks Tool-kit. The system was built on a Sun4 and has not been tested on any other platform. Features:- As a prototype, CLOSQL is not robust enough to sell. The system is single user and does not properly support persistence - that is, the data has to be loaded and saved explicitly. The query language is quite good making good use of the functional nature of the environment. Methods (LISP and query language only), class versioning and multiple inheritance are all supported in the data model. Type checking information is held in the database, but is NOT enforced at present. The GUI is notable for its support for schema evolution, but otherwise rather ordinary. Availability:- Probably freely available, but as the project was part funded by an industrial partner, some consultation with them would be necessary before the system could be released. References:- [1] Monk, S. R. and I. Sommerville, "A Model for Versioning of Classes in Object-Oriented Databases", Proceedings of BNCOD 10, Aberdeen. pp.42-58. 1992. [2] Monk, S. "The CLOSQL Query Language". Technical report No. SE-91-15. Computing Dept, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YR, UK. 1991. [3] Monk, S., "A Model For Schema Evolution In Object-Oriented Database Systems", PhD thesis, Dept of Computing, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YR, UK. 1992. On Schema evolution (from original survey): CLOSQL implements a class versioning scheme (like ENCORE), but employs a conversion adaptation strategy. Instances are converted when there is a version conflict, but unlike ORION and GemStone, CLOSQL can convert instances to older versions of the class if necessary. Aberdeen, Scotland. July, 1992. Contacts; Simon Monk: srm@computing.lancaster.ac.uk Ian Sommerville: is@computing.lancaster.ac.uk > ConceptBase - A Deductive Object Manager for Meta Data Bases ConceptBase is a multi-user deductive object manager mainly intended for conceptual modeling and the coordination of design environments. The system implements a dialect of Telos which amalgamates properties of deductive and object-oriented languages. Key features are hybrid representation with frame-like objects, semantic nets and logical specifications unlimited extensibility by metaclass hierarchies (useful for IRDS, schema evolution etc.) deductive rules & integrity constraints queries as classes with membership constraints persistent object management with the ability to interrogate past states of the database ConceptBase follows a client-server architecture. Client programs can connect to the ConceptBase server and exchange data via interprocess communication. The X11-based ConceptBase user interface offers a palette of graphical, tabular and textual tools for editing and browsing the object base. The ConceptBase programming interface allows the users to create their own client programs in C or Prolog. The system can be obtained for free from ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de in /pub/CB/CB_3.2.4 (released 26-Apr-1994 for Sun/SPARC, SunOS 4.1.3) /pub/CB/CB_3.3 (released 26-Apr-1994 for Sun/SPARC, Solaris 2.3) Both versions are functionally equivalent. They only differ in the operating system platform.Please read file /pub/CB/doc/InstallationGuide (resp. /pub/CB/doc/InstallationGuide_3.2.4) before downloading the software. For running the ftp version you must ask for a key by email. Contact ConceptBase-Team RWTH Aachen - Informatik V D-52056 Aachen - Germany Tel./Fax: +49-241 80 21 501 / +49-241-8888321 email: CB@picasso.informatik.rwth-aachen.de href="http://www.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/I5/CBdoc/cbflyer.html" > COOL/COCOON (Ulm Universitaet) The COCOON project was intended to extend the concepts and the architecture of relational database management systems (DBMSs) beyond nested relational to object-oriented ones. Based upon the nested relational DBMS kernel DASDBS, we have built a prototype implementation of the COCOON model. Key characteristics of COCOON are: generic, set-oriented query and update operators similar to relational algebra and SQL updates, respectively; object-preserving semantics of query operators, which allows for the definition of updatable views; a separation of the two aspects of programming language "classes": type vs. collection; predicative description of collections, similar to "defined concepts" in KL-One--like knowledge representation languages; automatic classification of objects and views (positioning in the class hierarchy); physical clustering of subobjects via the use of nested relations as the internal storage structures; support for the optimization of both, the physical DB design and query transformation, by corresponding optimizers. Project goals are: - to develop a general formal framework for investigations of all kinds of schema changes in object-oriented database systems (including schema design, schema modification, schema tailoring, and schema integration); - to find implementation techniques for evolving database schemas, such that changes on the logical level propagate automatically to adaptations of the physical level (without the need to modify all instances, if possible). In their current paper [see below], schema evolution is used as example of a general framework for change in OODBs, supporting change on three levels of database objects: data objects, schema objects, and meta-schema objects. Contact: Markus Tresch REFERENCES: M. Tresch and M.H. Scholl. "Meta Object Management and its Application to Database Evolution." In _Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on the Entity-Relationship Approach", Karlsruhe, Germany, Oct 1992. Springer Verlag (to appear). > Encore (Brown University) email:bpe@browncs.brown.edu Encore is an object-oriented database system targeted at large scale software engineering applications which are involved in data modeling. It was developed at Brown University in the late 1980s. It is notable for its special support for long-lived (ie. cooperative) transactions, popular in design applications, and its support for class versioning. Objects are never converted, rather, classes are versioned, and the user can specify filters to make old-style instances appear as new instances to new applications (and vice versa). References/Additional Information: [] Mary F. Fernandez. OBSERVER: A storage system object-oriented applications. Technical Report CS-90-27, Brown University, Providence, RI, 1990. [] Mark F. Hornick and Stanley B. Zdonik. A shared, segmented memory system for an object-oriented database. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, 5(1):70--95, January 1987. [] Andrea H. Skarra and Stanley B. Zdonik. Type evolution in an object-oriented database. In Research Directions in Object-Oriented Programming, MIT Press Series in Computer Systems, pages 393--415. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1987. An early version of this paper appears in the OOPSLA '86 proceedings. [] Andrea H. Skarra and Stanley B. Zdonik. Concurrency control for cooperating transactions in an object-oriented database. In Won. Kim and Frederick H. Lochovsky, editors, Object-Oriented Concepts, Databases and Applications. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989. FTP: Complete source can be found in wilma.cs.brown.edu/pub/encore.tar.Z See also APPENDIX E. > Exodus (University of Wisconsin) EXODUS is a DBMS from the University of Wisconsin. An overview, excerpted from the abstract of [CDG+90] reads: EXODUS, an extensible database system project that is addressing data management problems posed by a variety of challenging new applications. The goal of the project is to facilitate the fast development of high-performance, application-specific database systems. EXODUS provides certain kernel facilities, including a versatile storage manager. In addition, it provides an architectural framework for building application-specific database systems; powerful tools to help automate the generation of such systems, including a rule-based query optimizer generator and a persistent programming language; and libraries of generic software components (e.g., access methods) that are likely to be useful for many application domains. The programming language is called E, an extension of C++. [RC89] REFERENCES: (see "ftp.cs.wisc.edu:exodus/bibliography" for a complete list) [CDG+90] Michael J. Carey, David J. DeWitt, Goetz Graefe, David M. Haight, Joel E. Richardson, Daniel T. Schuh, Eugene J. Skekita, and Scott L. Vandenberg. The EXODUS extensible DBMS project: An overview. In Stanley B. Zdonik and David Maier, editors, Readings in Object-Oriented Database Systems, Data Management Series. Morgan Kaufmann, San Mateo, CA, 1990. Also available as WISC-CS-TR 808. [CDRS89] Michael J. Carey, David J. DeWitt, Joel E. Richardson, and Eugene J. Skekita. Storage management for objects in EXODUS. In Won. Kim and Frederick H. Lochovsky, editors, Object-Oriented Concepts, Databases and Applications, chapter 14. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989. After Carey et al. Object and File Management in the EXODUS Database System, Proceedings of the Twelveth International Conference on Very Large Data Bases, 1986. [GD87] G. Graefe and D. DeWitt. The EXODUS optimizer generator. In U. Dayal and I. Traiger, editors, Proceedings of the SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data, San Francisco, CA, May 1987. [RC89] Joel E. Richardson and Michael J. Carey. Persistence in the E language: Issues and implementation. Software -- Practice and Experience, 19(12):1115--1150, December 1989. FTP: source code, documentation and a complete bibliography can be found at ftp.cs.wisc.edu:exodus/ See also APPENDIX E. On Schema Evolution (from original survey): No solution for the problem of schema evolution is provided. Emulation is rejected by the authors, who claim that the addition of a layer between the EXODUS Storage Manager and the E program would seriously reduce efficiency. Automatic conversion, whether lazy or eager, is also rejected, as it does not mesh well with the C++ data layout. To implement immediate references to other classes and structures, C++ embeds class and structure instances within its referent. The resulting change in the size of the object might invalidate remote pointer references. Joel E. Richardson and Michael J. Carey. "Persistence in the E language: Issues and Implementation." Appeared in "Software -- Practice and Experience", 19(12):1115-1150, December 1989. > Machiavelli (University of Pennsylvania) Machiavelli is a statically-typed programming language developed at the University of Pennsylvania. Its most outstanding innovation is the use of conditional typing scheme in its type inference system. It does not address type evolution. [communication with limsoon@saul.cis.upenn.edu] [Note: Machiavelli is included in this summary because it previously incorporated persistence in its data model.] > MOOD4-PC: Material's/Miniature Object-Oriented Database Prototype for NEC/IBM-PC is an object-oriented database system(OODBS) program developed in the course of our research project MOOD. The aim of the project MOOD is to develop a material database system to handle raw material data which are produced and accumulated in materials research and referred to by material experts when they face scientific or engineering problems where the expected behavior of particular materials in particular environments are crucial importance. We all know that the conventional database systems do not fulfill this requirement, though they serves well for bibliographic databases or fact databases which deals with the standard properties of standard materials. MOOD4-PC is written in Arity/Prolog and available in source and executable form via anonymous ftp from: ~/pub/mood/mood4 at mood.mech.tohoku.ac.jp [130.34.88.61] ~/pub/database/mood at ftp.uu.net [192.48.96.9] ~/pub/computing/databases/mood at src.doc.ic.ac.uk [146.169.2.1] Although it is true enough to say that MOOD4 is a general purpose OODBS, it may be appropriate to point out that MOOD4 is significantly different from what is generally meant by the term, the Object-Oriented Database System. That is, OODBSs, in general, consist of two parts: (1) Disk storage manager (2) Database language to define and manipulate data objects to be stored to and retrieved from the disk. The database language of OODBS is akin to the object-oriented programming language such as Smalltalk or C++. You can enjoy the full versatility of these general purpose programming language in writing application programs with the database language. As apparent from these, OODBSs, in general, are for programmers who write application programs which serve end users' needs. MOOD, on the other hands, is not; it is for end users. It is provided with a user interface named the object editor or OE in short. With OE, we can; (1) Edit class definition objects and save them. This replaces the data definition language. (2) Edit data objects and save them. (3) Create query objects, let the system select data objects which match the queries, and browse them. In the other words, we can do everything necessary to manage and use database with OE. MOOD, therefore, needs no programming language and, in fact, has none. In this regard, MOOD may better be categorized to the OODBS application. The architecture of MOOD as such is the consequence of the nature of information to be dealt with in material database. If we describe the nature with a single word, "variety" will be the one most appropriate. No fixed data structure can handle a handful of material data because their contents differ from one to another. The feature of OODBS relevant here is not the intimacy with programming languages but the flexibility of data structure which allows us to construct data objects with a variety of structures which match the variety in the information to be dealt with. Upon inputting and retrieving data objects, end users are forced to face this variety in data structure since significant information is born in the structures of individual representations. Yet, we say that MOOD is a general purpose OODBS. This is not in the sense that we can develop application programs on it, but in the sense that it generally supports the essential capabilities of OODBS; (1) The abstract data type. (2) The nesting of structured data objects. (3) The class hierarchy. (4) The inheritance of attributes along the hierarchy. (5) Matching between objects along their structures with the knowledge of the class hierarchy. For additional features of MOOD4, please consult its manual available with the program. Although they are biased to the processing of material data (or, more generally, scientific and technical data), MOOD with these capabilities can be used in any application domain at least by the stage where you are to examine how well the pieces of information of interest are represented in OODBS and how well specific items of interest are discriminated out from the database as such. Questions and suggestions on this software which are ever welcome indeed may be addressed to; Noboru Ono Dept. of Machine Intelligence and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University. Tel:++22-216-8111, Fax:++22-216-8156, E-mail:ono@mood.mech.tohoku.ac.jp > OBST/STONE (Forschungszentrum Informatik [FZI], Karlsruhe, Germany) OBST3-4 is now available at ftp.fzi.de under /pub/OBST/OBST3-4. (Please do not confuse this new release with the older OBST3-3.4). Experienced users will notice that we've changed the structure of our ftp directory tree somewhat: compressed and gzip'ed files are now cleanly separated. By sending echo 'info ftp_listing' | mail obst-listserv@fzi.de you will get a directory listing from our ftp server. OBST3-4 is a major release with a new meta schema interface that enables schema modifications. A graphical schema browser (USE) based on tclOBST is now also available. Please note that this new tool has not yet been tested outside the FZI and that it is currently not part of the OBST core cdistribution. Beside bug fixes and performance improvements, we have added support for IBM AIX and FreeBSD and improved the installation on LINUX PCs. We would like to thank all OBST users who have helped us by testing a beta version of OBST, most notably: Naresh Sharma (N.Sharma@LR.TUDelft.NL) Michael Reifenberger (root@rz-wb.fh-sw.de) Hans-Ulrich Kobialka (kobi@borneo.gmd.de) Jean Safar (jsafar@lehman.com) Gabor Karsai (gabor@vuse.vanderbilt.edu) Stefan Bohm (bohm@math.uni-muenster.de) The installation of OBST requires a C++ compiler (GNU g++ 2.3.3/2.4.5/2.5.8, or AT&T 2.1/3.01). The OBST graphical tools run under the X-Windows system (currently X11R4, X11R5 and X11R6). Installation has been tested for SunOS4.1.3 and LINUX only. Best regards and happy OBST programming. The OBST Team ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ README of OBST3-4 ----------------- Version: OBST3-4 Date: 11/4/94 The OBject system of STONE --- OBST ----------------------------------- The persistent object management system OBST was developed by Forschungszentrum Informatik (FZI) as a contribution to the STONE project (supported by grant no. ITS8902A7 from the BMFT, i.e. the German Ministry for Research). OBST was originally designed to serve as the common persistent object store for the tools in software engineering environments. Data Model --------- The OBST data model can be characterized by the following properties: * Schema definition language syntactically similar to C++ * Support of multiple inheritance * Generic classes * Abstract classes and methods * Distinction between public, protected, and private methods * Redefinition of methods * Overloading of methods Schemas and Containers ---------------------- Schemas are compiled by the OBST schema compiler. The compilation results are instances of classes of the meta schema. From these instances in a next step interfaces to different programming languages can be generated. At present the C++ language binding is implemented. Objects are stored in so-called containers. The container an object belongs to is determined at the time of object creation and fixed throughout the object's lifetime. Containers are the units of clustering, synchronization, and recovery. Objects can be referenced by other objects across container boundaries. Incremental Loading ------------------- OBST provides a mechanism to incrementally load methods. This enables programs to deal with objects whose type is defined after the program itself has been developed. This is useful in systems that provide for inheritance and it supports schema evolution. We used it e.g. for programs that interpret the object base and call methods of the found objects (for example the below mentioned browser). Prototype --------- Since end 1990 the first prototype of OBST is available and is shipped to interested universities and research institutions. The current version is publicly available via FTP (see below) since March '92. There is a mailing list (see below) with >>100 subscribers. The system comes with the schema compiler, a library of predefined classes (like Set, List, String, ...), a graphical object browser (more a shell than a browser), a graphical schema designer (USE), the structurer and flattener (STF), tclOBST, and all manuals. For USE, STF and tclOBST see below. Schema Evolution Support Environment (USE) ------------------------------------------ This environment consists of a graphical schema designer built with tclOBST (see below). It can be used to inspect existing class hierarchies and to modify these hierarchies; it allows the addition of new classes as well as the modification of existing ones. Structurer and Flattener (STF) ------------------------------ This is a tool to build objects from bytestrings and flatten objects down to bytestrings. It is intended to be used when coupling UNIX tools to the object management system. The user defines a grammar that describes her objects. Afterwards, the structurer parses an ascii text according to the given grammar and creates an OBST object structure that represents the corresponding parse tree. The flattener does the inverse transformation, that means it generates an ascii text from a given OBST object structure according to the given grammar. tclOBST ------- tclOBST is a library which provides an embedding of OBST into the interactive tool command language tcl, developed by John Ousterhout at the University of Berkeley. Based on the standard tcl shells, which are also comprised in the tclOBST distribution, tclOBST offers interactive access to the complete functionality modelled by OBST schemata. System Requirements ------------------- For the prototype's installation a C++ compiler (GNU g++ 2.3.3/2.4.5/2.5.7 or AT&T 2.0/2.1/3.01) and the X-Windows system (currently X11R4 or X11R5) for the graphical tools are required. Installation is well-tried on SUN Sparc stations and should be no problem on other UNIX machines, too. You can find a more detailed description of the supported platforms in the README.install.OBST*. -------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information please mail to: Forschungszentrum Informatik (FZI) OBST Projekt Haid-und-Neu-Strasse 10-14 D-76131 Karlsruhe Germany or email to: obst@fzi.de Phone: ++49-721-9654-701 Fax: ++49-721-9654-709 Teletex: 721 190 fziKA The OBST system is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.fzi.de [141.21.4.3] and some mirror servers. The system as well as some overview papers, documentation (User's Guide, Language Reference Manual, Tutorial, ...), and lots of manual pages can be found in the directory /pub/OBST. There are mailing lists for announcing OBST enhancements, new versions, porting hints, etc. as well as for exchanging experiences with other OBST users. Send a mail with content 'LONGINDEX' to obst-listserv@fzi.de to learn about the mailing lists which are currently installed: echo LONGINDEX | mail obst-listserv@fzi.de The mailing lists are maintained by an automatic list processor. Use 'HELP' to learn about the commands understood by this processor: echo HELP | mail obst-listserv@fzi.de Bug reports should contain a small example program with which the bug can be reproduced, or at least a detailed description of the observed phenomenon. They should also mention: o OBST version o configuration parameters for your OBST version (from file config.status) o kind and version of C++ compiler o machine o operating system Besides bug reports we are strongly interested in all experiences our users make with OBST (e.g. sufficiency of data model, performance, ...) and in our users' application areas and the applications as well. So, please don't hesitate to send us a short note. Best regards and happy OBST programming. The OBST Team, Boris Boesler, Dirk Eichberg, Frank Fock, Axel Freyberg, Michael Gravenhorst, Ingolf Mertens, Michael Pergande, Christian Popp, Bernhard Schiefer, Dietmar Theobald, Axel Uhl, Walter Zimmer --- BTW "Obst" is the German word for "fruit", so have a fruitful time with OBST! > Ode Ode 2.0 An Object-Oriented Database C++ Compatible, Fast Queries, Complex Application Modeling, Multimedia Support, and more See APPENDIX E, Databases, for description. Note: Ode version 3.0 is now available. > Oggetto, University of Lancaster, UK. Developed at the University of Lancaster, UK. Summary NYI. "Oggetto: An Object Oriented Database Layered on a Triple Store", J.A. Mariani, The Computer Journal, V35, No 2, pp108-118, April 1992. > IDB Object Database Produce IDB Object Database, a distributed object database with an interactive schema designer and browser. Supports most platforms. Single developer's licenses range form $995-$4000. A IDB introductory package is available for Macintosh and Windows for $99 including working application and tutorial. Persistent Data Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 38415 Pittsburgh, PA 15238 U.S.A. Voice: (412) 963-1843 Email: info@persist.com > ORION (Now marketed as ITASCA) ORION was a prototype OODBMS developed at MCC, an American consortium by Won Kim and his group. Won Kim has left MCC and formed a new company, UniSQL, in Austin, with a new product of the same name. See also entry under "ITASCA". REFERENCES: I have found nearly a dozen papers published by the ORION folks. Overviews at various stages in its development and commercialization can be found in: [KBGW91] Won Kim, N. Ballou, J.F. Garza, and D.; Woelk. A distributed object-oriented database system supporting shared and private databases. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 9(1):31--51, January 1991. [KGBW90] W. Kim, J.F. Garza, N. Ballou, and D. Woelk. Architecture of the orion next-generation database system. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 2(1):109--24, March 1990. [KBCG89] Won Kim, Nat Ballou, Hong-Tai Chou, and Darrell Garza, Jorge F. Woelk. Features of the ORION object-oriented database system. In Won. Kim and Frederick H. Lochovsky, editors, Object-Oriented Concepts, Databases and Applications, chapter 11. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989. [KBC+88] Won Kim, N. Ballou, Hong-Tai Chou, J.F. Garza, D. Woelk, and J. Banerjee. Integrating an object-oriented programming system with a database system. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Objected-Oriented Programming: Systems, Languages and Applications (OOPSLA), pages 142--152, San Diego, CA, September 1988. Published as ACM SIGPLAN Notices 23(11). [Pointers to the previous papers documenting each of the advanced features listed above are cited therein.] The paper most relevant to the issue of schema evolution is the following: [BKKK87] J. Banerjee, W. Kim, H-J. Kim, and H.F. Korth. Semantics and implementation of schema evolution in object-oriented databases. In U. Dayal and I. Traiger, editors, Proceedings of the SIGMOD International Conference on Management of Data, San Francisco, CA, May 1987. You might also like to look at Kim's book, which provides a good introduction to OODBMS, while focusing on the ORION work: [Kim90] Won Kim. Introduction to Object-Oriented Databases. Computer Systems. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990. > OTGen (Carnegie Mellon University/UMass Amherst) OTGen is a design for a system to support schema evolution in object-oriented databases. The chief contribution of OTGen is support for programmer extensibility of transformation functions to allow a system to support a wide range of schema changes, not just those that can be easily automated. While OTGen was never implemented, it is based on the implementation of TransformGen, a system to support the evolution of the specialized databases used by Gandalf programming environments. For more information on OTGen and TransformGen, please see: Barbara Staudt Lerner and A. Nico Habermann, "Beyond Schema Evolution to Database Reorganization", in Proceedings of the Joint ACM OOPSLA/ECOOP '90 Conference on Object-Oriented Programming: Systems, Languages, and Applications, Ottawa, Canada, October 1990, 67-76. Barbara Staudt, Charles Krueger, and David Garlan, TransformGen: Automating the Maintenance of Structure-Oriented Environments, Computer Science Department Carnegie-Mellon University, Technical Report CMU-CS-88-186, November 1988. David Garlan, Charles W. Krueger, and Barbara J. Staudt, "A Structural Approach to the Maintenance of Structure-Oriented Environments", in Proceedings of the ACM SIGSOFT/SIGPLAN Software Engineering Symposium on Practical Software Development Environments, Palo Alto, California, December 1986, 160-170. Contact: Barbara Lerner blerner@cs.umass.edu ontact: Best regards, Heiko -- Labor fuer Kuenstliche Intelligenz Heiko Kirschke | | Fachbereich Informatik Tel: +49 (40) 54715-612 | | ||// || Universitaet Hamburg Fax: +49 (40) 54715-572 | | ||\\ || Vogt-Koelln-Strasse 30 kirschke@informatik.uni-hamburg.de | --------- D 22527 Hamburg Raum R017 ----------- World Wide Web: http://lki-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~kirschke/home.html > PLOB! (Hamburg University) What is PLOB? * The sound to be heared when a bottle of sparkling wine (champagne, cidre, etc.) is opened. * A system for Persistent Lisp OBjects. Please check the first point by yourself (this can be rather delightful); I will concentrate here on the second point. PLOB! offers persistent objects for LispWorks Common LISP. It is the result of my diploma thesis in computer science. Here are some topics which I had in mind when designing PLOB! and which are working features of it: * Orthogonal persistency -- Type completeness -- Persistency independent of an object's type * PLOB!'s data modelling adapted to Common LISP's data modelling -- Persistent symbols -- Persistent packages -- Mapping between transient class metaobjects and persistent class description objects -- Schema evolution * Integration of useful database functions -- Transactions -- Hierarchical object locking -- Indices -- Selection queries * Efficency -- Efficient object representation -- Possibility of direct access to objects in the persistent memory For details, see http://lki-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~kirschke/diplom/arbeit-eng.html Contact: Heiko Kirschke Labor fuer Kuenstliche Intelligenz Fachbereich Informatik Universitaet Hamburg Vogt-Koelln-Strasse 30 D 22527 Hamburg Raum R017 kirschke@informatik.uni-hamburg.de Tel: +49 (40) 54715-612 Fax: +49 (40) 54715-572 World Wide Web: http://lki-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~kirschke/home.html > VODAK Research in the framework of VODAK focuses on an extensible data model and database programming language, an advanced transaction odel, object-oriented query language, and support for multimedia data. The VODAK Data Model Language VML Usually database models lack mechanisms for extending them with additional modeling primitives. This limitation does not allow the adaptation of the models for specific application needs, e.g. database integration, multimedia document handling, hypertext modeling, etc. The VODAK Model Language VML homogeneously integrates the concept of metaclasses and the separation of types and classes with other object-oriented concepts such as properties, methods, inheritance, and object identity. Complex nested data structures can be defined using the set, array, tuple, and dictionary type constructors. VML supports its own programming language for implementing methods, specifying transactions and an ad hoc query language. In VML classes are used to organize a set of objects corresponding to real world entities and relationships between them. Object types define the structure of objects and the operations defined on these structures. They are associated with classes in order to determine the structure and behavior of the class' instances. Metaclasses are first class objects whose instances are classes. Metaclasses are associated with three object types: an (optional) own-type extending their own behavior, an instance-type specifying the behavior of their instances (which are classes), and an instance-instance-type specifying the behavior of the instances of their instances. Metaclasses can be organized in an instantiation hierarchy of arbitrary depth. This approach leads to an open, adaptable data model which provides for the specification of additional modeling primitives at a meta layer of the database schema. The concept of metaclasses and the separation of classes and types allow to determine the structure and behavior of objects and the individual inheritance behavior via semantic relationships between arbitrary objects already at the meta layer independently from the specifications given at the application layer for the application specific classes. The VODAK Transaction Model In VODAK, we focus on two specific problems of transaction management. 1. Operations to read and edit (hyper)documents are typically complex, interactive and of long duration. A high degree of concurrency is required to reduce the number and length of times a transaction is blocked. 2. A publication environment has to handle existing database systems for using and modifying remote information and documents. Transaction managers of existing systems, i.e. concurrency control and recovery, have to be integrated in a transparent way utilizing the functionality of existing managers. Our transaction model is based on open nested transactions. Compared to conventional flat transactions, nested transactions allow more concurrency and are more flexible for recovery. A nested transaction is a tree-like structure, dynamically built up by the call of subtransactions until a bottom implementation level is encountered. We extended the open nested model from a fixed calling hierarchy of operations in a layered system (multi-level transactions) to an arbitrary calling hierarchy of operations in an object-oriented system. Commutativity of operations is applied to system defined VODAK methods, and to methods of user defined object types. For the second type of operations, we developed a framework to specify commutativity and inverse operations in VML. Query Processing Although nearly all object-oriented data models proposed so far include behavioral aspects, most object-oriented query languages, algebras and query optimization strategies simply adapt relational concepts since they focus on the complex structures of objects and neglect the behavior. We claim that this approach is not sufficient since it does not reflect the much richer semantics methods can carry which have to be taken into account for really efficient query processing. The quite straightforward approach we consider is to integrate methods in an algebraic framework for query processing and to make there partial knowledge about methods available in the form of equivalences. We integrate algebraic set operators with methods defined in database schemas within an object-oriented data model. We investigate the impact on the architecture of the query processor when the algebra becomes an extendible component in query processing. Multimedia Support The V3 Video Server was built as a demonstration showing a multimedia application developed on top of the VODAK database management system. The V3 Video Server allows a user to interactively store, retrieve, manipulate, and present analog and short digital video clips. A video clip consists of a sequence of pictures and corresponding sound. Several attributes like author, title, and a set of keywords are annotated. In the future, the VODAK DBMS will be enhanced with new built-in functionality for multimedia datatypes. Therefore, existing components of VODAK must be changed and new ones must be added to support time dependencies, high data volumes, and user interaction. Query Processing Although nearly all object-oriented data models proposed so far include behavioral aspects, most object-oriented query languages, algebras and query optimization strategies simply adapt relational concepts since they focus on the complex structures of objects and neglect the behavior. We claim that this approach is not sufficient since it does not reflect the much richer semantics methods can carry which have to be taken into account for really efficient query processing. The quite straightforward approach we consider is to integrate methods in an algebraic framework for query processing and to make there partial knowledge about methods available in the form of equivalences. We integrate algebraic set operators with methods defined in database schemas within an object-oriented data model. We investigate the impact on the architecture of the query processor when the algebra becomes an extendible component in query processing. The VODAK Prototype The system architecture consists of a central database environment and several external database environments to which the user wants to have integrated access. Each of these environments consists of an object manager, a message handler, a transaction manager, and a communication manager. In addition to these components an external database environment includes a database interface module which realizes the access to an external database system. The DBMS components are currently built on top of DAMOKLES and will be in the near future on top of ObjectStore. A first version of a C++ based prototype of VODAK is available for Sun Sparc Stations under certain conditions. It implements all the features specified in including e.g. metaclasses, transactions, and remote message execution. References P. Muth, T. Rakow, W. Klas, E. Neuhold: A Transaction Model for an Open Publication Environment. A. K. Elmagarmid (Ed.): Database Transaction Models for Advanced Applications. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Mateo, Calif., 1992. Wolfgang Klas, Karl Aberer, Erich Neuhold Object-Oriented Modeling for Hypermedia Systems using the VODAK Modeling Language (VML) to appear in: Object-Oriented Database Management Systems, NATO ASI Series, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, August 1993. Karl Aberer, Gisela Fischer Object-Oriented Query Processing: The Impact of Methods on Language, Architecture and Optimization Arbeitspapiere der GMD No. 763, Sankt Augustin, July 1993. T.C. Rakow, P. Muth The V3 Video Server: Managing Analog and Digital Video Clips, Sigmod 93, Washington, DC. For further information contact {aberer,muth,rakow,klas}@darmstadt.gmd.de GMD-IPSI Dolivostr. 15 D-64293 Darmstadt GERMANY FAX: +49-6151-869 966 Commercial Systems __________________ > ArtBASE (Object-Oriented Data Model) by: ArtInAppleS Ltd. Kremelska 13 845 03 Bratislava SLOVAKIA Phone: x42-7-362-889 fax: x42-7-777 779 EMail: artbase.support@artinapples.cs Distributor for Germany: ARS NOVA Software GmbH Stettener Strasse 32/3 73732 Esslingen a.N. Germany Phone: x49-711 3704001 Fax: x49-711 3704001 EMail: info@arsnova.stgt.sub.org Languages: Objectworks\Smalltalk by ParcPlace Systems, Inc. Platforms: Unix, PC Windows, Macintosh Features: - Fully implemented in Objectworks\Smalltalk (ArtBASE is delivered with source code) - ArtBASE extents Smalltalk of persistency. Persistent objects are handled the same way as transient objects. - Optimistic and pessimistic concurrency control. - Transactions, including long lived transactions - User concept with access restrictions - storing of classes and methods in the database - entire applications may be stored in an ArtBASE database, including the data AND the application classes - Currently, a single user version is available. The Distributed Multi User Server Version will be presented at the OOPSLA'93 at Washington D.C. in September 1993 for Unix environments and PCs. - Existing applications can be turned to database applications very easily using ArtBASE > EasyDB (Basesoft Open Systems, Sweden) Produce EasyDB, a single or multi user distributed Object Database Management System. Well integrated with C, C++ and Ada. Appears well architected. Main features include: fully distributed, multi-client, multi-server architecture; distributed storage and access transparent to the user; well integrated language bindings to C, C++ and Ada; multiple language access and data independence between different programming languages; conceptual modeling approach - intuitive and natural Data Definition Languages, based on the well known ERA-technique combined with object orientation where the user can choose between a graphical or a textual notation; dynamic schema evolution; interactive ad-hoc query language; powerful type system with possibilities to define ranges of permitted values; in addition to conventional data types there are BYTESTREAM and DATABASE REFERENCE (link); support for bidirectional relationships; support for short and long transactions; support for versioning; dynamic and static name resolution; high reliability and powerful error/conflict/exception handling. Customers include SAAB Aircraft, Swedish Defence Research, Ericsson Radar, Swedish Telecom, Swedish Defence. Popular applications areas include communications (EDI), simulation, GIS, CASE/CAD, library and retrieval systems (reuse libraries). Basesoft Open Systems AB P.O. Box 1097 S-164 21 Kista Sweden Voice: +46 8 752 07 70 Telefax: +46 8 751 22 77 Email: request@basesoft.se Jaan Haabma, President > GemStone (Formerly Servio Corporation) The GemStone Object-Oriented Database, from GemStone Systems, Inc. First introduced in 1987, GemStone is the oldest commercial ODBMS available today. GemStone is particularly well suited for use in complex multi-user, multi-platform client/server applications. It supports concurrent access from multiple external languages, including Smalltalk (VisualWorks, Visual Age, and Visual Smalltalk), C++ and C. GemStone also provides Smalltalk as an internal DML, which can execute methods or entire applications in the database. CAPABILITIES GemStone is a highly scalable client-multiserver database for commercial applications. GemStone's features include: o Server Smalltalk -- GemStone allows database application developers to create classes and write methods which are stored and executed directly in the database. These methods can be accessed either internally, or from external client applications. This can significantly reduce network traffic and allow applications to take advantage of the compute power or network connectivity of the server. This also eliminates the need to rebuild and re-deploy applications whenever application or business processing rules change. This in turn allows for centralized code development and management, architecture-independent code that ports o Concurrent Support for Multiple Languages -- GemStone provides concurrent support for applications developed in Smalltalk, C++, or C. All applications, regardless of language, can have simultaneous access to the same database objects. o Flexible multi-user transaction control -- Multiple users can operate in the database simultaneously, with a variety of transaction control modes available. GemStone also provides a number of reduced-conflict classes which can increase system throughput substantially. o Object-level security -- Authorization control can be applied to any object in the database, allowing for fine tuning of object security. o Dynamic schema and object evolution -- GemStone supports schema modification through class versioning and allows full migration of objects between versions of their classes with a simple message send. Migration is fully customizable and is undoable. o Production Services -- GemStone delivers the full suite of features required in any production-ready networked database including online backup, rapid recovery, referential integrity, event signals, notifiers, and sophisticated concurrency control including optimistic, pessimistic and behavior based (type specific) control. o Scalability -- In a recent independent benchmark, GemStone scaled to support more than 1,000 simultaneous log-ins and 100 concurrent active users on a mid-sized SMP server. o Legacy Gateways -- GemStone incorporates gateways or data bridges that allow object applications to integrate legacy data, whether in SQL, IMS, VSAM or other formats. The level of integration between GemStone and legacy data and applications can range from simple query access to extensive read-write interoperability. o Developer Tools -- GemStone includes tools for debugging, browsing and inspecting database classes and methods. Included in this set of tools are browsers, inspectors, a debugger, and a code profiler for performance analysis. o Database Administration Tools -- GemStone includes a number of tools for general database administration, including creating new user accounts, assigning user and object security, managing database extents, and more. PLATFORMS GemStone release 4.0 and all language interfaces are available for UNIX workstations and servers from Sun, HP, IBM, NCR, Siemens, and Sequent. Client-only support is available in a number of languages for Windows 3.1, Windows NT, OS/2 and Macintosh. GemStone is an active member of the Object Management Group and the ANSI Smalltalk standardization committee. GemStone supports ODMG, ANSI C++ and intends to comply fully with the emerging standards. REFERENCES [Maier, et al. 84] D. Maier, J. Stein, A. Otis, A. Purdy, ``Development of an object-oriented DBMS'' Report CS/E-86-005, Oregon Graduate Center, April 86 - ACM 0-89791-204-7/86/0900-0472 R.G.G. Cattell: Object Data Management - Object-Oriented and Extended Relational Database Systems; Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-53092-9 Robert Bretl, David Maier, Allan Otis, Jason Penney, Bruce Schuchardt, Jacob Stein, E. Harold Williams, Monty Williams. "The GemStone Data Management System." Chapter 12 of "Object-Oriented Concepts, Databases and Applications", by Kim and Lockovsky. CONTACTS ==== Headquarters - Beaverton ==== GemStone Systems, Inc. 15400 NW Greenbrier Parkway Suite 280 Beaverton, OR 97006 Tel: 800-243-9369 Tel: 503-629-8383 Fax: 503-629-8556 ==== San Mateo ==== GemStone Systems, Inc. 2100 Winward Way Suite 100 San Mateo, CA 94404 Tel: 415-345-3144 Fax: 415-345-9950 ==== Chicago ==== GemStone Systems, Inc. 8410 Bryn Mawr Suite 400 Chicago IL 60631 Tel: 312-380-1310 Fax: 312-380-1308 ==== New York ==== GemStone Systems, Inc. 1120 Avenue of the Americas 4th Floor New York NY 10036 Tel: 212-626-6680 Fax: 212-626-6684 ==== Dallas ==== GemStone Systems, Inc. 5001 LBJ Freeway Suite 700 Dallas TX 75244 Tel: 214-715-2602 Fax: 214-715-2623 ==== Europe/UK ==== GemStone Systems, Inc. Maple House High Street Potters Bar Herts EN6 5BS England Tel: +44 1707 827925 Fax: +44 181 343-8537 ====================== ==== Distributors ==== ====================== ==== Germany, Austria, Switzerland ==== Georg Heeg Objektorientierte Systemtechnologien Baroperstrasse 337 44227 Dortmund Germany Tel: +49 231 975 9900 Fax: +49 231 975 9920 ==== Scandinavia ==== WM-Data Sandhamnsgatan 65 Box 27030 102 51 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 8 6702000 Fax: +46 8 6702060 ==== Japan ==== Japan Information Processing Co., Ltd. 2-4-24 Toyo Koto-ku Tokyo 135 Japan Phone: 81 3 5690 3268 Fax: 81 3 5690 3229 ABC Co., LTD Shonan System Development Div Attn: Shoji Maekawa 271-2 Kamimachiya Kamakura-city, Kanagawa Prefecture 241 Japan. TEL: 0467-47-8872 FAX: 0467-44-8845 ==== Taiwan ==== Anco Technologies 11-1F, 76 Tun Hwa S. Road, Sec. 2 Taipei Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel: +886-2-7053779 Fax: +886-2-7053896 ==== Mexico ==== Computadoras Objectos y Communicaciones S.A. de C.V. 3A CDA. Porto Alegre 51 Col. San Andres Tetepilco Mexico, D.F. 09940 Phone +52 5 672-6549 or +52 5 672-6403 Fax +52 5 672-7049 > ITASCA Introduction Itasca Systems develops, markets, and supports ITASCA, a distributed active object database management system and related tools. The initial research work for ITASCA occurred in the Object-Oriented and Distributed Systems Lab at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) in Austin, Texas. The research was known as the ORION prototypes. The ITASCA Distributed ODBMS is a language neutral, full-featured, active object database that supports data access from various object languages. ITASCA allows clients to transparently access data that is distributed among multiple servers. ITASCA supports full dynamic schema modification that can be performed during any phase of the software lifecycle. Applications written in dissimilar and incompatible languages, such as C++ and CLOS, share objects through ITASCA. ITASCA stores methods inside the database, promoting reusability and maintainability. The only commercial ODBMS based upon the MCC Orion technology, ITASCA is considered by many to be the most feature-rich ODBMS on the market today. This overview describes release 2.2 of the ITASCA Distributed Object Database Management System. It describes how ITASCA functions, outlines its implementation features, and explains some of the system benefits. History of ITASCA ITASCA is based on a series of object database research prototypes. Work on these prototypes began in 1985 at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) Object-Oriented and Distributed Systems Laboratory. MCC released the first prototype, ORION-1, in May, 1987, as a single-user system. MCC extended ORION-1 to the ORION-1SX prototype system and released it to the shareholder companies in April, 1988. ORION-1SX was a multi-user system with a multi-client, single server architecture. The third prototype, ORION-2, introduced a distributed, object-oriented architecture for a multi-user environment. MCC released the third prototype to shareholder companies in July, 1989. ORION-2 has a multi-client, multi-server architecture. Having met its objectives, MCC stopped all work on ORION at that time. Over five million dollars was spent for the three generations of prototypes. The ITASCA product is an extension and commercialization of the ORION-2 prototype from MCC. Itasca Systems has added major enhancements and features, improved the performance, and strengthened the code. It now runs on UNIX systems from multiple vendors. ITASCA is an industrial-strength, documented product, fully supported by Itasca Systems, Inc. Itasca Systems continues to develop tools and other products to work with ITASCA. Overview ITASCA employs a distributed architecture with private and shared objects spread across UNIX-based computers on a local-area network. The ITASCA model follows the object-oriented view that uniformly models any real-world entity as an object. Each object has a unique identifier along with a state and behavior. Attributes represent the state of an object. Methods (code) define the behavior of an object. A class object collects objects that share the same set of attributes and methods. Subclasses derive from existing classes. The resulting schema, or database definition, is a class hierarchy. Each subclass inherits all the attributes and methods of its superclasses. ITASCA supports multiple inheritance. A subclass may derive from more than one superclass. One of the breakthroughs of object-oriented technology is the reusability of code. ITASCA allows for the active management of both reusable code and data in an integrated system. Developers may write applications in C++, CLOS, C or Common Lisp. This means ITASCA is language neutral. Objects stored using one programming language can be accessed by other programming languages. It also means an application program need not be written in an object-oriented language. The ITASCA database management system has features belonging to most any database system. This includes persistent storage for data and schema, concurrency control and locking, transaction management, multiple security levels, and logging and recovery for both CPU and disk media failure. Additional features of ITASCA include dynamic schema modification, long-duration transactions, shared and private databases, distributed version control, distributed transaction management, distributed query management, distributed change notification, object migration, and an extensible architecture. Shared and private databases exist in a distributed environment in ITASCA. The shared database is distributed across workstations (sites) in a network. An ITASCA server controls the partition of the shared database at each site. ITASCA clients provide transparent access to the various partitions of the shared database. The architecture allows any number of private databases at each distributed database site. Data can move between private and shared databases. Private databases allow private data that is not shared with other users of the database. ITASCA stores the schema redundantly at each site to improve performance. The schema storage also includes code in the form of methods. Management of schema updates is automatic for all sites. This includes sites that were off-line during any changes. Automatic distribution of schema changes, including method code changes, simplifies database administration. ITASCA stores each instance of data in one site. The system or a user may move the data from one site to another to improve data locality. Access to moved data remains transparent. There is no need for a user or application to know the specificlocation of data in the ITASCA distributed database. ITASCA will automatically find the location of the data. This simplifies distributed application development. The developer can rely on ITASCA finding data in the distributed database. No single site acts as a master site, thus ITASCA's architecture has no single point of failure. ITASCA has neither a central data server nor a central name server. This is important for maintaining a database system with high availability in a networked workstation environment. ITASCA supports dynamic schema modification to create a flexible environment for changing or customizing a database system. Authorized users can add and remove attributes or change the subclass/superclass relationship at any time. Authorized users can also add or remove partitions of the shared database at any time. All this can be done interactively without affecting other parts of the ITASCA database at the time changes occur to the schema. There is no need to "bring the system down" or off-load/reload data to restructure the database. Dynamic schema modification can significantly reduce maintenance costs. It also is useful in environments where change to data definitions are normal or relatively frequent. ITASCA has a sophisticated security authorization technique tied to the class hierarchy. It supports both positive and negative authorizations at any level in the class hierarchy. For example, granting access to all objects but one requires only two authorizations: a global grant followed by a specific denial. Authorization extends to classes, instances of classes, attributes, and methods. Also, inheritance of authorization reduces the work of database administration. Long-duration transactions allow users to check objects out of the shared, distributed database into their private databases. Users can then change the objects in the private databases without affecting the shared database or other users. These changes can be committed to the private database. Then, at any later time, the user can check the updated object or objects back into the shared database. ITASCA supports version control of objects. A new version of an object promotes the original or parent object to restrict further changes to the parent. ITASCA also supports alternate versions such that multiple versions can have the same parent. Promoting an object version to a released status restricts any deletion of the object. ITASCA uses generic versions to dynamically reference the most recent or default version of an object without any intervention by a user or application. Change notification in ITASCA is either flag-based or message-based. Flag-based notification will identify an updated object upon querying the object for such information. It is a passive notification scheme. Message- based notification, on the other hand, is an active notification scheme. It will execute a method (or code) upon an update or other change to an object. Such methods can send mail messages or invoke other methods or programs. Memory management in ITASCA uses both page and object buffers. ITASCA has a traditional database page buffer scheme that contains pages with multiple objects. Desired objects move from the page buffer to an object buffer. The object buffer then provides ITASCA with enhanced in- memory performance because it contains only frequently-referenced objects. IBEX Corporation ITASCA is a distributed active object database management system and related tools. The ITASCA Distributed ODBMS is a language neutral, full-featured, active object database that supports data access from various object languages. ITASCA allows clients to transparently access data that is distributed among multiple servers. ITASCA supports full dynamic schema modification that can be performed during any phase of the software A point release of ITASCA (2.3.5) was delivered to customers with current service contracts in September 1995. Development continues with the expectation of ODMG compliance in the next full release, scheduled for 1996. IBEX has built its DAWN Distributed Archiving and Workflow Network class library of methods and development tools as an application framework to speed the development of customized solutions to enterprise-level integration problems. ITASCA's installed based has been largely in manufacturing and engineering until now, but with DAWN, banking and other services are beginning to take advantage of the products extended functionality. DAWN is also used to link production and front office environments for active decision support. The DAWN Manager Series comprises focused applications (developed on ITASCA with DAWN), such as DAWN 9000 and DAWN Account Manager which have an embedded Optical Character Recognition functionality linked to the database with a customer-defined workflow. IBEX has re-activated the ITASCA ObjectShare Library and encourages clients to contribute reusable objects for use by registered ITASCA customers. Several HTML and Web Browsers for the server itself are underway. ITASCA was very well rated in a 1994 BUtlerBloor comparison of Object Databases (the only one to receive more than one uncontested first rating -- it got four! Three framework papers describing IDE and CALS in more detail may be found at Web site http://www.acq.osd.mil/cals/ IBEX Computing International Business Park 4e Bd., Bat. Hera 74160 Archamps France Email: ibex@iprolink.ch Voice: +33 50 31-5700 Fax: +33 50 31-5701 Web: http://www.iprolink.ch/ibexcom/ IBEX Object Systems, Inc. (North American office) Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Voice: (612) 341-0748 Fax: (612) 338-5436 > MATISSE OODBMS FEATURES LIST: An Industrial Strength Open Semantic Object Database Performance - Symmetric, Fine Grain, Multi-Threaded Architecture - Parallel and Asynchronous Disk I/O - Automatic Disk Optimization through Dynamic Clustering B - High Speed OLTP Environment Reliability - 24 Hour - Mission Critical Operation - Media Fault Tolerant (Object Replication) - Transparent On-line Recovery Database Administration - Full On-line Administration (No Down Time) - On-line Incremental or Full Back-Up - Dynamically Increase Database Size - On-line - Full On-line Monitoring Data Management and Consistency - Dynamic Schema Evolution - Consistent Database Reads without Locking - Historical Versioning, both Schema and Data Objects - Built-in Enforced Referential Integrity - Object Level Implicit or Explicit Locking Scalability - Hundreds of Concurrent On-line Users - Hundreds of Gigabytes Per Database - From Few Bytes to Four Gigabytes for Each Object - Up to Four Giga-objects Per Database Object Model - Full Object Oriented Model - User Extensible Object Meta-Schema - Support for Complex, Highly Dynamic, Variable Sized Objects - Multiple Inheritance Intelligent Objects - Triggers at Object, Attribute, or at Relationship Level - Consistency Rules at Object, Attribute, or at Relationship Level - Customizable Intelligent Object Indexing - Automatic Inverse Relationships Open Systems - Open C, C++ API - Supports Any Commercial Development Tool and Language - No Proprietary Tool Required - Heterogeneous Cross Platform Client/Server Architecture For additional information on MATISSE, contact ---------------------------------------------- In the UNITED STATES: ADB Inc. (MATISSE) 1 Twin Dolphin Drive Redwood Shores, CA 94065 U.S.A. Voice: 1 (415) 610-0367 Fax: 1 (415) 610-0368 Email: info@adb.com Web: http://www.adb.com In EUROPE: ADB S.A. Inc. 12-14, rue du Fort de St Cyr Montigny Le Bretonneux 78182 St Quentin en Yvelines Cedex, France Voice: 33 (1) 48 64 72 73 Email: info@adb.fr Web: http://www.adb.fr In ASIA: ADB Asia / SGN Urban Toranomon Building 1-16-4 Toranomon Minato-ku Tokyo 105 Japan Tel: 81 (3) 3593 3431 Fax: 81 (3) 3593 3432 MATISSE TECHNOLOGY BRIEF MATISSE was designed to have an OPEN API, and not be tightly bound to a single language (such as C++ or Smalltalk). MATISSE can be used effectively with C++, C, and any other language. This allows for MATISSE to be easily integrated into almost any user application. MATISSE is based upon the following principles and ideals: MATISSE is first and foremost a database, whose purpose is to always provide information in a consistent and correct format, insuring referential integrity amidst the most complex database modifications. And, to provide a set of DBA tools which meet the challenge of managing large, complex database applications. Production quality applications require production quality databases. This means high reliability, high scalability, no database down time for archival/backup/restore and 24hr/7days per week operation. MATISSE supports these requirements. A flexible, intelligent meta-model architecture based upon the principles of semantic links and object technology allows for the most effective bases for representing and managing complex, highly interrelated data. The MATISSE meta-model provides built in constraint checking, user definable constraints for triggers and daemons, and full dynamic schema and meta-schema evolution. Providing an architecture which is open allows for the integration of MATISSE with any language or environment. MATISSE is not bound to any language. Its 'C' API allows for its use with many languages and environments. The following list describes the features of MATISSE which we believe provide the competitive advantage: - Mission-critical operation - 24 hour operation and fault tolerance - Independence from any programming language - Dynamic schema management and evolution - Flexibility of the MATISSE meta-model - Historical versioning - Consistent reads without locking - concurrency and locking - Support for high level consistency and referential integrity - Multi-threading architecture provides for a high degree of scalability Each of these items are described in more detail below: Mission Critical Operation. MATISSE is designed to support 24 hour a day / 7 day a week operation, on multi-client / multi-server architectures. Administration tools offer high end features which are mandatory for legacy DB administrators. Independence from any Programming Language. The MATISSE client is implemented as a library of C procedures. As a result, any standard language can be used to develop applications on top of MATISSE, provided that the corresponding compiler is capable of calling external C-functions. To date, production applications have been built on top of MATISSE using C, ADA and C++. Dynamic Schema Management. Schema objects can be accessed using the same API available for data objects. The Data Definition Language is identical to the Data Manipulation language. Versioning is implemented for both schema and data objects. Thus, any running application can modify the database schema, provided that existing instances do not become inconsistent with that schema. Consistency rules are checked by MATISSE. Flexibility of the Model. MATISSE is compliant with the IRDS standard. Its architecture is highly extendible at both the Schema and the Meta-Schema level. The MATISSE Semantic Meta-Model is not hard-coded. It can be updated to conform with any OMG, ANSI, ISO, ... standard that might be issued in the future. MATISSE can easily adapt to changing and evolving standards, without significant effort or re engineering. Versioning. Using the on-line versioning mechanism, MATISSE allows any connected client application to dynamically access any past database version which was marked as a version to be saved. Access can be performed without any particular administrative operation, and concurrently with other on-line accesses to current or other historical versions. Since a database version includes both data and schema objects, a past version is always consistent, even after schema modification. As a past version is accessed, so to is it's schema, and even the appropriate meta-schema associated with the accessed version. Consistent Reads without Locking. Using its versioning mechanism, MATISSE offers three kinds of database access: Typical transaction-based access: : as the database migrates forwards, and updates are made, database access occurs against the latest consistent database version. A successful transaction commit results in a new consistent version. If explicitly named, this version becomes a historical database version, which can be accessed by its logical name in the future . Historical version access: the application specifies the logical name of the historical version to be accessed. Access is read-only, and does not require any locking mechanism. Current Time access: : this is a very powerful and unique feature of MATISSE. Any application can request the latest available consistent database version, using a reference to current time, with no locking overhead. The "current time" database version is based upon the last transaction commit, and is automatically maintained by the database. A "current time" database version acquires no database locks when accessed in read-only mode, thereby significantly reducing overhead. Through these three access modes, MATISSE supports on-line transaction processing and decision support requirements concurrently within a single application, through the use of current and historical versions. Support for High Level Consistency. With MATISSE, referential integrity cannot be corrupted. MATISSE's Semantic Links are specialized - i.e. they are specifically established between classes, they are directional, and, inverse links are automatically and dynamically set by MATISSE. As a result, a MATISSE database understands its relationships, and fully manages all internal consistency features, insuring that no corruption occurs. Developers can describe very complex consistency methods and rules using daemons and triggers. These methods can be attached to particular events such as, before or after creation, as well as class, instance, attribute modification. Daemons and triggers provide for message propagation within your database. This results in a very intelligent database, which can be event driven. MATISSE Server runs on - Sun Sparcstation - SunOS 4.1.3 - Sun Sparcstation - Solaris - VAX - VMS - HP9000 - HP-UX MATISSE Client runs on - Sun Sparcstation - SunOS 4.1.3 - Sun Sparcstation - Solaris - HP9000 - HP-UX - Windows NT - Macintosh > NeoAccess NeoLogic Systems NeoLogic Systems produces NeoAccess, a cross-platform object database engine, and NeoShare, a client/server collaborative computing engine. NeoAccess consists of a set of C++ database and collection classes. NeoShare extends NeoAccess to provide shared multi-user access to objects in a database. Both products come with full source code for all supported development environments (Windows, Macintosh and Unix). NeoAccess is priced at $749 per developer for full surce code for all supported environments, and there are no licensing fees. Support options are available. NeoAccess Introductory Toolkit is available without charge. The Toolkit consists of a 200+ page technical overview on the product plus several sample applications with source code. This is everything you need to determine what NeoAccess is and how you might use it in your development. The Macintosh, Windows and Unix versions of the documentation can be downloaded from the NeoLogic home pages or FTP site, or a diskette can be supplied upon request. NeoAccess Version 4.0, released in October 1995, features full support for Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 IDE and the MFC 4.0 application framework. The client/server database engine, NeoShare 1.1, was released in December 1995, and includes support for additional application frameworks. NeoLogic Systems 1450 Fourth Street, Suite 12 Berkeley, CA 94710 U.S.A. Voice: (510) 524-5897 Fax: (510) 524-4501 Email: neologic@neologic.com Compuserve: 71762,214 AOL: NeoLogic Apple Link: NeoLogic Web: http://www.neologic.com/~neologic/ Ftp: ftp.neologic.com /users/neologic NeoLogic News: To subscribe, send email to: listserv@fairbanks.pvt.k12.ca.us with the following line: SUB NeoAccess-Forum NeoLogic Systems has representatives in Germany, Switzerland, UK, Belgium, France, and Japan. > OBST+ Xcc Software Technology Transfer offer OBST+, a full-featured, language independant OODBMS with a C++-Interface and a Tcl/Tk binding. It's multiuser, supports schema evolution, check-in/check-out, full access to the Meta-DB and is available on several Unix-Platforms, and a Win NT port is underway. A GNU-version is available. (archie search: OBST3-4.3.tar.gz) Xcc Software Technology Transfer Durlacher Allee 53 D-76131 Karlsruhe Germany Voice: 49-721-96179-0 Fax: 49-721-96179-79 email: obst@xcc-ka.de Web: http://www.xcc-ka.de/OBST/OBST.html http://www.fzi.de/divisions/dbs/projects/OBST.html Ftp: ftp://ftp.fzi.de/pub/OBST/current ftp://ftp.xcc-ka.de/pub/OBST > O2 (O2 Technology) O2 Technology, Inc. The O2 System is a fully modular object database, well adapted for developing large-scale client/server applications. The O2 system conforms to the ODMG 93 standard. O2 is an open system, which ensures its compatibility with a corporate computing environment. O2 integrates a powerful engine with a graphic programming environment, a complete set of development tools and programming languages. The modules can be integrated with existing relational database engines, GUI tools, the World Wide Web, programming languages and CASE and methodology tools. With O2, you can develop and run applications in areas where traditional tools and systems cannot handle information efficiently (e.g. management of technical information, geographical information systems, CAD/CAM and network management). For more information on O2, consult the following REFERENCES: Francois Bancilhon, Claude Delobel, Paris Kanellakis. "Building an Object-Oriented Database System: The Story of O2". Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems, San Mateo, Calif., 1992. F. Bancilhon, G. Barbette, V. Benzaken, C. Delobel, S. Gamerman, C. Lecluse, P. Pfeffer, P. Richard, and F. Velez. "The Design and Implementation of O2, and Object-Oriented Database System". Advances in Object-Oriented Database Systems, Springer Verlag. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science series, Number 334.) C. Lecluse, P. Richard, and F. Velez. "O2, an Object-Oriented Data Model". Proceedings of SIGMOD88. Also appears in Zdonik and Maier, "Readings in Object-Oriented Database Systems", Morgan Kaufmann, 1990. 2 Technology, Inc. 3600 West Bayshore Road, Suite 106 Palo Alto, Ca 94303 U.S.A. Voice: (415) 842-7000 Fax: (415) 842-7001 Email: o2info@o2tech.com Web: http://www.o2tech.com O2 Technology, Inc. 7 rue du Parc de Clagny 78035 Versailles Cedex France Voice: 33-1-30-84-77-77 Fax: 33-1-30-84-77-90 Email: o2info@o2tech.fr O2 Technology North Heath Lane Horsham West Sussex RH12 5UX United Kingdom Contact: Dr. Sharon Cooper Voice: (44) 403 211 020 Fax: (44) 403 273 123 02tech@tenet.co.uk Web: http://www.o2tech.fr/ Note: this Web server is built on top of O2Web, the O2 WWW gateway, and uses the O2 ODBMS for a backend. > Objectivity/DB (Objectivity) Introduction: Objectivity/DB has a fully distributed client/server architecture that transparently manages objects distributed across heterogeneous environments and multiple databases. It provides an application interface that uses transparent indirection to ensure integrity and provides a single logical view of all information, with all operations working transparently on any database on the network, with scalable performance as users and objects increase. A higher-level Object Definition Language (ODL) is available as well as a C functional interface, integrated C++ interface, and SQL++. Objectivity/DB Objectivity/DB [Reference: Technical Overview, Objectivity, 1993], a product of Objectivity, Inc. of Menlo Park, CA, provides an integrated C++ programming interface with an emphasis on the DBMS engine for robustness and scalability from workgroups to enterprise-wide production applications. In production use today with more than 50,000 end users licensed, it supports a fully distributed, rather than central-server, architecture, with all operations working transparently over a mixture of multiple databases, schemas, users, and computers, and over heterogeneous hardware, operating systems, and networks. The language interface includes a C++ class library interface, soon to be ODMG; a C function library; and SQL++, supporting query predicates with either SQL or C++ syntax, interactively or programmatically. Over forty administrative and GUI tools provide both an interactive and programmatic interface, and a messaging backplane allows third party tools integration at four different levels, with a list of partners at all levels. One of the key architectural concepts of Objectivity/DB is an object reference mechanism that ensures data integrity. Unlike traditional ODBMSs that use direct pointers, which become invalid after commit and hence lead to crashes and corrupt databases, Objectivity/DB uses an indirection to guarantee safe reference. Transparent to the user, this indirection requires an extra test and pointer dereference, or a couple of cycles, which is not measurable in most applications. However, it ensures integrity of all references, even across transaction boundaries, resulting in production quality robustness. Also, it provides object level granularity for the object manager, allowing it to move, cluster, and swap objects as necessary, one of the keys required for scalability in objects and users. Finally, it allows object-level granularity for current features, such as heterogeneity and versioning, and future extensions, such as object-level security. A higher-level Object Definition Language (ODL) is provided that allows declaration of modeling concepts such as bi-directional associations, behavior of associations between objects as they version (move, copy drop), and propagation of methods across associations. These then result in automatically generated methods and declarations for both C++ and C. The standard C++ API allows application programmers to work with any standard compilers and debuggers, with no extra pre-processors, providing ODBMS capabilities via overloading C++ operators (new, ->, etc.), and declarations via provided classes (for references, etc.). Workgroup through enterprise-wide and cross-enterprise computing is supported via a distributed client/server architecture that provides a single logical view over multiple databases on heterogeneous machines. The user sees a logical view of objects connected to objects and need not worry that one object is in a database on a Sun workstation, while another may be in a database under Windows or VMS. All operations work transparently across this environment, including atomic transactions with two-phase commit, propagating methods, and versioning. Objects may be moved between databases and platforms without affecting working applications or requiring changes to the applications. Multiple schemas may be created, without affecting other users or databases, and may be used simultaneously with shared schemas, allowing local groups to define their own models but still connect to other groups. Databases may be detached from this shared environment (federated database) and used on portable devices, reconnected or moved to different (compatible) environment, or distributed as parts or image libraries. Gateways to RDBMSs are provided via third-party integration with Persistence Software, and more generally to any foreign data store, as long as the user installs the appropriate access methods, extending the single-logical-view to include read/write access to arbitrary foreign data stores. Together, these allow delegation of responsibilities to the appropriate users, integration with existing systems, and gradual migration toward full enterprise-wide sharing. The on-demand object manager directly and automatically manages object access and buffering, rather than relying on system facilities such as virtual memory or user manual get/put calls. Mechanisms used include multiple buffer pools locally and remotely, b-trees, hashing, scoped names, keys, and iterators, with distributed catalogues for schemas and databases. A direct connection is established between the user and the objects used, so that users do not conflict unless and until they are competing for the same objects, thus avoiding the traditional central-server bottleneck. Short transactions are based on traditional (transient) locks, owned by the process, and group together an arbitrary set of operations. Long transactions are based on persistent locks, owned by the user, and provide the same arbitrary grouping. Default concurrency is two-phase locking and serialization, but extensions available include MROW, or multiple-readers concurrent with one-writer, and allow users to lock with or without wait or with timed waits, to implement more sophisticated mechanisms. Objects may be modeled using C++ structures augmented by classes provided such as strings, dictionaries, and relationship management, as well as some particular domain libraries. A simple object is a C++ class (or C structure) with associated access methods. A complex object may include multiple varrays, each being a dynamically varying sized array of arbitrary structure. A composite object is any network of related objects that acts as a single object, both structurally and behaviorally, via propagation of behaviors to component objects. Any number of composite objects may be contained in composite objects, and a single object may participate in any number of composites. The relationship mechanism supports uni- and bi-directional relationships, one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many. Versioning is supported at object granularity, may be turned on or off at any time for each object, may be restricted to linear or allow branching with multiple writers. References to versioned objects may be to a specific version or to the default version, which may be separately specified by a method and may allow multiple defaults. Schema and object evolution are supported via versioning of the type-defining objects. Each time a type definition is changed, its defining object is versioned, allowing arbitrary changes. Objects may then be instances of the old or new type version. Object evolution or upgrading to the new type version is supported by the user writing conversion methods which are installed and invoked by the system. ANSI SQL query is supported in the SQL++ product. Predicate syntax may be either C++ or SQL. The ODBC and SQL Access Group (SAG) protocols are supported. Queries may be invoked programatically or interactively, with ad hoc support. Access to object features is available via methods and traversal of relationships. Over forty administrative and developer tools are provided, each with both an interactive and programmatic interface. These include GUI object and type browsers, query browsers, report generator, tools to examine and force short and long locks, to move objects and databases, etc. On-line incremental backup provides a consistent network-wide snapshot, including referential integrity across all databases, and runs incremental and full database backups with no need to acquiesce the databases and no interference with active applications. All tools are built around a messaging backplane, which supports four levels of integration with user and third-party tools. Integrated products include HP SoftBench (full operational level), CenterLine's ObjectCenter (tool level), Persistence RDBMS gateway, PTech and ProtoSoft Design and Analysis (language level), and XVT and UIM/X (compatibility level). Objectivity/DB is resold by Digital Equipment Corporation as DEC Object/DB, providing a multi-billion-dollar second source vendor. Over 50,000 end users are licensed in production use, with applications including real-time telecommunications, aerospace, defense, case, CAD/CAM, CIM, manufacturing, oil & gas, process control, transportation, multi-media, case, document management, financial analysis, and corporate information management. Platform support includes all Sun, all DEC (including VMS, alpha, OSF-1), HP/9000 series (both 68xxx and PA-RISC), IBM RS/6000, NCR 3300, SGI, Windows 3.1, and Windows NT. On Schema Evolution (from original survey): In the just-released Version 2.0 (shipping Oct 92), schema evolution is supported via dynamic versioning of type-defining objects [ie. class versions -- SMC], and via a step-by-step approach that allows conversion of instance data via user-provided conversion methods. Also, a full dynamic type manager interface is available for doing fancier things. Objectivity, Inc. 301B East Evelyn Avenue Mountain View, CA 94041-1530 U.S.A. Voice: (415) 254-7100 Fax: (415) 254-7171 Toll Free: 1-800-676-6259 1-800-SOS-OBJY Email: info@objy.com Ftp: ftp.objy.com Web: http://www.objectivity.com Objectivity maintains regional offices in Los Angeles, CA; Burlington, MA; Iselin, New Jersey. Objectivity-Europe Beijerscheweg 28a 2821 NG Stolwijk The Netherlands Voice: +31 1820 50506 Fax: +31 1820 12362 Rick ter Horst - horst@objy.com Objectivity - Europe Socratesstraat 22 6836 GG ARNHEM The Netherlands Voice: +31 85 235 907 Fax: +31 85 235 541 Henk Nijenhuis - henk@objy.com Additional representatives in Ireland, France, Germany Sweden, United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japna, Hong Kong > ObjectStore Product Description ObjectStore[TM] is a high performance ODBMS designed for ease of use in development of sophisticated applications using object-oriented development techniques. It offers a tightly-integrated language interface to a complete set of traditional DBMS features including persistence, transaction management (concurrency control and recovery), distributed access, associative queries over large amounts of data, and database administration utilities. ObjectStore's data management facilities combined with popular development tools create a high productivity development environment for implementing object-oriented applications. Key Features: - Transparent interface designed for popular C and C++ programming environments. - Concurrent access to large amounts of persistent data. - Distribution of objects over networks using a variety of popular network protocols. - Access to persistent data at the same speed as transient data. - Extensible data modeling capabilities for applications requiring complex data structures. - Easy migration path for existing C and C++ applications. - Class libraries for version and configuration management. - Class libraries for managing collections of objects. - A fully distributed (multi-server/multi-database) ad hoc query capability. - An interactive Browser to inspect objects and object descriptions. - Interoperable with ObjectStore servers running on other operating systems and hardware environments. - Complete schema evolution for an application's metadata and existing object instances. - Full online backup for continuous processing environments. - Meta object protocol with programmatic access to schema information. - Dynamic Type creation for extending existing class definitions during program execution. System View ObjectStore supports cooperative access through its flexible client/server software architecture, which allows users to make the take advantage of the computational power that exists on the desktop. ObjectStore's client/server implementation allows one server to support many client workstations, each workstation to simultaneously access multiple databases on many servers, and a server to be resident on the same machine as a client. ObjectStore's distributed architecture supports several network environments for interoperability among popular workstations and PC's and includes support for TCP/IP, Novell IPX/SPX, other popular network protocols. Application Interface Access to ObjectStore is provided through a library based application interface compatible with popular C and C++ compilers and programming environments. The ObjectStore application interface provides support for C++ compilers -- such as those from workstation suppliers -- and development environments from independent software vendors such as Visual C++ from Microsoft, ObjectCenter from CenterLine Software, Inc. and Energize from Lucid, Inc. The application interface provides powerful high-level function calls which enable the programmer to create multi-user application which share large amounts of data. These functions include: - Relationship Management - Version Management - Collection Management - Storage Management - Associative Queries - Object Iteration - Transaction Management - Index Management - Clustering Applications developed using ObjectStore library calls are source-level compatible with ObjectStore applications developed for other operating systems on other hardware platforms. Platforms ObjectStore is available on the following major platforms: Unix Workstation Platforms - DEC MIPS Ultrix - HP 700 Series HP-UX - HP 800 Series HP-UX - IBM RS/6000 AIX - NCR 3000 - Olivetti LSX-50xx SVR4 - Silicon Graphics IRIX 5.x - SunSoft Intel Solaris 2 - SunSoft SPARC Solaris 1 SunOS 4 - SunSoft SPARC Solaris 2 SunOS 5 - Univel UnixWare PC Platforms - Windows 3.1 (Win32s) - Windows NT (Intel) - OS/2 Release 2.0 and 2.1 - Novell Netware Release 3.1 and 4.0 (server only) The Company Object Design, Inc. 25 Mall Road Burlington, MA 01803 U.S.A. Voice: 1-800-962-9620 (617) 674-5179 (617) 674-5000 Fax: (617) 674-5010 Email: info@odi.com Web: http://www.odi.com Ftp: ftp.odi.com Offices in Asia Pacific, Europe and throughout the U.S.. Full contact information available through their web page. The German user group (OS_UG) has a web site: http://www.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/OS_UG > ONTOS [formerly VBase] (Now ONTOS, Inc. formerly Ontologic) Entry on schema evolution only: *Ontos provides schema evolution. It allows any class to be modified. *The major drawback is that data does not migrate ie., instances are *not modified to adopt to the new class definition. So schema changes *can be done only on classes that do not contain instances and do not *have sub classes that contain instances. *[h.subramanian@trl.OZ.AU] *As a system for experiments, we are currently using ONTOS from *Ontologic Inc. Unfortunately, there is no transparent concept of *schema evolution for populated database. Thus, we still investigate *how it works. ONTOS, Inc. provides object-oriented products and services that enable users to integrate, distribute, and manage information across the enterprise. Product Overview: The ONTOS Virtual Information Architecture (ONTOS VIA) is a strategy for integrating an organization's disparate information resources. It includes a set of products for developing and deploying distributed, network-based applications and for accessing information stored in a variety of formats. ONTOS VIA allows organizations to take advantage of new technologies while preserving existing technology investments. The products that make up ONTOS VIA include ONTOS DB, a fully distributed Component Object Database and ONTOS Object Integration Server (ONTOS OIS), which provides object access to relational and mainframe databases. ONTOS products are available on UNIX and Microsoft operating environments. ONTOS, Inc. 900 Chelmsford St. Lowell, MA 01851 U.S.A. Voice: (508) 323-8000 Fax: (503) 323-8101 Email: info@ontos.com support@ontos.com Web: http://www.ontos.com > Odapter/OpenODB (Hewlett-Packard) Odapter is HP's new object/relational adapter which enables object-oriented developers to share a common object model stored in the ORACLE7 relational database management system (RDBMS). Odapter is also available with HP's ALLBASE/SQL RDBMS. The combination of Odapter and ALLBASE/SQL is called OpenODB. Odapter Technical Data Object/Relational Adapter A Productivity Tool for Scalable Object-Oriented Applications Odapter is a tool for developers writing scalable object-oriented applications requiring the integration of new objects and legacy information. Odapter is valuable because it: * accelerates application development * reduces the cost of keeping applications current * enables applications to scale Odapter delivers the productivity of object technology while adhering to your data management standards. Consider Odapter if you need to be able to do one or more of the following: * develop object-oriented applications and store objects in a relational database * easily access legacy data and existing applications from your new system * support a large number of end-users who will be simultaneously accessing information * store large amounts of complex information The following are examples of applications well- suited for Odapter: * a customer billing application written in Smalltalk combining data stored in DB2 with new objects. (Telecommunications) * a network management application written in C using Odapter as the object manager, able to scale to millions of objects (Manufacturing) * a complex Oil and Gas industry standard model automatically generated from an Express analysis and design tool. (Oil & Gas) * a medical application using Odapter to combine heterogeneous components of patient records. (Healthcare) Odapter provides authorized access to sharable objects, including existing data and business processes. By bringing object-oriented capabilities to heterogeneous systems environments, Odapter delivers increased functionality while leveraging the stability of existing RDBMSs and legacy information. Odapter Object Model The Odapter object model is based on three key concepts - objects, types and functions. * Objects are a combination of data and behavior (functions). Figure 2 is an example of an object. * Types are dynamic templates allowing you to group together similar components or objects. * Functions define the attributes, relationships and behavior of objects. Odapter supports four types of user-defined functions: Stored functions define attributes and relationships that are stored in the database. In Figure 2, flightno is a stored function. The functions aircraft and crew are also stored functions with user-defined results. SQL-based functions allow you to access existing relational tables with Odapter's object-oriented model. In Figure 2, citypair is an SQL-based function accessing values from an existing relational table. OSQL-based functions define attributes and relationships that are derived or calculated with OSQL statements. In Figure 2, delay and depart are OSQL-based functions. Delay calculates changes in arrival and departure times based upon events that disrupt the schedule; depart handles the update of functions related to departure and transitions the flight from OnGround to InAir. External functions are a reference to code or data stored outside of Odapter. In Figure 2, cancel is an external function that executes code outside of Odapter to free up resources no longer assigned to the flight. Odapter Language The Odapter language can be combined with functions implemented in C++, Smalltalk or C. You create and manipulate objects, types and functions using Odapter's object-oriented structured query language (OSQL). OSQL is a functional language that is a semantic superset of SQL, the structured query language for relational databases. OSQL is a computationally complete language with statements allowing you to define and manipulate information in your Odapter enhanced relational database, specify authorization for individuals or groups, define transactions, embed program logic within functions, and administer the database. OSQL includes programming flow statements, such as IF/THEN/ELSE, FOR and WHILE. This procedural language allows Odapter functions to model complex behavior, simplifying your application code. By decoupling behavior from the applications, multiple applications can share information with benefits such as consistency, security and integrity. See Table 5 for a list of all OSQL statements. Odapter Object Storage Odapter objects are stored in the developer's choice of relational databases. Odapter interfaces to the underlying RDBMS through an SQL command interface. Currently, developers can choose to store their objects in ORACLE7 or HP ALLBASE/SQL. The choice of RDBMS is made when a particular database is created. The users are only limited by the number of Odapter concurrent user licenses purchased. This flexibility allows database administrators to continue using their existing administration procedures and keeps the group from having to choose yet another database management system. During the initial development of an application, developers can make rapid progress without knowledge of the underlying relational database. Optimization of the objects and how they are stored in the underlying relational database is best done during the deployment phase. Odapter Development Environments Odapter developers have a choice of development environments. Whether Smalltalk, C++ or more traditional C and C-linkable languages are used, Odapter enables object storage in a scalable and robust relational database. In fact, objects can be shared between different applications, allowing different projects to employ the best tools for the job! Odapter and Smalltalk Odapter provides Smalltalk developers with transparent access to information stored in the underlying relational database. Odapter's Smalltalk Class Builder utility automatically generates ParcPlace Smalltalk compatible classes and methods based upon an Odapter object model. The developer can select specific Odapter types and functions, resulting in a corresponding set of Smalltalk classes and methods. Once the Smalltalk schema is generated, the Smalltalk developer can transparently access the underlying relational database, as shown in Figure 3. printFlight |allFlightObjects| allFlightObject:=Flight allObjects. AllFlightObjects do: [:aFlight| Transcript show :aFlight flightno value; cr]. Figure 3 Figure 3 shows how to access the flight objects shown in Figure 2 through Smalltalk. This example retrieves all flight object identifiers and prints the flight# for each one of the flight objects. All Smalltalk classes and methods which result in the access of Odapter structures are italicized. Flight is a Smalltalk class that corresponds to the Odapter type Flight. The Smalltalk methods allObjects and flightno map to Odapter calls that access data from the relational database storage manager. Odapter and C++ For C++ developers, once the corresponding C++ model is created, Odapter provides the abilility to manage C++ objects stored in the underlying relational database, as shown in Figure 4. void printFlight() { int i; ODBType Flight ("Flight"); ODBBag allFlights=Flight.allObjects(); ODBFunc flightno("flighno"); for(i=0;i OOFILE (A.D. Software) WHAT IS OOFILE? OOFILE is a c++ framework. It can be used as a "traditional" ODBMS or can be used to access a more traditional RDBMS or record-oriented database. The current release is implemented with a Faircom c-tree Plus ISAM backend on Mac and MS Windows. There would be very little difficulty in porting this to any platform supported by Faircom, and we already have over 8 OS/compiler combinations in use (including 3 in-house). Design Goals - everything is native C++ with no (database) preprocessor required - external interfaces to enable calling from Hypercard, Smalltalk etc. - keep syntax very simple, familiar to 4GL users and not needing c++ gurus - safe syntax that makes it hard to do the wrong thing by mistake, making maximum use of c++ compiler type-checking - implement with a choice of database engines for the backend - integrate with a range of common application frameworks - provide additional classes for managing gui interfaces to help construct typical database applications, where features are not commonly part of application frameworks - use a widely available level of c++ (no RTTI, templates or exception handling) WHO IS OUR MARKET 1) c++ developers (or wannabees) wanting an embedded database for writing applications, probably working in combination with an application framework such as zApp, OWL or PowerPlant. 2) World Wide Web developers seeking a database and report-writer combination to create web pages in response to queries, searching hundreds of thousands of records (at least). BASIC PHILOSOPHY Object-oriented design is mainly about classes, not individual objects. OOFILE is similar. Most of the time you model your data in terms of classes. You do NOT declare individual objects (unlike the ODMG model). Consider a database from the user's view. They generally see collections of data and edit or interact with individual records from the collection. The user doesn't care about individual object identity, they don't create symbolic names for particular objects. These things may be important inside the database, but do not need to be exposed. SOME SIMPLE EXAMPLES Note: for more examples, including online queries, look on http://www.highway1.com.au/adsoftware/oofile.html Before venturing into database definitions, let's consider some operations on a database containing People, Job Histories and Companies. // print my address cout << People["Andy Dent"].Address; // get a separate list (iterator) of people who worked for software companies dbPeople softP( People.PrevJobs->Company->MainBusiness()=="Software" ); // for the current softP record (ie person), print the number of large companies // where they've worked, and the current company size cout << softP.Name() << "\t" << (softP.PrevJobs->Company->NumEmployees() > 100).count() << "\t" << softP.CurrentJob->Company->NumEmployees() << endl; NOTE: The () at the end of fields, as shown above, are optional for all cases except fields in relational expressions, eg: People.CurrentJob->StartDate(). DECLARING SIMPLE TABLES To define a table with a few fields, the simplest declaration would be: CLASS_TABLE(dbPeople) dbChar Name, Address; dbInt Salary; }; This defaults the size of the dbChar fields to 80 chars. To specify the size of the fields, and/or control indexing options, you need to add a constructor: CLASS_TABLE(dbPeople) dbChar Name, Address; dbInt Salary; dbPeople : Name(40, "Name", kIndexNoDups), Address(255, "Address"), Salary("Salary", kIndexed) {}; }; Note that the constructors also specify the field name strings. These are optional, but are of great benefit when writing query and report-writer logic or when constructing a database schema that should be readable by others. SOME OTHER FEATURES - Derived fields, either specified as a combination of existing fields or user-calculated - User-defined relations - keyword indexing - phonetic indexing - inbuilt report-writer RELATIONS One of the big features of an ODBMS is modelling the relationships between objects. OOFILE allows you to model relations in a pure ODBMS sense, using object identifiers, or explicitly perform runtime joins over database fields. This would be mainly used by people porting existing database structures. There are a number of syntaxes available to establish relationships, eg: dbConnect_ctree theDB; // the physical database dbAcademics Academics; // a couple of tables dbStudents Students; dbRelation Supervision("Supervision"); // a concrete relation Supervision.Names("Supervises", "is Supervised by") .Tables(Academics, Students) .Links(Academics.Supervises, Students.Boss) .JoinField(Academics.StaffNo, Students.SupervisorNo); APPLICATION FRAMEWORKS AND OOFILE GUI Integration classes are under development for zApp & PowerPlant with more frameworks to follow. A "non-intrusive" approach has been taken of providing helper classes and instructions that let you incorporate OOFILE use into an existing program. These helper classes include subclasses of the native edit fields, that store data directly into the database. Depending on your framework, other classes are added for displaying lists of records, managing multiple page input forms and similar business application functions. For Macintosh users, the popular AppMaker code generator is being enhanced to generate OOFILE applications. You will be able to go from drawing your interface to a complete working database application, without writing code. The next AppMaker and CodeWarrior CD's will contain more information and samples. STATUS The current c-tree implementation is solid and the inbuilt test data generator has been used to create databases of up to 200Mb in various configurations. The largest beta tester is operating a 270Mb+ database on a Sparc Classic. (500,000+ IP-flow objects as of mid July). Product release, including (at least) zApp and PowerPlant integrations is anticipated for September TEST PLATFORMS in-house c-tree+ v6.4B Mac - Symantec c++ v7.0.4 - CodeWarrior 6.1 MS Windows - Borland c++ v4.5p3 SunOS 4.3 - g++ v2.6.3 CONTACT Andy Dent A.D. Software 94 Bermuda Drive Ballajura, Western Australia 6066 Phone/Fax +61-9-249-2719 eWorld: DentA CompuServe: 100033,3241 Internet: dent@highway1.com.au ftp://ftp.highway1.com.au/pub/adsoftware/ http://www.highway1.com.au/adsoftware/ MAINTENANCE Priority fixes/consulting rate (drop-everything mode) $60/hour Patches to each version - free. Major upgrades - 30% per seat. or Annual Maintenance, regardless of number of upgrades - 40% per seat UPGRADES Upgrading between database and report-writer options is at the cost difference. Changing from one GUI to another is 50%. If you decide to later reactive the original, it's also at 50% (ie: net result same as buying the 2nd GUI outright). Note: if later GUI kits are at different prices, exchange rules will vary to suit. SITE LICENSING (Excluding bundled c-tree) by negotiation for large sites. or 40% off 2nd and subsequent copies Andy Dent, Product Architect, A.D. Software, Western Australia OOFILE - "the cross-platform OODBMS that speaks c++" ftp://ftp.highway1.com.au/pub/adsoftware/ http://www.highway1.com.au/adsoftware/ > Phyla Mainstay produce Phyla, an end-user, OODB for PCs. Includes a drag-and-drop interface and diagrams to represent objects and their relationships. Runs under Macintosh System. Listed at $500. Mainstay 591 A Constitution Avenue Camarillo, CA 93012 U.S.A. Voice: (805)484-9400 1-800-484-9817 Code 6276 Email: mainstay1@aol.com > POET (Poet Software) POET is a full-featured C++ ODBMS with support for, schema versioning, check-in/check-out, online backup and object queries with OQL. Workbenches are included for developers and administrators. POET is available for nearly all platforms. OLE is supported and an ODBC driver is available. A single user version is sold for around $499, and a multi-user user for mixed networks is also available. C++ Language Support o tight semantic integration with C++ o any C++ object or structure can be made persistent by adding the persistent keyword o storing and reading a C++ object does not change its state or behavior o full support for C++ encapsulation, object identity, inheritance, and polymorphy o C++ pointers and references are automatically converted to database references when storing objects o database references are automatically converted to C++ pointers and references when reading objects o all database definition is done through a small extension to C++ declaration syntax NOTE: Visual Basic support with Sourcecraft. Database Functionality navigation, queries, sorting, indexes, single-user operation, multi-user operation using client/server architecture, flexible locking for objects and sets, nested transactions, watch & notify for objects and sets, event handling, database size limited only by hard disk size C++ Language Extensions persistence, indexes, transient data elements in persistent classes, sets, dependent objects, templates PTXX schema compiler automatically converts extended C++ class declarations into ANSI 2.0 code, registers classes in the class dictionary, provides class versioning Predefined C++ Classes date, time, strings, and BLOBS (binary large objects) Portability all platforms are source-code compatible, any POET database may be read by any computer full support for heterogeneous networks Platforms Available for MS-DOS / MS-Windows (Borland C++, Microsoft), OS/2 (Borland C++), Novell, Macintosh MPW, and various Unix systems, including NeXT (NeXTStep) and Sun OS (Sun C++). See web site for details. POET Software Corporation 999 Baker Way Suite 100 San Mateo, CA 94404 U.S.A. Toll Free: 1-800-950-8845 Direct: (415) 286-4640 Fax: (415) 286-4630 Email: info@poet.com Web: http://www.poet.com Compuserve: GO POETSW POET Software, GmbH Fossredder 12 D 22359 Hamburg Germany Voice: +49 (0)40 / 60990 0 Fax: +49 (0)40 / 60398 51 Email: info@poet.de > Statice (Symbolics) >From: fischerm@darmstadt.gmd.de (Markus Fischer) Newsgroups: comp.databases.object,comp.lang.lisp Subject: Statice now runs on Unix Date: 15 Jun 93 14:55:48 GMT Hi there, since I've never seen 'Symbolics' or 'Statice' in comp.database.object, this might be interesting: A few days ago, Symbolics announced the availability of a beta- release of their ODBMS 'Statice' on Unix platforms. It is quite powerful and tightly integrated within Common Lisp. Currently, Symbolics and LUCID are supported. People (like me) used to Symbolics' Genera development environment can continue to use Statice there (where it has been already successfully employed in 'real world' applications) and now also use it on Unix Workstations. (Those are the cheaper boxes, I guess). Both kinds of platforms can be freely intermixed in a network. Statice is based on standards of Lisp: CLOS and CLIM (Common Lisp Object System, resp. Common Lisp Interface Manager) Here's the address of Symbolics in Germany; they're mostly responsible for Statice on Unix: Symbolics Systemhaus GmbH Mergenthalerallee 77 6236 Eschborn (til June 31) 65760 Eschborn (from July 1) Tel. (49) 6196-47220, Fax (49) 6196-481116 Contact person is Dr. Thomas Neumann (TN@symbolics.de). Also: "Update Database Schema" brings an existing database into conformance with a modified schema. Changes are classified as either compatible (lossless, i.e., completely information-preserving) or incompatible (i.e., potentially information-losing in the current implementation). Basically, any change is compatible except for the following: -- If an attribute's type changes, all such attributes extant are re-initialized (nulled out). Note that Statice permits an attribute to be of type T, the universal type. Such an attribute can then take on any value without schema modification or information loss. -- If a type's inheritance (list of parents) changes, the type must be deleted and re-created, losing all extant instances of that type. This is Statice's most serious current limitation. The simplest workaround is to employ a database dumper/loader (either the one supplied by Symbolics or a customized one) to save the information elements and then reload them into the modified schema. [Lawrence G Mayka ] > UniSQL UniSQL, Inc. produce a unified object-relational database systems that let users move to an object-oriented paradigm while perserving existing investments in SQL-based applications. Supports a while range of languages, databases and platforms. Prices start at $3,995. UniSQL offers a state-of-the-art suite of integrated object-oriented database systems and application development products which can be used separately or together to support complex development projects which use object-oriented development techniques, integrate sophisticated multimedia data, and require true multidatabase access to relational and object-oriented databases. The UniSQL product suite includes: UniSQL/X Database Management System; UniSQL/M Multidatabase System; and UniSQL/4GE Application Development Environment User interfaces include: C++, C, Object SQL, SmallTalk, and ODBC Database interfaces include: Ingres, Oracle, Sybase, UniSQL/X, and EDA/SQL UniSQL offers: - A wide selection of user interfaces including C++, SmallTalk, C, Microsoft's ODBC, both embedded (static and dynamic) and interactive Object SQL, and UniSQL and 3rd-party development tools. - Mission-critical database features such as a high-level query language (SQL/X), cost-based query optimization, automatic transaction management, automatic concurrency control, dynamic schema evolution, dynamic authorization, physical disk structuring options, and installation tuning parameters. - The UniSQL Multimedia Framework which provides natural and uniform database system support for all types of large unstructured data objects. The Multimedia Framework also provides for seamless integration of multimedia devices such as fax machines, CD jukeboxes, satellite feeds, image compression boards, etc. - The UniSQL/M Multidatabase System enables developers to manage a collection of multi-vendor databases -- Ingres, Oracle, Sybase, DB2, UniSQL/X, and others -- as a single federated database system with full object-oriented capabilities. The majority of UniSQL customers use UniSQL database products for mission-critical applications which require object-oriented, multimedia, post-relational, and heterogeneous database capabilities. A typical UniSQL customer is a Fortune 500 company, a commercial software developer, or government organization that is using UniSQL database products to: - support mission-critical application development projects which are being developed using object-oriented programming languages and development techniques, - support applications which must integrate many different types of corporate data -- text and documents, tabular data, images and audio, engineering drawings, GIS data, procedural data (programs), etc. -- into a single application context. - support the full object-oriented development paradigm using existing relational database systems such as Ingres, Oracle, Sybase, and DB2. - logically integrate one or more relational and object-oriented databases to form a single, homogenized database server which supports both relational and object-oriented facilities. UniSQL was founded in May 1990 by Dr. Won Kim, President and CEO, delivering the UniSQL/X DBMS in March of 1992. With its world-class database research and architectural team, UniSQL has perfected what the database industry has sought since the mid-1980s: a fully object-oriented data model that is a natural conceptual outgrowth of the popular relational model. Both the UniSQL/X DBMS and the UniSQL/M Multidatabase System represent the first of a powerful new generation of client-server database systems that support the full object-oriented paradigm yet retain all of the strengths and capabilities of relational database systems including support for ANSI-standard SQL. For more information, contact: UniSQL, Inc. 8911 N. Capital of Texas Hwy Suite 2300 Austin, Texas 78759-7200 U.S.A. Voice: 1-800-451-3267 (512) 343 7297 Fax: (512) 343 7383 Email: info@unisql.com > Unisys Universal Repository Unisys Corporation makes available the Unisys Universal Repository, a fully object-oriented repository for access, concurrent sharing and immediate updating of all business information for workgroup software development. Using an open, extensible architecture, the Universal Repository enables encapsulation of legacy applications and data in addition to use of new object-oriented information, and allows integration of leading development tools and objects. Information reuse is achieved through built-in hooks which encourages data and business rule interchange among popular application development tools. This enables developers to continue using their preferred tools and to reuse existing models and data. The Universal Repository uses the object database from Versant Object Technology Corporation, EXCHANGE bridging technology from leading U.K. integration and metadata specialist Software One Limited. EXCHANGE allows use of repository data with a wide range of the most popular front-end design, analysis and modeling tools including Texas Instruments IEF, Knowledgeware IEW and ADW, Intersolv Excelerator and Unisys LINC Design Assistant III. When integrated with the Universal Repository, information created by tools can also be stored for reuse. A CASE Data Interchange Format (CDIF) bridge supports the loading and unloading of business information to and from the repository. Users can also access the Software One Core Model (SOCM), a neutral interoperability model comprised of the objects required to describe tool models. The Unisys Universal Repository is available now for Sun Solaris platforms, with support for UNIX and Windows clients. A version for Windows NT Client and Windows NT Server is also under development. The Unisys Universal Repository is available immediately for independent software vendors (ISVs) under OEM licensing agreements. Sales to end-users will be through select resellers. The introductory stand alone price ranges from $1,900 ($U.S.) to $9,000 ($U.S.) depending on selected options. Call for more information and the location of the nearest Unisys authorized reseller. Contraste Europe S.A. OSMOS Relational Object Database Voice: (714) 380-6460 Email: Buchanan@SJ.Unisys.Com Web: http://osmos.unisys.com Contact: Gordon DeGrandis Gordon.DeGrandis@ping.be > Versant (Versant Object Technology) See also: http://www.versant.com Versant is a client/server object database management system (ODBMS) targeted at distributed, multi-user applications. Versant runs on UNIX and PC platforms. Versant provides transparent language interfaces from object-oriented programming languages such as C++ and Smalltalk. Versant also supports a C API. Versant is built with an object-level architecture, which means that operations are generally performed on the object (or group thereof) level. Key Versant features include: Performance ----------- * Object-level locking for fine granularity concurrency control * Server-based query processing to reduce network I/O * Dual caching to speed warm traversals * Dynamic space reclamation and reuse Distribution ------------ * Immutable, logical object identifiers for data integrity * Object migration (transparent relocation across nodes) * Transparent cross-node references (distributed db) * Automatic two-phase commit Other ----- * Schema evolution (online via lazy updates) * Standard workgroup features (e.g., versioning, checkin/out) * Detachable, personal databases * DBA utilities Provide object database management system and development tools for multi-user, distributed environments. Supports C++ and Smalltalk access. Argos is their application development environment product. It's built on ParcPlace VisualWorks. Versant Object Technology Corporation 1380 Willow Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 U.S.A. Voice: (415) 329-7500 Fax: (415) 325-2380 3872 Larkspur CourtLoveland, CO 80538 U.S.A. Voice: (303) 593-9871 Fax: (303) 593-9874 Email: info@versant.com Web: http://www.versant.com > VisualWorks ParcPlace Systems, Inc. produce Smalltalk based development tools including VisualWorks, a client/server tool that includes a database application creator for rapid application development. ParcPlace Systems, Inc. 999 East Arques Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086-4593 U.S.A. Voice: (408) 481-9090 Other Models ------------ Research Systems ________________ > GRAS -------------------------------------------------------------- GRAS - A Graph-Oriented Database System for SE Applications Copyright (C) 1987-1993 Lehrstuhl Informatik III, RWTH Aachen -------------------------------------------------------------- See the GNU Library General Public License for copyright details. Contact Adresses: Dr. Andy Schuerr Lehrstuhl fuer Informatik III, University of Technology Aachen (RWTH Aachen), Ahornstr. 55, D-5100 Aachen Email to andy@i3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de GRAS is a database system which has been designed according to the requirements resulting from software engineering applications. Software development environments are composed of tools which operate on complex, highly structured data. In order to model such data in a natural way, we have selected attributed graphs as GRAS' underlying data model. A first prototype of the GRAS (GRAph Storage) system - described in /BL 85/ - was already realized in 1985. Since this time gradually improving versions of the system have been used at different sites within the software engineering projects IPSEN /Na 90/, Rigi /MK 88/, MERLIN /DG 90/, and CADDY /EHH 89/. Based on these experiences, almost all parts of the original prototype have been redesigned and reimplemented. Thus, nowadays a stable and efficiently working single-process version of the system GRAS with interfaces for the programming languages Modula-2 and C is available as free software for Sun workstations (the GRAS system itself is implemented in Modula-2 and consists of many layers which might be reusable for the implementation of other systems): Via anonymous ftp from ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de in directory /pub/unix/GRAS in file gras..tar.Z. There are several files containing documentation, sources, binaries, application examples, and libraries. All binaries are for Sun/4 machines. Sun/3 binaries are shipped only if explicitly requested. You have to use the following sequence of operations for installing the GRAS system at your site: 1) 'ftp ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de' (with login name "anonymous" and password equal to your mail address). 2) 'cd pub/unix/GRAS' (for changing the current directory). 3) 'binary' (command for changing ftp mode). 4) 'get gras.' (use 'ls' for finding the currently used GRAS version nr.). 5) 'bye' (for exiting ftp). 6) 'uncompress gras..tar'. 7) 'tar xvf gras..tar' (creates a subdirectory GRAS_2 for the Modula-2 implementation of GRAS including its C-interface). 8) Follow the instructions in file GRAS_2/README. The current version has programming interfaces for Modula-2 and C and supports: - the manipulation of persistent attributed, directed node- and edge-labeled graphs (including the creation of very long attributes and of attribute indexes). - the manipulation of temporary/volatile generic sets/relations/lists, - the coordination of graph accesses by different GRAS applications (multiple-read/single-write access with graphs as lock units), - error recovery based on shadow pages and forward logs, - nested transactions and linear undo/redo of arbitrarily long sequences of already committed graph modifying operations based on forward and backward logs, - event-handling (with certain kinds of graph-modifications as events and graph-modifying transactions as event-handlers), - primitives for version control comprising the capability for efficiently storing graphs as forward/backward deltas to other graphs, - and primitives for declaring graph schemes and for incremental evaluation of derived attributes. Furthermore, tools for (un-)compressing graphs and a X11R5-based graph browser are part of this release. A multi-process version of the system GRAS supporting the inter- action of multiple client and multiple server processes within one local area network is nearby completion (version 6.0/0). Thus, the GRAS system may be considered to be the core of a graph oriented DBMS environment. The development of such an environment based on a very high-level specifications language named PROGRES is under way (the underlying calculus of this specification language are so-called PROgrammed GRaph REwriting Systems). This environment will comprise the following tools (a prerelease of this environment might be made available upon request): - a syntax-directed editor for graph schemes, graph rewrite rules, and sequences of graph rewrite rules, - an incrementally working consistency checker, - an incrementally working compiler&interpreter translating PROGRES specifications into sequences of GRAS procedure calls (for C as well as for Modula-2), - and an "enhanced" graph (scheme) browser. References ---------- Refer to the following publications for further info about GRAS, PROGRES, and related topics: /BL85/ Brandes, Lewerentz: A Non-Standard Data Base System within a Software Development Environment. In Proc. of the Workshop on Software Engineering Environments for Programming-in-the- Large, pp 113-121, Cape Cod, June 1985 /DHKPRS90/ Dewal, Hormann, Kelter, Platz, Roschewski, Schoepe: Evaluation of Object Management Systems. Memorandum 44, University Dortmund, March 1990 /Feye92/ Feye A.: Compilation of Path Expressions (in German), Diploma Thesis, RWTH Aachen (1992) /Hoefer92/ Hoefer F.: Incremental Attribute Evaluation for Graphs (in German), Diploma Thesis, RWTH Aachen (1992) /HPRS90/ Hormann, Platz, Roschweski, Schoepe: The Hypermodel Benchmark, Description, Execution and Results. Memorandum 53, University Dortmund, September 1990 /KSW92/ * Kiesel, Schuerr, Westfechtel: GRAS, A Graph-Oriented Database System for (Software) Engineering Applications. Proc. CASE 93, Lee, Reid, Jarzabek (eds.): Proc. CASE '93, 6th Int. Conf. on Computer-Aided Software Engineering, IEEE Computer Society Press (1993), pp 272-286 Also: Technical Report AIB 92-44, /Klein92/ Klein P.: The PROGRES Graph Code Machine (in German), Diploma Thesis, RWTH Aachen (1992) /Kossing92/ Kossing P.: Modelling of Abstract Syntax Graphs for normalized EBNFs (in German), Diploma Thesis, RWTH Aachen (1992) /LS88/ Lewerentz, Schuerr: GRAS, a Management System for Graph- Like Documents. In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Data and Knowledge Bases, Morgan Kaufmann Publ. Inc. (1988), pp 19-31 /Nagl89/ Nagl (ed.): Proc. WG'89 Workshop on Graphtheoretic Concepts in Computer Science, LNCS 411, Springer-Verlag (1989) /NS91/ Nagl, Schuerr: A Specification Environment for Graph Grammars, in Proc. 4th Int. Workshop on Graph-Grammars and Their Application to Computer Science, LNCS 532, Springer- Verlag 1991, pp 599-609 /Schuerr89/ Schuerr: Introduction to PROGRES, an Attribute Graph Grammar Based Specification Language, in: /Nagl89/, pp 151-165 /Schuerr91a/ * Schuerr: PROGRES: A VHL-Language Based on Graph Grammars, in Proc. 4th Int. Workshop on Graph-Grammars and Their Application to Computer Science, LNCS 532, Springer- Verlag 1991, pp 641-659 Also: Technical Report AIB 90-16 /Schuerr91b/ Schuerr: Operational Specifications with Programmed Graph Rewriting Systems: Theory, Tools, and Applications, Dissertation, Deutscher Universitaetsverlag (1991) (in German) /SZ91/ * Schuerr, Zuendorf: Nondeterministic Control Structures for Graph Rewriting Systems, in Proc. WG'91 Workshop in Graph- theoretic Concepts in Computer Science, LNCS 570, Springer- Verlag 1992, pp 48-62 Also: Technical Report AIB 91-17 /Westfe89/ Westfechtel: Extension of a Graph Storage for Software Documents with Primitives for Undo/Redo and Revision Control. Technical Report AIB Nr. 89-8, Aachen University of Technology, 1989 /Westfe91/ Westfechtel: Revisionskontrolle in einer integrierten Soft- wareentwicklungsumgebung, Dissertation, RWTH Aachen, 1991 /Zuendorf89/ Zuendorf: Kontrollstrukturen fuer die Spezifikationssprache PROGRES, Diplomarbeit, RWTH Aachen, 1989 /Zuendorf92/ * Zuendorf A.: Implementation of the Imperative/Rule Based Language PROGRES, Technical Report AIB 92-38, RWTH Aachen, Germany (1992) /Zuendorf93/ * Zuendorf A.: A Heuristic Solution for the (Sub-) Graph Isomorphism Problem in Executing PROGRES, Technical Report AIB 93-5, RWTH Aachen, Germany (1993) * : All reports marked with an asterisk are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de in directory /pub/reports/... . See also PROGRES documentation. [See also APPENDIX E] > IRIS (HP Labs) [Iris is a system out of HP Labs that began as a prototype and eventually became a commercial product. I believe it was eventually incorporated into the new HP product, OpenODB. - clamen] Long and short system summaries can be found in: [FISH89] D.H. Fishman et. al. Overview of the Iris DBMS. In Won. Kim and Frederick H. Lochovsky, editors, Object-Oriented Concepts, Databases and Applications, chapter 10, pages 219--250. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989. [FBC+87] D.H. Fishman, D. Beech, H.P. Cate, E.C. Chow, T. Connors, J.W. Davis, N. Derrett, C.G. Hock, W. Kent, P. Lyngbaek, B. Mahbod, M.A. Neimat, T.A. Tyan, and M.C. Shan. Iris: An object-oriented database management system. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, 5(1):48--69, January 1987. The abstract of the latter (written early in the project) follows: The Iris database management system is a research prototype of a next-generation database management system intended to meet the needs of new and emerging database applications, including office automation and knowledge-based systems, engineering test and measurement, and hardware and software design. Iris is exploring a rich set of new database capabilities required by these applications, including rich data-modeling constructs, direct database support for inference, novel and extensible data types, for example to support graphic images, voice, text, vectors, and matrices, support for long transactions spanning minutes to many days, and multiple versions of data. These capabilities are, in addition to the usual support for permanence of data, controlled sharing, backup and recovery. The Iris DBMS consists of (1) a query processor that implements the Iris object-oriented data model, (2) a Relational Storage Subsystem (RSS) -like storage manager that provides access paths and concurrency control, backup and recovery, and (3) a collection of programmatic and interactive interfaces. The data model supports high-level structural abstractions, such as classification, generalization, and aggregation, as well as behavioral abstractions. The interfaces to Iris include an object-oriented extension to SQL. On Schema Evolution (from original survey): Objects in the Iris system may acquire or lose types dynamically. Thus, if an object no longer matches a changed definition, the user can choose to remove the type from the object instead of modifying the object to match the type. In general, Iris tends to restrict class modifications so that object modifications are not necessary. For example, a class cannot be removed unless it has no instances and new supertype-subtype relationships cannot be established. Commercial Systems __________________ > IDL (Persistent Data Systems) IDL is a schema definition language. Schema modifications are defined in IDL, requiring ad-hoc offline transformations of the database, in general. A simple class of transformations can be handled by IDL->ASCII and ASCII->IDL translators (i.e., integer format changes, list->array, attribute addition). [conversation with Ellen Borison of Persistent Data Systems] ADDITIONAL REFERENCES: John R. Nestor. "IDL: The Language and Its Implementation". Prentice Hall. Englewood Cliffs, NJ., 1989. > Kala Kala Technical Brief Summary Kala(tm) is a Persistent Data Server managing distributed, shared, arbitrarily complex and evolving persistent data. Kala is highly efficient and secure. Kala manages the visibility of persistent data elements to its clients, thus supporting any types of transactions, versions, access control, security, configurations. Kala does not restrict you to any particular model. Kala provides the mechanism, but imposes no policy. Usable as either a link library communicating to a server or as a standalone, Kala is compact and simple. Kala is used for applications such as: kernel of DBMS products, substrate for extended file systems, implementation of language persistence, data manager for groupware applications as well as applications which deal with large, complex, and changing volumes of data (text databases, financial distributed transaction systems). Our current customers use Kala in applications ranging from CASE repositories to CAD systems, from document management for financial institutions to OODBMS platforms, from real-time applications to database research. Kala is a component of broad reuse. Motivation The simplest persistent data storage available to you is the file system on your disk drive. File systems have some attractive characteristics; their performance is good, they can hold any data, they're easy to use, and, of course, the price is right. Conversely, files are unreliable. They provide no mechanism for in maintaining data consistency and only primitive data sharing facilities. Few file systems offer version control and all require that you transform data between "internal" and "external" forms all the time. Unlike a file system, a true database management system provides mechanisms for sharing data and for ensuring the integrity of the data. It supports transactions and version control, although the specifics of these functions may not be exactly what your application needs. Finally, a database system is scalable, and much more robust than a file when your hardware or software fails. The downside to a database system is that, compared to a file system, it is slower by an order of magnitude or more. Also, a database system generally confines you to dealing only with the kind of data that it can handle. In addition, a database is usually very complicated, difficult to learn and use, and expensive, both in terms of your cost of operation and in the amount of system resources they consume. Whether you choose a file system or a database manager, then, you have to sacrifice either economy or performance. Is there a happy medium? Something with the speed and flexibility of files, the reliability, shareability and robustness of databases, and at a cost that won't break your wallet or the available hardware? Sure there is! Kala is a first in a new breed of products, persistent data servers, aimed squarely at the yawning gap between DBMSs and file systems. Overview Kala is *not* a DBMS. Instead, you use Kala whenever the few canned combinations of DBMS features do not meet the needs of your application. A DBMS product constrains you to accept *its* choice of an end-user graphical interface, a query language binding, a specific high level data or object model, a particular transaction model, a single versioning scheme, etc. This either compromises your application's functionality, or forces your to spend substantial development effort and money to bridge the impedance mismatch to the application. Instead, Kala allows *you* to develop no more and no less than the functionality you need. You build your domain specific functionality our of a small set of primitives with very little code. Your gains in productivity, efficiency, and flexibility are substantial. To sustain this level of flexibility and reuse, Kala manages any data that you can represent in machine memory out of bits and references. Examples include records, dynamically linked graphs and lists, executable code, and object encapsulations. Kala can handle data as small as one bit, and as large as the virtual memory and more, while being totally unaware of the data's semantics. Its stores and retrieves data efficiently, and compactly over a distributed and dynamically reconfigurable set of Stores. Upon retrieval, Kala dynamically relocates embedded references to retain the original topological structure of the data, thus preserving referential integrity. Kala also supports active data, physical store management, and automatic archiving. Kala repackages the fundamentals and universals of data management in one reusable data server, separating them from the application domain specific models and policies. Kala defines a low level interoperabi- lity point for the data storage domain, just as X does for the display domain and Postscript does for the printing domain. Kala has matured through four successive versions to its present industrial strength implementation and stable API. Kala is lean, compact, and portable. Kala is a high performance, low overhead system. We call it a Reduced Instruction Set Engine (RISE). Unlike large, complex, and typically bulky DBMS products, Kala is small, simple, and suitable for managing anywhere from a single diskette to terabytes of distributed data. Benefits * For those who need functionality traditionally associated with databases, but cannot tolerate the overhead and complications DBMS products introduce, Kala offers a flexible, compact, performant, elegant, and simple alternative. * For those whose application domain requires data models where the mapping to those offered by today's DBMS products is cumbersome, introduces development and execution overhead, and is not portable across multiple linguistic and environmental platforms, Kala offers a data model independent interface against any data model expressible in terms of bits and pointers can be easily built. * For those who need DBMS functionality or qualities that no single DBMS product now has, Kala offers the opportunity to build that functionality now with little effort out of a simple set of primitives, and not wait for one vendor or another to deliver it later. * For those who have determined that the only viable option for their application's persistent data needs is the file system, and have resined to the idea that they will have to build everything else they need from scratch, Kala offers an off-the-shelf implementation without loss of any of files' advantages. * For those who need performance, size, portability, storage compactness, and industrial strength that no single DBMS product can now satisfy, Kala offers all of the above now. * For those who realize that while object-level interoperability is a strong desideratum, the likelihood of a single, universal such model in the foreseeable future is quite low, Kala offers a solid, long term alternative. Data store interoperability that brings us beyond file systems is the best practical bet. Kala is the basis for data store interoperability now. * Finally, for all of you who are concerned about the economics of software, and take the view that there are many elements that could contribute negatively to the soundness of your business, such as operational costs, software maintenance costs, software licensing costs, software development and learning costs, etc., you will find Kala an economically sound, sensible, and practical product. Features - The execution architecture is that of multiple (communicating) servers and multiple clients. Kala can also be configured in a standalone (single process) mode. Kala's IPC is built for maximum performance, portable to any given datagram protocol. - The managed data elements are made out of uninterpreted bits and references. Data elements (named `monads') are universally uniquely identified. Bits are stored with no overhead. References, represented in memory as native machine pointers, are stored very compactly, introducing an average of 2.5 bytes overhead. - Kala is a fully recoverable system, short of media damage. Recovery from hardware failures can be supported by the layer beneath Kala. - The Kala primitives support arbitrary transaction models, including classic short transactions, long (persistent) transactions, nested transactions, shared transactions, pessimistic and optimistic policies, etc. Concurrency control is achieved through two locking mechanisms (short-term and long-term (persistent, shared) locking), with full support for atomicity of operations and two-phase commit. - The Kala primitives support arbitrary versioning models, allowing versions to co-exist in split/rejoined networks, various version organization strategies (single-thread, tree, DAG, etc.). Kala primitives provide mechanisms for arbitrary access and update triggers, such as notifications, security checks upon access/update, etc. __ with no limitations on what the trigger code does. Kala provides protection measures against virus and other intruding executions. - The Kala primitives support a wide range of access control, security and protection models, including revocable access rights, access control without the overhead of ACL management, arbitrary access validation routines, etc. Kala does not introduce any more security holes than the operating environment already has. - Kala has primitives for physical store allocation and de-allocation management, for a wide spectrum of store administrative tasks, as well as licensing administration. The latter includes application- sensitive time-limited client-connect-based licensing, as well as metered (connect/load/store) usage. Kala can be set up to do automatic archiving and backup of its physical store. - Kala provides a wide spectrum of licensing schemes, usable by platforms and applications built upon Kala to their customer base. Kala provides renewable licenses, perpetual licenses, full protection against duplication without hardware (hostid) support, metered (pay-by-use) usage, etc. - And more ... not fitting on this page-long Technical Brief. Availability o Kala is available now on Sun platforms (SunOS / 68K & SPARC), as well as on 80x86/MS-DOS (both Microsoft and Borland compilers & runtimes supported) platforms. If you are interested in a port to your favorite platform, call us to discuss our Development and Porting Partnership Programme. o Kala's interface is ANSI C, also callable from C++. If you are interested in an interface or a binding to your favorite programming language, please call us to discuss out Development Partnership Programme. o For pricing and other information, please contact us by phone, fax or via e-mail at Info@Kala.com On Schema Evolution (from original survey): Kala manages an untyped persistent store, implementing the semantics of robust, distributed, secure, changing, and shareable persistent data. Layers built upon the Kala platform can implement the semantics of objects with the same properties. As it operates below the schema layer, Kala does not address schema evolution directly. However, It supports the building of schema'ed layers above it and below the application, and those layers can provide for schema evolution conveniently using Kala primitives. This parts-box approach requires extra work on the part of the developer compared to out-of-the-box solutions, but provides power and flexibility sufficient for relatively low cost solutions in difficult environments (e.g. graph-structured data, dynamic classing) where no out-of-the-box solution is available. REFERENCES: Segui S. Simmel and Ivan Godard. "The Kala Basket: A Semantic Primitive Unifying Object Transactions, Access Control, Versions, annd Configurations Penobscot Development Corporation Penobscot Development produces and markets Kala, a persistent data server managing distributed, shared, arbitrarily complex and evolving persistent data. Kala manages the visibility of persistent data elements to its clients, thus supports all types of transactions, versions, access control, security, configurations. Kala does not restrict you to any particular model. Kala provides the mechanism, but imposes no policy. Usable as either a link library communicating to a server or as standalone, Kala is compact and simple. Kala is not an OODBMS. Instead, you use Kala whenever the few canned combinations of DBMS features do not meet the needs of your application. This parts-box approach requires extra work on the part of the developer compared to out-of-the-box solutions, but provides power and flexibility sufficient for relatively low cost solutions in difficult environmentsi (e.g. graph-structured data, dynamic classing) where no out-of-the-box solution is available. Penobscot Development Corporation One Kendall Square Building Suite 2200 Cambridge, MA 02139-1564 U.S.A. Voice: (617) 267-5252 Fax: (617) 859-9597 Email: info@kala.com > Pick With Pick and its variants you only have problems if you want to redefine an existing field. Because of the way the data are stored and the separation of the data and the dictionary you can define additional fields in the dictionary without having to do anything to the data - a facility which we have found very useful in a number of systems. There is no general facility to redefine an existing field - you just make whatever changes are required in the dictionary then write an Info Basic program to change the data. We have seldom needed to do this, but it has not been complicated to do. If a field in the database is no longer used, it is often easiest simply to delete the reference to that field in the dictionary, and accept the storage overhead of the unused data. In such cases, while the data cannot be accessed through the query language, (Pick)Basic programs can still access them. [Geoff Miller ] Interfaces ---------- Research Systems ________________ > Penguin (Stanford) Penguin is an object-oriented interface to relational databases. Penguin has its own simple language-independent object model with inheritance for composite objects defined as views (called view-objects) of a relational database. These view-objects represent data according to application requirements in such a way that multiple applications can share overlapping, but different, sets of data. Multiple applications may share data by having overlapping schemata with differing composite objects and differing inheritance mappings. We have a C++ binding, which supports multiple inheritance. The result is a framework for collaboration among multiple users, each with differing perspectives about the system and its data. For additional information, please contact ark@db.stanford.edu References: ``A C++ Binding for Penguin: a System for Data Sharing among Heterogeneous Object Models,'' Arthur M. Keller, Catherine Hamon, Foundations on Data Organization (FODO) 93, October 1993, Chicago. ``Querying Heterogeneous Object Views of a Relational Database,'' Tetsuya Takahashi and Arthur M. Keller, Int. Symp. on Next Generation Database Systems and their applications, Fukuoka, Japan, September 1993, to appear. ``Updating Relational Databases through Object-Based Views,'' by Thierry Barsalou, Niki Siambela, Arthur M. Keller, and Gio Wiederhold, ACM SIGMOD, Denver, CO, May 1991. ``Unifying Database and Programming Language Concepts Using the Object Model'' (extended abstract), Arthur M. Keller, Int. Workshop on Object-Oriented Database Systems, IEEE Computer Society, Pacific Grove, CA, September 1986. Commercial Systems __________________ >AllegroStore See Databases & Development Sept. 5, 1994, p1. "Lisp, Smalltalk Languages Given Database Systems" Quote: Franz, based in Berkeley, Calif., is now shipping AllegroStore, which the company calls the first object database system designed for object-oriented Lisp. [...] The database is based on the ObjectStore engine from Object Design, also in Burlington. It supports multiple clients and servers, [...] Franz is at 800-333-7260 or 510-548-3600. > DBTools.h++ Rogue Wave Software A leading producer of C++ class libraries including Tools.h++, Heap.h++, C++ Booch Components, and DBTools.h++ for accessing relational databases, such as SYBASE, from C++ programs. Rogue Wave recently merged with Inmark Development (zApp), so their products now includes visual builders, visual interfaces, and code generators for C++ developers. Rogue Wave Software, Inc. 260 S.W. Madison Avenue P.O. Box 2328 Corvallis, OR 97339 U.S.A. Toll Free: 1-800-487-3217 Direct: (503) 754-3010 Fax: (503) 757-6650 Email: sales@roguewave.com Web: http://www.roguewave.com >OBJECT GATEWAY Object Gateway is a modeling, mapping and code generation tool that lets you look at existing relational data in Oracle, Sybase and other servers as if they are object oriented. It is a 100% client-resident and runs on Microsoft Windows platforms. Schema Genie, the design time component of Object Gateway, lets you design an ODMG-style object model for your SQL database. Once the model is designed, you can generate a variety of language interfaces for it (C++, C, OLE Automation and Visual Basic are currently supported). Object Engine is the run-time component of the system and it implements the object data model by supporting features such as activation and deactivation of objects, complex object assembly, inheritance, relationships and cache management. Object Browser is a component of the system that lets you browse through and manipulate data based on the object model that you defined. The central tenet of Object Gateway is that inside every complex relational database, there is an object model waiting to get out. Such a model reduces the abstraction level mismatch between modern, object oriented client tools and SQL servers. Automatic generation of an object oriented data access layer eliminates the need for programmers to hand-craft code to do the same. For more information, please contact Sierra Atlantic at the address below: Sierra Atlantic Inc 830 Hillview Court, Suite 270, Milpitas, CA 95035 Phone: (408) 956 3006 Fax: (408) 956 3001 Email: objgtwy@shell.portal.com > Persistence PERSISTENCE(TM): BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN OBJECT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT AND RELATIONAL DATA Persistence is an application development tool which provides object oriented access to existing relational data. Persistence uses an automatic code generator to convert object models into C++ classes which know how to read and write themselves to a relational database. Leverage existing data Persistence enables object oriented access to existing relational databases. Applications built with Persistence can work side by side with legacy systems. Automate database access By generating the methods to convert relational data into objects, Persistence saves the developer from having to write literally hundreds of lines of code per class. Speed application development With Persistence, major changes to the application object model can be completed in minutes, not weeks. Quality Persistence generates tested, bug-free code. Using Persistence helps ensure the reliability and reusability of your applications. Performance At Runtime, Persistence manages an object cache to enhance performance while ensuring data integrity. The Persistence object cache can provide a factor of ten performance improvement for data intensive applications. Portability Code generated by Persistence is database independent. You can choose which database to work with at link step, increasing application portability. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS The Persistence Database Interface Generator converts object schemas into C++ classes. Custom Code | v Object schema ---> Persistence ----> Generated Generator Classes ^ | v Persistence Object Cache ^ | v Legacy Data Encapsulation Each class generated by Persistence maps to a table or view in the database. - Query using ANSI SQL or attribute values - Add custom code to generated classes - Preserve custom code when model changes Inheritance Persistence supports inheritance of attributes, methods and relationships. - Propagate superclass queries to subclasses - Use virtual methods for polymorphism Associations Persistence maps associations to foreign keys in the database. Each class has methods to access related classes. - Ensure referential integrity between classes - Specify delete constraints for associations Object Caching The Persistence Runtime Object Management System caches objects during transactions and ensures data integrity. In the object cache, Persistence "swizzles" foreign key attributes into in-memory pointers, speeding object traversal. Transactions When a transaction is committed, Persistence walks through the object cache and writes out changes to the database. Environment Platforms/Operating systems Persistence will support all major Unix and Intel platforms - Sun/SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.x - HP/HP-UX 8.0, 9.0 - IBM/AIX (planned 11/93) - Intel/NT (planned 3/94) Development Tools Persistence supports all major C++ compilers and integrates with GE's OMTool, allowing developers to go straight from an object model to a running C++ application. - Cfront 2.1: ObjectCenter 1.0, SPARCompiler, ObjectWorks - Cfront 3.0: ObjectCenter 2.0, SPARCompiler, Softbench C++ - GE's OMTool Databases Persistence provides database independence. With our Objectivity integration, we also provide a clear migration path to object databases. - Oracle V6, V7 - Sybase 4.x - Ingres 6.x - Objectivity ODBMS - Informix (planned 9/93) - ODBC (planned 3/94) CUSTOMER QUOTES "We wanted to use object technology while continuing to support our legacy systems. Persistence made this feasible by automating over 30 percent of our development cycle." Steve Hunter, Sterling Software "Persistence cut our development time by approximately 40%, because we would have had to do all the mapping functions ourselves." Jim Adamczyk, Partner, Andersen Consulting "I'm convinced we'll save weeks or months of time because of Persistence." Mike Kubicar, SunSoft Defect Tracking Team "The good thing is that you can change your object model and just re-generate the database interface classes at the press of a button." Richard Browett, Product manager, K2 Software Developments, Ltd. "The Persistence package saved at least 25 to 50 percent of the development time, and seemed extremely robust. Support has been nothing short of phenomenal." Stew Schiffman, DuPont Research and Development FOR MORE INFORMATION Persistence Software, Inc. 1700 S. Amphlett Blvd. Suite 250 San Mateo, CA 94402 U.S.A. Voice: 1-800-803-8491 (415) 341-7733 Fax: (415) 341-8432 Email: info@persistence.com Web: http://www.persistence.com > Subtleware Connecting C++ with Relational Databases Subtleware for C++ (Subtleware) is a software development toolset which openly automates C++ connectivity to relational databases by providing: * A C++ pre-processor that automatically generates the code necessary to read and write C++ objects to a relational database. * A schema mapper that defines C++ classes from relational database schema, and * A class library that simplifies C++ application access to existing relational data, SUBTLEWARE INCREASES PROGRAMMER PRODUCTIVITY Subtleware vastly simplifies the coding necessary for C++ to work with relational databases: * It jump starts application development by generating C++ class definitions from relational database schema. * It speeds application development by eliminating the need to write hundreds of lines of database mapping code per class. * It dramatically reduces application maintenance time by eliminating the need to modify the database mapping code with each C++ class definition change. As a result, C++ application developers can focus on what brings value to their organization, application development; and, C++ application development projects can reduce their development costs as well as speed their time-to-market. SUBTLEWARE IS DESIGNED TO BE OPEN * Subtleware adds value to your C++ development environment! Subtleware fits into your existing C++ development environment by working with your preferred C++ design tools, compilers, and class libraries. No Subtleware-specific design tools are necessary. * Subtleware works directly with your existing C++ class definitions! * Subtleware adds value to your relational database systems! Your C++ applications can work concurrently and share data with your other relational database applications. Subtleware makes your existing relational database into a powerful OODBMS. * Subtleware library source code and generated code is freely available! No run-time fees are imposed. SUBTLEWARE IS WIDELY AVAILABLE Subtleware runs on a wide range of computing platforms: * PC's running Windows 3.x, Windows NT, OS/2, and DOS. * Unix workstations, including Sun and HP. Subtleware supports a variety of database interfaces: * ANSI SQL * ODBC * Oracle * Sybase * Watcom * Informix (planned 8/95) * Ingres (planned 10/95) * ODMG (planned 12/95) Subtleware supports virtually all C++ 2.x and 3.x compilers, including: * Borland C++ * Microsoft Visual C++ * HP C++ * SunPro C++ SUBTLEWARE IMPROVES SOFTWARE QUALITY Subtleware generates well-documented, bug-free code. Furthermore, Subtleware code generation can be customized for your application requirements. Using Subtleware greatly increases the reliability and reusability of your applications. SUBTLEWARE OPTIMIZES APPLICATION PERFORMANCE Subtleware generates static SQL code that can be linked directly into your application or packaged as a DLL or shared library. Subtleware does not require the use of high-overhead, run-time modules for managing your persistent objects. SUBTLEWARE PROVIDES RUN-TIME FLEXIBILITY Subtleware offers dynamic SQL capabilities for performing run-time specified data access. SUBTLEWARE MAXIMIZES APPLICATION PORTABILITY Subtleware is database independent. Your applications use the same Subtleware API no matter which underlying database is being used. Changing your database simply entails linking in another Subtleware database support module to your application. TECHNICAL DETAILS The Subtleware pre-processor converts C++ classes to relational database schema: C++ Class ------> Subtleware Pre-Processor -----> Relational Database Schema The Subtleware SQLExec facility simplifies C++ access to existing relation data: C++ Code <-------------> Subtleware SQLExec ----------> Legacy Data The Subtleware schema mapper converts relational database schema to C++ classes: Relational Schema -----> Subtleware Schema Mapper ------> C++ Class OBJECT MODEL SUPPORT Subtleware supports encapsulation, inheritance, containment, and polymorphism. A C++ class is mapped to a table in a relational database. Each member data variable (local, inherited, or contained) is mapped to a column in the database table. ASSOCIATION SUPPORT Subtleware provides a set of Subtle Pointer classes for persisting one-to- one relationships between objects. Each Subtle Pointer class offers a unique set of behavior regarding pointer chasing and referential integrity constraints. Subtle Pointers "swizzle" associations into in- memory pointers, speeding object traversal. COLLECTION SUPPORT Subtleware provides a set of Subtle Collection classes for persisting N- to-many relationships between objects. Each Subtle Collection class offers a unique data structure abstraction. CONCURRENCY CONTROL SUPPORT Subtleware utilizes the data locking mechanisms of the underlying relational database. Concurrency is specified by the database isolation level or locking protocol in-use. TRANSACTION SUPPORT Subtleware supports transaction commit and rollback support. When a transaction is committed, all Subtleware database operations are performed. When a transaction is rolled back, all Subtleware database operations are ignored. DEVELOPMENT TOOL SUPPORT Subtleware supports all major C++ compilers and development environments. Subtleware works with any C++ development tool that generates or uses C++ header files (class definitions) and offers customized integration with Cadre's OT for Rumbaugh, allowing developers to go straight from an object model to a running C++ application. FOR MORE INFORMATION Subtle Software, Inc. 7 Wells Ave Newton, MA 02159 U.S.A. Voice: (617) 558-4100 Fax: (617) 558-4103 email: subtle@world.std.com URL: http://world.std.com/~subtle/info.html > Synchronicity See Databases & Development Sept. 5, 1994, p1. "Lisp, Smalltalk Languages Given Database Systems" Easel's Synchronicity 2.0 is a new release of the company's business object modeling system, fromerly known as Synchrony. The new version, which will run under Windows and OS/2, lets developers using Easel's Enfin development system map Smalltalk objects to relational databases. Easil is at 617-221-2100. APPENDIX C OBJECT-ORIENTED LANGUAGES AND VENDORS ================================================= See also APPENDIX D. FORMAT: tool name, description and methods operating systems Vendor name, city/state, phone (if known) ACTOR ($495) ------------ *Prototyping & Code generation (ACTOR, access to C, Pascal) *IBM PS/2, PC AT/XT The Whitewater Group Inc. 600 Davis, Evanston, IL 60201 Allegro CL ---------- *Advanced Object Oriented Development System based on CLOS. Incremental compiler; automatic memory management; integrated editor, debugger class browsers, and profilers; multiple inheritance, method combination, multiple argument discrimination, meta-object protocol. *Unix workstations (Sun/Sparc, IBM RS/6000, HP, Silicon Graphics) PCs with Microsoft Windows Franz Inc. 1995 University Avenue Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 548-3600, FAX (510) 548-8253 Email info@franz.com Bootcon ------- *DOS Modular Software System CaseVision ---------- *Browser, Static Analysis, no compiler (yet), Editor Debugger, Profiler, ... Silicon Graphics Classic-Ada ----------- *Object-Oriented Ada Environment (to Ada translator) Software Productivity Solutions (407) 984-3370. Comeau C++ 3.0.1 With Templates ------------------------------- * compiler * many OS's (MS-DOS, AmigaDOS, UNIX (SVR4, SPARC, UNIX 386, etc), etc) Comeau Computing 91-34 120th Street Richmond Hill, NY 11418-3214 718-945-0009, comeau@csanta.attmail.com Distributed Smalltalk (HP) -------------------------- *ParcPlace's VisualWorks Extension, world's first complete implementation of *the OMG CORBA 1.1. European Knowledge Systems Centre (HP's European software tools specialists) ph: 44 272 228794 email: wjb@hplb.hpl.hp.com Dylan (Dynamic Language) ------------------------ *Apple's language with dynamic power but with efficiency of static languages. *Not proprietary, many impls. *ftp site includes experimental implementations, the FAQ, literature, etc. *See also Appendix E. *Apple. Under way: Windows, Unix. http://www.cambridge.apple.com. ftp://cambridge.apple.com/pub/dylan try: straz@apple.com, Steve Strassmann, PhD Energize (5 $16250, single $4250, lcc 1500) ------------------------------------------- *Debugger, Class Language Calltree Error Project Browsers *SunOS 4.1 Lucid 707 Laurel St. Menlo Park, CA 95025 (415) 329-8400 ENFIN Smalltalk (See Synchronicity In APPENDIX D) -------------------------------------------------- *Commercial Smalltalk development environment incorporating industrial strength Smalltalk engine; comprehensive class library with classes for GUI graphics, database, communications, networking; numerous visual programming tools *Microsoft Windows 3.xx, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows NT, IBM OS/2, AIX, HP/UX, Sun Solaris VMARK Software Inc. 50 Washington Street Westborough, Mass. 01581 United States of America Tel: +1 (508) 366-3888 Fax: +1 (508) 366-3669 URL: http://www.vmark.com/ EOF --- * Enterprise Objects Framework (EOF), which enables the construction of enterprise business objects and stores them in industry-standard relational databases. NeXT Computer, Inc. 900 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 1-800-TRY-NEXT http://www.next.com/ Frameworks 3.1 ($495.) ---------------------- *IDE, Browser, Debugger, Compiler, ... *DOS, Windows Borland International 1800 Greenhills Road Scotts Valley, CA 95067 800-331-0877 FUSE ($1560 C++, $1944 FUSE) ---------------------------- *Distr Builds, Editor, Debugger, Profiler, Call Graphs, Call Tree Animation, Browser, ... *Ultrix RISC, OSF/1 AXP (planned to alpha NT) DEC 14475 Northeast 24th St. Bellvue, WA 98007 GNU GCC (g++) ------------- *C++ compiler, (non-graphical) debugger. *Unix prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/gcc-2.4.5.tar.gz GNU GCC (g++) ------------- *C++ compiler, (non-graphical) debugger. MS-DOS grape.ecs.clarkson.edu:/pub/msdos/djgpp/djgpp.zip Hamilton C-Shell ---------------- *A shell *OS/2, Windows Hamilton Labs HighC/C++ (basic $795, w/Phar Lap $995) --------------------------------------- *Editor, Debugger, Windows ADK, Unix Utilities, Speedkit *Unix MetaWare Inc. 2161 Deleware Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (408) 429-6382 Iconix Power Tools ------------------ *Multiuser, OO development toolset *Macintosh Iconix Software Engineering Santa Monica, Ca. MetaC ----- *testing tool, code coverage, lint-style chking, C, C++, tests mem alloc errors QASE (Quality Assured Software Engineering) 938 Willowleaf Dr. Suite 2806 San Jose, CA 95128 (408) 298-3824 ext. 5 MKS Toolkit ----------- *Make, ... *PC (Unix-Like) MKS NEXPERT ------- *GUI-type builder, rule based, objects, classes, subclasses, rule inheritance, embedded, but you can call external routines. Neuron Data Elements From: jrp@accint.com (Jason R. Pascucci) (abstract from a post) NEXTSTEP (See also EOF) ------------------------ * NEXTSTEP, a desktop operating system optimized for developing and deploying object-oriented applications. * NeXT m68k, 80486, Pentium, HPPA RISC, Sun SPARC NeXT Computer, Inc. 900 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 1-800-TRY-NEXT http://www.next.com/ NEXTSTEP Developer ------------------ * NeXT's application development environment, a single set of tools for building complex applications that can be deployed on heterogeneous client/server networks running OpenStep, NEXTSTEP, PDO and EOF. NeXT Computer, Inc. 900 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 1-800-TRY-NEXT http://www.next.com/ PDO --- *Portable Distributed Objects (PDO), which allows objects in a single application to be distributed across a heterogeneous network of OpenStep and NEXTSTEP clients, and a broad range of industry standard servers. Server operating systems supported by PDO include Solaris, SunOS, Digital UNIX, Hewlett-Packard HP/UX and Microsoft Windows NT. NeXT Computer, Inc. 900 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 1-800-TRY-NEXT http://www.next.com/ ObjectCenter ------------ *C++ programming environment, high quality graphics, browser, debugger, interpreter. *Sun, ??? CenterLine (kendall@)centerline.com ObjectIQ -------- *OO devel environ. Objects, rules, debugger, browser, GUI builder, more. *RAD and intelligent decision support applications. European Knowledge Systems Centre (HP's European software tools specialists) ph: 44 272 228794 email: wjb@hplb.hpl.hp.com ObjectWorks, VisualWorks ------------------------ *Smalltalk programming environment from the Smalltalk people. ParcPlace Systems, Inc. 999 E. Arques Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 email: info@parcplace.com fax: 1-408-481-9095 voice: 1-800-759-PARC OpenTalk -------- *Smalltalk to C++ and C Translator. TNI Industries (Techniques Nouvelles d'Informatique) ZI du Vernis 29200 Brest France tel 98 05 24 85, fax 98 49 45 33 OST/Look -------- *C++ program animator. *Suns, PCs, others coming. Admiral Software 193-199 London Road Camberley Surrey UK Tel: (44) (276) 692269 Fax: (44) (276) 677533 Prograph -------- *OO visual programming environment *Macintosh TGS Systems Halifax, Nova Scotia 902-455-4446 SDE WorkBench/6000 ($918 - $7350) --------------------------------- *Editor (syntax Highlighting), Browser, Flow Grapher, Make, Test Coverage Analysis, Debugger, Profiler, ... *HP Apollo 9000, Sparcstations IBM, Canada PRGS Toronto Laboratory 895 Don Mills Road North, York Ontario, Canada, M3C 1W3 800-IBM-CALL SNAP ---- *Template based devel. environment for building distributed OO applications Template Software Inc. 13100 Worldgate Drive, Suite 340 Herndon, VA 22070-4382 (703) 318-1000 SNiFF+ ------ *C/C++ development environment with fuzzy parser, Emacs integration and code browsers, free to universities. See APPENDIX E, TOOLS AND CASE *SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.x, AIX 3.2, HP/UX 8.0/9.0 takeFive Software Jakob-Haringer-Strasse 8 5020 Salzburg, AUSTRIA phone: +43 662 457 915 fax: +43 662 457 915 6 email: sniff@takefive.co.at SoftBench ($1785 C++, $4500 Softbench) -------------------------------------- *C++ class constructor, CASE (graphically modify C++), Browser, Analyzer, Editor, Builder, Debugger, ... HP 3404 E. Harmony Rd. MS 81 Fort Collins, CO 80525 800-845-0070 or Cupertino, Ca. 800-752-0900 ext. 2707 or 303-229-2255 SparkWorks ($1995, $995 C++) ---------------------------- *Debugger, Profiler, Source Browser, File Merge, MakeTool *Suns SunPro 2550 Garcia Ave. Mountain View, CA 94043 (800) 926-6620 TowerEiffel ----------- *Advanced software engineering and development system for Eiffel. Includes a high performance Eiffel 3 compiler, programming environment and tools, GUI Builder, ODBMS Interface, and reusable software libraries for data structures, graphics, and simulation. *Available for SunOS, Solaris, NEXTSTEP, Linux, OS/2, and Windows. Plans for OSF, AIX, and SGI Iris. Tower Technology Corporation 1501 West Koenig Lane Austin, Texas 78756 USA TEL: 800 285 5124 or 512 452 9455 FAX: 512 452 1721 email: tower@twr.com www: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Tower/ Zortech C++ v. 3.1 ($499) ------------------------- *Debugger, Workbench, Resource Workshop *PCs? Symantec Corp 10201 Torre Ave. Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 253-9600 APPENDIX D OBJECT-ORIENTED CASE (OOA/D/P TOOLS) AND VENDORS ============================================================ See also APPENDIX C. Below is a list of available OO CASE environments. Many thanks to James Odell <71051.1733@compuserve.com> for his extensive list and to Ron Schultz for a list posted to comp.object on 9/13/92. Many additional entries have been added and additional entries are encouraged; please send additions and updates to the author of the FAQ (and/or to James and Ron). Second is a collection of articles, products, and papers on CASE systems. These appeared as posts to comp.object. I. graphic-only OO-CASE EasyCASE HOOD Toolset Model 5w Stood TurboCASE Visual Thought II. OO-CASE with some code generation (1 to 60%) AdaVantage Bachman/Analyst BOCS EiffelCase HOMSuite IE\O (canceled) ILOG KADS Tool Intelligent OOA (?) MacAnalyst/Designer ObjectCraft Object Domain Objecteering ObjectModeler ObjecTool Object Oriented Designer ObjectOry ObjectTeam OEW OMTool OOSD OOTher Paradigm Plus (See also Meta-Case) Prosa/om Rational Rose S-CASE Select/OMT SES/Objectbench Synchronicity System Architect VIEWS-SF Westmount I-CASE OMT 001 III. Meta OO-CASE (CASE that builds CASE) Envision Excelerator II GraphTalk MetaEdit Object Maker Paradigm Plus Toolbuilder IV. Full execution OO-CASE BridgePoint ObjectGEODE ObjecTime Ptech OMW Available CASE Systems FORMAT: tool name, description and methods operating systems(price, if known) vendor name, vendor contact information 001 --- *Object-oriented, full life cycle CASE *VAX/VMS, Unix ($24,000) Hamilton Technologies Inc 17 Inman St., Cambridge MA 01239 (617) 492-0058 AdaVantage ($1095--$1780) ------------------------- *analysis, design (Ada) Generators: production code, Ada compiler and tool set reusable components library *PC AT/XT, Mac, Unix Workstations Meridian Software Systems, Inc. 23141 Verdugo Dr., Ste 105, Laguna Hills CA 92653 Bachman Data Analyst -------------------- *Data Modeling and analysis with OO support *PC-DOS, OS/2, Unix Bachman Information Systems 8 New England Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803 (617) 273-9003 BOCS ---- *Semantic Nets, Object-Message Diagrams, State Transition Diagrams, Petri-Nets *Generates C++ *PC-DOS, OS/2, Windows Macintosh ($595) Berard Software Engineering 902 Wind River Lane, Suite 203 Gaithersburg, MD 20878 301-417-9884 BridgePoint ----------- *BridgePoint Model Builder, Shlaer-Mellor graphical modeling tool. *BridgePoint Model Verifier, a model executor for Shlaer-Mellor OOA models. *BridgePoint Generator, an code generation engine for converting Shlaer-Mellor OOA models into code. Project Technology, Inc. 2560 Ninth Street, Suite 214 Berkeley, CA 94710 tel: 510-845-1484 tel: 800-845-1489 fax: 510-845-1075 email: info@projtech.com http://www.projtech.com EasyCASE -------- *Parts of Shlaer/Mellor method plus lots of other non-OO notations *Windows, DOS ($495 to $1,295) Evergreen CASE Tools, Inc 8522 154th Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 (206) 881-5149 (206) 883-7676 (fax) EiffelCase ---------- *ISE's BON (Better Object Notation) *Generates t class templates *Unix, Windows NT ($1,995) Interactive Software Engineering, Inc 270 Storke Road, Suite 7 Goleta, CA 93117 (805) 685-1006 (805) 685-6869 (fax) Envision -------- *Methodology independent, user defined. Meta-CASE. Template code generation. Examples include BPR, Yourdon/ER, OMT. *Windows,NT,OS/2,(Chicago),Network Servers (8,000 Single, Multiple discounts). Future Tech Systems (Leon Stucki) 824 E. Main Auburn, Washington 98002 (206) 939-7552 (206) 735 6763 (fax) Excelerator II -------------- *Odell/Martin, Rumbaugh, Jacobson, and Wirfs-Brock notation *Can customize and mix parts of on approach with another in a user-friendly manner *LAN, meta-CASE with customizable graphics and rules *OS/2, Windows NT ($9,500) Intersolv, Inc 3200 Tower Oaks Blvd Rockville, MD 20852 (301) 230-3200 (301) 231-7813(fax) GraphTalk --------- *many notations (IE, NIAM, HOOD, Merise, SADT) *configurable meta-CASE tool *executable code generation of C (via enhanced pseudo code) and GQL *Sun, DEC, RS6000, UNIX, Motif, PS/2, PC 386, OS/2 Rank Xerox AI & CASE Division 7, rue Touzet Gaillard 93586 Saint-Ouen Cedex France +33 (1) 494 85085 HOMSuite -------- *responsibility-driven design *Generates C++ and Smalltalk/V *Windows ($595) Hatteras Software Inc 208 Lochside Dr Cary, NC 27511 (919) 851-0993 HOOD Toolset (design only) -------------------------- *HOOD notation *Unix, DOS CASET Corporation 33751 Connemara Dr San Juan Cap., CA 92693 (714) 496-8670 IE\O IEF (IE\O canceled) ------------------------ *OO version of IEF. IEF now handles some OO CASE? *OS/2 Texas Instruments 1-800-336-5236 ILOG KADS Tool -------------- *knowledge-based system (KBS) approach named KADS, part is OO to *capture knowledge, part involves rules that capture decision-making logic, *generates C++ *Unix, DEC VMS ILOG 2, ave Gallieni, BP 85 94523 Gentilly Cedex France +33 1 4663-6666 +33 1 4663-1582 (fax) Intelligent OOA --------------- *Shlaer/Mellor notation *general purpose code generator from"Action Language" psuedo code *based on user-defined templates *simulation tool *Unix Kennedy-Carter (in the U.K.) Contact Tracy Morgan on 44-181-947-0553 or fax 44-181-944-6536 or mail tracy@kc.com LOV/Object Editor ----------------- *Rumbaugh notation *generates C++ *interfaces with Verilog product suite *Unix, OSF/Motif Logiscope, Inc. 3010 LBJ Freeway, Suite 900 Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 241-6595 (214) 241-6594 MacAnalyst and MacDesigner -------------------------- *various notations *screen prototyping *Macintosh ($995-2,590) Excel Software PO Box 1414 Marshalltown, IA (515) 752-5359 (515) 752-2435 (fax) MetaEdit -------- *Analysis and design tool that supports most available structured and OO analysis and design methods, and can be easily customized. OO methods supported: Booch, Coad/Yourdon, Demeter, Rumbaugh, OSA and MOSESA. *MetaEdit is available for MS-Windows 3.1 (499$ - 1500$). MetaCase Consulting OY P.O. Box 449 Ylistönmäentie FIN-40101 Jyväskylä Finland tel. & fax. +358-41-650 400 http://www.jsp.fi/metacase [The shareware version can be found from Simtel, Cica, and their mirrors. The version 1.0 is shareware but the latest version 1.1 is fully commercial.] [MetaEdit 1.1 - MetaCase Consulting Oy - metacase@jsp.fi shareware version "metaed10.zip" can be ftp'd from ftp.funet.fi (other sites also have the file, check archie)] Model 5w -------- *prototype, free with purchase of OOA text "The Problem Space". GUI front end for integrated repository supporting OO requirements analysis, including events, rules, participants, and locations. *Windows 3.X under DOS or OS/2 Dan Tasker Consulting Sydney, Australia Phone/Fax +61 2 909-8961 dant@swdev.research.otc.com.au ObjectCraft ----------- *OOT's own graphic notation *Generates C++ *DOS ($99) Object-Oriented Technologies 2124 Kittredge St, Suite 118 Berkeley, CA 94704 (415) 759-6270 (voice/fax) Object Domain ------------- *Booch notation (All diagrams:class,object,state,process,module and interaction diagrams) *generates C++ headers and stubs *MS-Windows 3.1 *Shareware US $99.00 *See Appendix E Dirk Vermeersch 1397 Ridgewood Drive San Jose, CA 95118 dirkv@netcom.com Objecteering ------------ *Softeam's "Class Relation" approach notation *Generates C++ ("up to 60%"), open with multiple, concurrent user *Sun, DEC, HP, RS6000, Unix, X Windows/Motif ($9,500) Softeam One Kendall Square, #2200 Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 621-7091 (617) 577-1209 (fax) ObjectGEODE ------------------ *OMT, ITU's SDL and MSC methodology notations *Object and Use Cases Analysis, Architectural, Data and Behavioral Design *Rapid prototyping, Verification and Validation through Simulation, *Full C/C++ code generation for most popular embedded RT systems *ObjectGEODE runs on: SparcStation/SunOS & Solaris, HP/HPUX, RS6000/AIX, DecAlpha/OSF1 (From $10,000) Logiscope, Inc. 3010 LBJ Freeway, Suite 900 Dallas, TX 75234 (214) 241 6595 800 424 3095 (214) 241 6594 (fax) support@logtech.com ObjecTime --------- *ROOM methodology (Real-Time Object-Oriented Modelling) notation *OO state charts with methods specified in own Smalltalk-like language or C++ *generates Smalltalk, C, C++ and interfaces with C++ environment *internally used product by Bell-Northern for several years *full code generation for embedded RT systems *Unix ($20,000 includes training and support) ObjecTime Limited 340 March Road, Suite 200 Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 2E4 (613) 591-3400 ObjectMaker ----------- *supports many diagramming notations *customize methods, checking, and semantics with external rules *configurable meta-CASE tool *Cobol, Ada, C, and C++ generation (shell) and reverse engineering *Macintosh, VAX, Windows 3, X Windows/Motif ($8,000 to $25,000) Mark V Systems Ltd 16400 Ventura Blvd Encino, Ca. (818) 995-7671 ObjectModeler ------------- *Rumbaugh, Coad/Yourdon, Jacobson and Booch notation *multiple, concurrent user *generates SQL, C++, Smalltalk templates *Macintosh, Unix ($1,495­5,995) Iconix Software Engineering 2800 28th St., Suite 320 Santa Monica, CA 90405 (310) 458-0092 ObjecTool (was OOA/OODTool), Together/C++(new) ----------------------------------------------- *Coad/Yourdon, Object-oriented analysis. ObjectTool (Startup tool) *Windows, OS/2, HP/Sun Unix. *Together/C++ (Windows only) Code/Design integration. Object International, Inc. 8140 N. MoPac Expwy Austin, Tx 78759-6535 800-926-9306 (512) 795-0202 (512) 795-0332 (fax) Object Oriented Designer (Freeware: See Appendix E:66) ------------------------------------------------------ *Only object model (with some extension) of Rumbaugh notation *generates C++ *primitive graphics editor *Unix machine(SunSparc, HP, Solaris, Linux, RS6000) *written by C++ with OSF/Motif 1.2 *freeware *obtainable from any ftp.x.org site (/contrib/devel_tools/OOD) and from ASSET project *a little unreliable Prof. Taegyun Kim (ktg@taejo.pufs.ac.kr) Pusan Univ. of Foreign Studies 55-1 Uam-Dong Pusan 608-738 Korea 82 (051) 640-3178 Objectory --------- *Jacobson notation. *Generates C++, CMM support. *Windows, OS/2, Unix, 4 configurations, $5000.00 - $10000.00 (USD) Objectory AB Torshamnsgatan 39, Mail Box 1128, S-164 ss Kista Sweden support@os.se ObjectTeam (also Teamwork) -------------------------- *Shlaer/Mellor, Rumbaugh (a "special edition" of Paradigm Plus) *SQL, ADA, Smalltalk, C, and C++ generation *VAX/VMS, Unix, OS/2, PC-DOS Rumbaugh: PC($4000)/Unix($8000), *SM: Unix (1 at a time) *Demo Tutorial, Eval copies. ATM example + others. Cadre Technologies, Inc 222 Richmond St., Providence, RI (401) 351-5950 (401) 455-6800 (fax) OEW (Object Engineering Workbench) ---------------------------------- *Martin/Odell object diagrams *generates C++ (templates unless supplemented with C coded methods) *reverse engineers C++ *Sun OS, PC Windows 3.x ($99-$2190) Innovative Software GmbH Niddastr. 66-68 6000 Frankfurt/M 1 Germany +49 60 236 929 +49 69 236930 (fax) OOTher ------ *Coad/Yourdon OOA, FSM(subset of SDL), Jacobson's Use Case and Object * Interaction diagrams. Consistency, C++ header gen. from OOA. *MS-Windows 3.1 *Freeware for students/schools/home users. Corp 1-5 Shareware (USD $170). *See Appendix E, entry 67 Roman M. Zielinski Tre Kaellors Vaeg 7 S-145 65 Norsborg Sweden OMW (Object Management Workbench) --------------------------------- *draws and executes from Martin/Odell diagrams *produces fully executable ANSI C environment *UI construction facilities, "object engine" for managing objects *AI "rule engine" for managing rules *interfaces with multiple databases *Unix; generated code runs on any ANSI C environment ($5,000-25,000) IntelliCorp 1975 El Camino Real West Mountain View, CA 94025 (415) 965-5500 (415) 965-5647 (fax) OMTool ------ *OMTool(tm) version 2.0 (Object Modeling Tool, Rumbaugh) PC-based graphical tool for OO analysis and design. graphical prep and editing of object models for systems, programs, databases using the OMT. *8MB mem/math coproc(16MB without), Windows 3.1, Mouse, Hard Disk with 4 MB of available disk space, 386 CPU, Video Graphics Adapter. *Price: $995.00 US. Martin Marietta Advanced Concepts Center 640 Freedom Business Center King of Prussia, PA 19406 +1 (610) 992-6200, +1 800 438-7246, +1 (610) 992-6299 (FAX) OSMOSYS ------- *OOA and OOD for OSMOSYS Winter Partners London Office: Zurich Office: West Wing, The Hop Exchange 24a Southwark Street Florastrasse 44 London SE1 1TY CH-8008 Zurich England Switzerland Tel. +44-(0)71-357-7292 Tel. +41-(0)1-386-95 11 Fax. +44-(0)71-357-6650 Fax. +41-(0)1-386-95 00 Paradigm Plus ------------- *CASE tool supporting Booch, OMT, Fusion, Coad-Yourdon, Martin-Odell, OOIE, Schlaer-Mellor, and others extended to support Jacobson's Use Case Modeling. *Automatic Generation of C, C++, Smalltalk, Ada, and ODBMS/RDBMS schema definitions. *Reverse engineering of C, C++, Smalltalk *Windows: Fixed/1 machine, $3995, maint $599. Floating/net $4995, maint $750. *Unix: $7770, $1155 maint. Multiple discounts. *Eval, Demo, 30 day eval copy. PLATINUM technology Clearlake Lab 17629 El Camino Real, Mail Stop 400 Houston, TX 77058 (713)-480-3233, (713)-480-6606 http://protosoft.com/home.html Direct Contact: Richard W. Haines (richard@protosoft.com) Prosa/om -------- *Coad/Yourdon notation *Generates C++, SQL *Windows, OS/2, Motif Prosa Software Kirkkokato 5 B SF-90100 Oulu, FInland +358 (81) 376-128 +358 (81) 371-754 Ptech ----- *Martin/Odell notation *modifiable meta-model *supports Martin/Odell notation, "data model is the database", C++ and Ontos or Objectivity code generation (fully executable code), formal foundation *Unix, ($5,000-25,000) Ptech, Inc. 200 Friberg Parkway Westborough, MA 01581 USA (508) 366-9166 Rational Rose ------------- *Booch notation OOA/D, OMT notation OOA/D *generates C++, Smalltalk, Ada, SQL *Windows, Unix, AIX. Rational 3320 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara, Ca. 95054 (408) 496-3700 Also: *C++ Booch Components 1-800-767-3237 ext. 23 S-CASE ------ *Booch-93 notation *generates C++ headers and stubs *project management aids, multi-user *Windows, OSF/Motif, Open Look, Macintosh ($249-995) MultiQuest Corp 1699 E. Woodfield Rd Suite A-1 Schaumburg, IL 60173 (708) 240-5555, (708) 240-5556 (fax) Select OMT ---------- *Rumbaugh notation *generates C++ *Windows ($695) Select Software Tools, Ltd 1526 Brookhollow Dr. Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 957-6633; (714) 957-6219 SES/Objectbench --------------- *Shlaer/Mellor notation, supports GUI and database links editors, browsers, test utilities, and statistical analysis for simulation development. Emphasizes importance of model animation to functionally verify the analysis. *generates C++ *Macintosh, MS-DOS, UNIX ($4,900 to $24,300) Software & Engineering Software (SES) 4301 Westbank Dr., Bldg A, Austin, TX 78746 (512) 328-5544, (512) 327-6646 (fax) Stood ----- *HOOD (version 3.1) notation, supports Ada, C, C++ *Unix, RISC, X windows Techniques Nouvells d'Informatique Technopole Brest-Iroise ZI du Vernis, Case postale 1 29608 Brest Cedex, France +33 9 8052744, +33 9 849-4533 (fax) StP/OMT, StP/Booch and StP/ClassCapture - Software through Pictures ------------------------------------------------------------------- *Members of the StP family of integrated multi-user software development tools. Open architecture, object- and system-level designs. Class Capture for C++ and Smalltalk. *Can blend OMT and Booch methods in single model. Includes Jacobson Use Cases. *Stand-alone or part of Success Packages which combines training, consulting, mentoring, and maintenance in addition to software. *Shared repository, version control and locking, code and document generation. *StP/OMT runs on; Sun SPARC (SunOS and Solaris), HP 700/800, DEC ALPHA, IBM Rs/6000 *Price: $12,000.00 US Interactive Development Environments. 595 Market Street, 10th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 +1 (415) 543-0900, +1 800 888-4331 Synchronicity ------------- *OO A&D tool integrated with ENFIN Smalltalk; bi-directional code generation; static and dynamic object modeling; use cases; maps object models to relational DBMSs *Microsoft Windows 3.xx, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows NT, IBM OS/2, AIX, HP/UX, Sun Solaris VMARK Software Inc. 50 Washington Street Westborough, Mass. 01581 United States of America Tel: +1 (508) 366-3888 Fax: +1 (508) 366-3669 URL: http://www.vmark.com/ System Architect ---------------- *Booch, Coad/Yourdon, Shlaer-Mellor. *design portion specific to Smalltalk, Ada, Object Pascal, and C++ *dialogues and menu management (Windows, C, C++), DB views (SQL, C++), other (C++) *Windows ($1395, single User), OS/2($1795, base). Popkin Software 11 Park Place New York, NY 10007 (212) 571-3434 (212) 571-2426 (fax) Toolbuilder ----------- *many notation (IE, HOOD, SSADM, Shlaer-Mellor) *configurable meta-CASE tool *executable code generation of C, C++, Cobol, ADA (via enhanced design-level action diagrams) and Motif and Open Look *interfaces to Sybase, Oracle, Informix *Sun Sparc, Apollo, HP 9000, DECstation, RS6000 ($17,000) IPSYS Software 28 Green St. Newbury, MA 01951 (508) 463-0006 IPSYS Software plc Marlborough Court Pickford Street Macclefield, Cheshire SK11 6JD U. K. +44 (625) 616722 TurboCASE --------- *ER diagrams and state charts *design portion supports class hierarchy, collaboration *Macintosh ($995) StructSoft 5416 156th Ave SE Bellevue, WA 98006 206-644-9834 VIEWS-SF -------- *supports VSF's extensive approach (including rules) some of which are based on other popular notations *C++ template generation, reverse engineerings *OS/2, Unix ($8,000­$23,500) Virtual Software Factory, Inc 13873 Park Center Rd, #218 Herndon, VA 22071 (703) 318-1180 Visual Thought -------------- *Free-form diagramming and flowcharting tool *Customizable drag-and-drop palettes for Booch, Rumbaugh (OMT), Entity-Relationship, others *Support for mixed and custom methodologies *Integration with FrameMaker *UNIX ($1295 floating license, $695 node-locked license) *Free 30-day eval on CD-ROM Confluent, Inc. 132 Encline Court San Francisco, CA 94127-1838 800-780-2838 (toll-free) . 415-586-8700 (tel) . 415-586-8838 (fax) info@confluent.com Westmount I-CASE OMT -------------------- *Rumbaugh notation *generates SQL and C++ *multi-developer *WIndows *Open repository (Informix, Ingres, Sybase) *Documentation and report generation Westmount Technology B.V. Olof Palmestraat 24 P.O.Box 5063 2600 GB DELFT The Netherlands Tel. (+31) (0)15 - 141212 Fax. (+31) (0)15 - 120267 Westmount USA Inc. 1555 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209, U.S.A. Tel. (+1) 703 875 8799 Fax. (+1) 703 527 5709 ARTICLES, PRODUCTS, AND PAPERS ON CASE SYSTEMS ---------------------------------------------- > "CASE Products 1990: A survey of CASE Products from US Vendors", Arbeitspapiere der GMD 518, March, 1991. Heinz W. Schmidt, Ovum Ltd 1 Mortimer Street London W1N 7RH England Tel: +44 71 255 2670 Fax: +44 71 255 1995 From: oil@idt.unit.no (Odd Ivar Lindland) Subject: Re: CASE Survey Organization: Norwegian Institute of Technology, University of Trondheim Date: Fri, 9 Jul 93 06:57:25 GMT >... A comprehensive survey of 35 commercial CASE tools is given in "Ovum evaluates: CASE products". It is from 1993 and is continuously updated. It has all the information you asked for. The bad thing is that it is very expensive ($1995 !!!). You should get a 40 % academic discount, however. Moreover, recently they had a "quick-answer discount" making the full price (before academic discount) $1295. Anyway, I believe it is good investment if you quickly want to have comprehensive information about the current CASE market. Particularly valuable is the comparative evaluation of the 35 products. > Proceedings of the Workshop on the Next Generation of CASE Tools (NGCT) From: sjbr@cs.utwente.nl (Sjaak Brinkkemper) Subject: Organization: University of Twente, Dept. of Computer Science Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1993 11:05:51 GMT The proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on the Next Generation of CASE Tools (NGCT'93) are available as a technical report from the Center for Telematics and Information Technology, University of Twente. Price: Nfl 45, US$ 25 (including shipping and money transfer) Order by sending a message including a POSTAL ADDRESS to: Sjaak Brinkkemper CTIT E-mail: sjbr@cs.utwente.nl ******************************************************* * Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on the * * Next Generation of CASE Tools * * Universite Paris 1 Sorbonne - 7/8 June 1993 * ******************************************************* Editors: S. Brinkkemper and F. Harmsen Center for Telematics and Information Technology University of Twente the Netherlands 174 pages Abstract The Workshop on the Next Generation of CASE Tools (NGCT) is an annual event, bringing together leading researchers on Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE). NGCT workshop is a pre-conference workshop of the annual Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE). The goal of this year's workshop, held in Paris, is to conduct an in-depth discussion of research approaches in the area of Computer Aided Software Engineering. Three main themes have been identified: * CASE architectures * Development process support * Advanced requirements engineering The workshop committee accepted fourteen papers, which are grouped in the proceedings according to these three themes. Among the topics of the papers are: multiparadigm specification for interoperable information systems, capturing design decisions, automated user interface derivation, deductive repositories, human error analysis, and business modeling. APPENDIX E ANONYMOUS FTP SITES =============================== These are anonymous ftp sites of interest to the OO community. Thanks go to Mike DeVaney (dm_devaney@pnl.gov gen ftp site list) and to Bill Kinnersley (billk@hawk.cs.ukans.edu, anon ftp programming languages list), whose initial lists helped to get things going. Additional short entries are encouraged; please send additions to the author of the FAQ (and/or to Mike and Bill). Entries will be standardized and summarized in future FAQs and are not limited to one category. Starred entries have a summary below and can be found as ">#" followed by the description. These entries will eventually be cleaned up. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES --------------------- ajpo.sei.cmu.edu:/public/ada95 Ada95 info, ARM cs.nyu.edu:pub/gnat/... *Ada95 (compiler, GNU,50) ftp.inria.fr:lang/alcool *Alcool-90 (dyn ML,1) arjuna.ncl.ac.uk:/pub/Arjuna *Arjuna (Distr Prog System,2) munnari.oz.au:pub/bebop.tar.Z *BeBOP(seq,par,LP,OO,meta,46) sales@mjolner.dk BETA (Mjolner Informatics Demo) monch.edrc.cmu.edu:/usr0/snl/archive/bos-1.2 *BOS (prototyping,3) grape.ecs.clarkson.edu:/pub/msdos/djgpp/djgpp.zip C++ (for MS-DOS) prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/gcc-2.4.5.tar.gz C++ (for Unix, & Objective-C) cambridge.apple.com/pub/dylan *Dylan (Dynamic Language,75) omnigate.clarkson.edu:/pub/msdos/djgpp *G++ for DOS (Many sites,4) tsbgw.isl.rdc.toshiba.co.jp: pub/toshiba/cooc-beta.1.1.tar.Z *cooC (Concurrent, OO C ext.,5) parcftp.xerox.com:pcl CLOS pion.lcs.mit.edu CLU (Sun, VAX) ftp.cs.cornell.edu:/pub/CML-0.9.tar.Z CML arisia.xerox.com Pcl (Portable CommonLoops) xcf.berkeley.edu:src/local/fmpl *FMPL (prototyping,6) nebula.cs.yale.edu Glasgow Haskell piggy.cs.chalmers.se Chalmers Haskell (hbc) software.watson.ibm.com Hermes (Unix) cs.arizona.edu Icon sun.soe.clarkson.edu ISETL (DOS, Mac, Unix, VMS,src) http://java.sun.com/index.html *Java (Distr Prog, 81) cs.orst.edu Little Smalltalk (C src) ftp.ircam.fr:/pub/IRCAM/programs *MAX (visual OO,7) 128.59.24.6 (MeldC@cs.columbia.edu) MeldC (Rflctv, prllel, OO lang) gatekeeper.dec.com Modula-3 (SRC) cs.uni-sb.de:/pub/osmall/machine *O'small (OO lang for teaching,8) neptune.inf.ethz.ch Oberon (MacII, SPARC, DECstn) wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/pgmutl/oberon11.zip Oberon (MS-DOS) ux1.cso.uiuc.edu:pub/amiga/fish/ff380 Oberon (Amiga) obj3dist@csl.sri.com (license or request) *OBJ3 (OO lang,9) prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/gcc-2.4.5.tar.gz Objective-C (for Unix, & C++) gate.fzi.de:/pub/OBST *OBST (lang, perst, OODB,10) watserv1.waterloo.edu occam (VAX sim, Tahoe) 128.100.1.192:/pub/ootDistrib *OOT (OO Turing demo,11) wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/unix-c/languages/ops5 OPS5 (interpreter) etlport.etl.go.jp:/pub/OZ++/OZ++-R2.tar.gz *OZ++ (Distr Env,83) http://www.cs.tcd.ie/acourtny/phantom/phantom.html *Phantom (Dist Prog,80) wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/pli/runpli1a.arc PL/I (interpreter) watserv1.waterloo.edu Russell parcftp.xerox.com:pub/russell Russell ftp.icsi.berkeley.edu:pub/sather *Sather (was simple Eiffel,12) altdorf.ai.mit.edu: scm Scheme (small, portable) gatekeeper.dec.com: elk Scheme (for Suns) acorn.cs.brandeis.edu: gambit Scheme (for 68K's) otis.stanford.edu *Self (13) self.stanford.edu Self cs.nyu.edu SETL2 (DOS, OS/2, Mac, Unix) rascal.ics.utexas.edu SIMULA 67 (Mac) prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu Smalltalk-80 (GNU v1.1) st.cs.uiuc.edu *Smalltalk V (35) cs.yale.edu:pub/ml SML/NJ research.att.com:dist/ml SML (Version 0.75) sbcs.sunysb.edu SML (lazy) ucbvax.berkeley.edu tcl tk.telematik.informatik.uni-karlsruhe.de:/pub/tnt/tnt-0.1.tar.gz *Trellis,69 ftp.cs.umu.se:/pub/umlexe01.zoo uML csd4.csd.uwm.edu:/pub/compilers/list Free Compilers/Interp's list primost.cs.wisc.edu: pub/comp.compilers/LanguageList* Bill Kinnersley's list idiom.berkeley.ca.us: pub/compilers-list/LanguageList* http://cui_www.unige.ch/langlist Bill on Prog Langs & contacts ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/doc/misc/lang-list.txt (billk@hawk.cs.ukans.edu) See also Knowledge Media cd-rom collection on Languages, entry 47. COMPILER TOOLS -------------- prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/bison-1.14.tar.Z Yacc ftp.th-darmstadt.de:/pub/programming/languages/C++ *C++ gram, etc.,14 [See also Free Compilers and Kinnersley's List above!] DATABASES (See also APPENDIX B) ------------------------------- ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de:pub/CB *ConceptBase (OODB, reqkey,15) pippin.cs.monash.edu.au:pub/export/diamond-0.1.2.tar.Z *C++ OODB (16) wilma.cs.brown.edu/pub/encore.tar.Z Encore of Brown Univ ftp.cs.wisc.edu:exodus *Exodus (Storage Man, perst,17) ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de:/pub/unix/GRAS522_3 *GRAS (18) mood.mech.tohoku.ac.jp *MOOD (OODB, lim arch,19) src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/computing/databases MOOD/Postgres/OBST copies gate.fzi.de:/pub/obst *OBST/STONE(schema,prst obj,10) research.att.com *Ode (C++ OODB,20) http://www.vmark.com/news/preleases/presrel21.html *OODB Driver,86 postgres.berkeley.edu:pub *POSTGRES (Ext. Rel. DBMS,21) toe.CS.Berkeley.EDU:pub/postgres *POSTGRES,21 cs.utexas.edu:pub/garbage/{swizz,texaspstore}.ps *Texas Persistent Store,41 See also idiom.berkeley.ca.us:pub/free-databases or ftp.idiom.com:/pub/free-databases, object-oriented databases. TOOLS AND CASE -------------- ftp.cs.purdue.edu:/pub/gb/* *C++ Signatures (subtyping),40 ftp.centerline.com:/pub/tags-1.0.tar.Z *C++ tags, 23 ftp.th-darmstadt.de:/pub/programming/languages/C++ *Cls bwsr,tmplates,GC,etc,14 ftp.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de:/pub/eiffel *Eiffel archive, 24 http://www.envelop.com *Envelope Engine OORAD,85 interviews.stanford.edu:/pub/3.1.tar.Z InterViews 3.1 (C/C++ browser) oak.oakland.edu:/SimTel/win3/pgmtools/domain.zip*Object Domain (SW Case,76) export.lcs.mit.edu:/contrib/devel_tools/OOD *OO Designer CASE Tool,66 OAK.Oakland.Edu:pub/msdos/windows3/oot-106f.zip *OOTher OO CASE Tool,67 wsmr-simtel20.army.mil(192.88.110.20) OOTool (win31 directory?) labrea.stanford.edu:/pub/pomoco *ORBELINE: CORBA,65 ftp.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de:/pub/eiffel/eiffel-3/sig *short tool, 24 siam.unibe.ch:C++/Sniff1.6/ *Sniff (C++ devel environ,22) self.stanford.edu:/pub/sniff *Sniff,22 LIBRARIES AND INTERFACES ------------------------ butler.hpl.hp.com:stl *C++ STL, Std. Temp. Lib.,79 arjuna.ncl.ac.uk *C++SIM (Simula-like Sim Pkg,38) csc.ti.com:pub/COOL.tar.Z *COOL(C++, orig from TI,25) cs.utexas.edu:pub/COOL/GE_COOL2.1.tar.Z *COOL(C++, Cfront 2.1, from GE,25) ftp.fu-berlin.de:/pub/unix/languages/cool/cool-2.1.tar.Z *CooL Soft Prod Env,70 omg.org:pub/NEC_DII/93-1-2... CORBA (DII) claude.ifi.unizh.ch:under pub/standards/spec CORBA Spec omg.org:pub/OMG_IDL_CFE_1.2/bin *idl.SunOS4.x, idl.Solaris2.x,26 ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/pub/pc/win3/programr *MindFrame for Windows,54 ftp.th-darmstadt.de:pub/programming/languages/C++ *NIHCL COOL OATH ET++,etc,14 ftp.th-darmstadt.de:pub/programming/languages/C++/class-libraries/OSE *OSE:C++ Prog tools & Class Lib,42 watmsg.UWaterloo.ca:pub/uSystem *u++:C++ Trans. and Concry RTS,48 DOCUMENTATION AND INFO SERVERS ------------------------------ ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu:Web/xmosaic or info.cern.ch:pub/www *Browser for OO info,27 ftp.th-darmstadt.de:/pub/programming/languages/C++ *C++ docs, code, net sums,14 ftp.cm.cf.ac.uk:pub/Eiffel Eiffel FAQ zaphod.uchicago.edu:/pub/faq.8-25[.Z] OO FAQ (this document) http://cui_www.unige.ch/OSG/FAQ/OO-FAQ/ *OO FAQ(hypertext version),WWW,27 http://cui_www.unige.ch/OSG/OOinfo/ *OO Information sources on WWW,27 http://www.cs.cmu.edu~/clamen/OODBMS/evolution-summary.gz OODB Schema Evol Sum. http://www.cs.cmu.edu~/clamen/OODBMS/Manifesto.{PS,txt}.gz http://www.cs.cmu.edu~/clamen/OODBMS/htManifesto OODB Manifesto, ASCII/PS/HTML http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/rif/metacase/metacase.home.html *Meta-Case Info,78 PAPERS ------ ftp.cs.tcd.ie:/pub/tcd/tech-reports *Amadeus,persistence,62 scslwide.sony.co.jp:pub/CSL-Papers *Apertos (MO Distr OS,28) sail.stanford.edu:pub/MT/93actors.ps.Z *Actors Paper (UIUC,29) biobio.cs.uiuc.edu:directory pub/papers *Actors Papers,29 http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/TRs/ *C++ VFn Elim,87 euagate.eua.ericsson.se:ftp/pub/eua/c++/rules.ps.Z *C++ coding standard,44 http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/projects/cecil/www/cecil-home.html *Cecil,77 choices.cs.uiuc.edu Choices OO OS ftp.chorus.fr:pub/chorus-reports *Chorus,Dist,RT,MicroK,63 http://cui_www.unige.ch/Chloe/Oscar/home.html Concurrency Papers,WWW,27 ftp.ens.fr:/pub/reports/liens/liens-94-18.A4.dvi.Z *Contra-/Co- Variance,71 ftp.gte.com:pub/dom *Distrib Reports GTE,52 ftp.ifi.unizh.ch: pub/techreports/electra.ps.Z Electra ORB, sec 3.8.6 cs.utexas.edu:pub/garbage/gcsurvey.ps Garbage Collection,sec 3.9 wilma.cs.brown.edu:/pub/gdbiblio.{tex,ps}.Z *graph drawing,31 world.std.com:/pub/kala/TechDocs/Overview_Sun.ps,* *Kala Archive,45 ftp.ccs.neu.edu:pub/demeter/documents *Law of Demeter,32 ftp.cs.ualberta.ca:pub/oolog/state.ps.Z MUTABLE STATE OOPL SURVEY mushroom.cs.man.ac.uk:/pub/mushroom/papers *OO Dyn Grping, memory,33 st.cs.uiuc.edu:/pub/papers OO Frameworks, R. Johnson http://pclsys64.dcrl.nd.edu/papers OS Papers (OO?),68 http://www.gh.cs.su.oz.au/Grasshopper/index.html Perst. Operating Systems cs.washington.edu:/pub/chambers/predicate-classes.ps.Z *Pred Classes (Cecil,34) ftp.cs.umd.edu:pub/sel/papers *Quality,72 ftp.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/doc/techreports/Metrics.ps.gz *Quality,73 ginger.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/raidPapers RAID Papers (Berkeley) sprite.(cs.)berkeley.edu:~ftp/pub/RAID-II RAID configs (Berkeley) ius4.ius.cs.cmu.edu:/usr/chimera/public/CMU_RI_TR_93_11.ps.Z *Real Time,49 ftp://ftp.gte.com/pub/dom/reports/MANO93d.ps *Reflection Paper,82 self.stanford.edu:pub/papers/chambers-thesis *Self Opt,ChambersThesis,30 self.stanford.edu:/pub/papers/hoelzle-thesis.ps.Z *Self Opt,HoelzleThesis,64 self.stanford.edu:pub/papers/ Self Papers vega.dur.ac.uk:/pub/papers/foot.dvi Testing OO (sect 3.11) townsend@mprgate.mpr.ca Testing OO (sect 3.11) ftp.parc.xerox.com:/pub/mops/traces.ps *Traces,kiczales,MOP,DI,43 neptune.inf.ethz.ch: pub/issac93.ps.Z Types, Comp alg (Santas) ftp.toa.com/pub *Use Cases,88 cui.unige.ch:OO-articles U. Geneva OO Group papers research.microsoft.com:/pub/papers/vdg.ps *Value Dependence Graphs,57 ftp.cs.utwente.nl:/pub/doc/TRESE *Various on OO,58 The Postgres, OBST and Exodus sites also contain a good selection of papers. See below for a huge collection of CS bibliographies (about 290,000) including references on OO. Contact: Alf-Christian Achilles FTP: ftp.ira.uka.de[129.13.10.90]:pub/bibliography WWW: http://www.ira.uka.de/ftp/ira/bibliography/index.html GENERAL ------- ics.uci.edu:gnu/C++_wrappers.tar.Z *ACE Lib, C++ Networking,55 scslwide.sony.co.jp:pub/CSL-Papers *Apertos(Meta-Obj Distr OS, research,28) euagate.eua.ericsson.se:ftp/pub/ *Archive site,C++,Coplien,papers,etc,44 research.att.com:dist/drawdag/*.Z *Graph service,37 parcftp.parc.xerox.com:/pub/ilu/ilu.html *ILU OMG CORBA,59 netcom.com:/pub/softia/keobj.zip *KEOBJ, OO DSP micro-kernel,53 ftp.th-darmstadt.de:/pub/programming/languages/C++ *lots for C++,14 st.cs.uiuc.edu *Manchester Archive and some,35 gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/usenet/com.sources.unix/volume20/metrics *Metrics,61 ftp.odi.com:/pub/oo7/results.ps *Object Design's OO7 Results,36 http://www.iconcomp.com/demo/case-Phone/phoneCase.html *OOA/D Example, Java,84 ftp.gmd.de:gmd/peace Peace, OO parallel OS http://www.taligent.com Taligent cs.orst.edu:pub/budd/oopintro/slides/* *Teaching Intro to OO Slides, T. Budd,56 wuarchive.wustl.edu:languages/ada/crsware *Teaching OO Course Slides,51 fcoallie@qc.bell.ca *TRILLIUM (CMM,74) OTHER ----- Knowledge Media *Big col. on cd-roms, lots of freeware,47 Computer Select Database *commercial on cd-rom,39 Walnut Creek *Internet Info CDROM, including FAQs,60 godot.uvic.ca:/pub/oopsla-93 OOPSLA-93 Info DESCRIPTIONS ------------ >1 Alcool-90 (dyn ML) What: Alcool-90 Release 0.40.3 From: rouaix@inria.fr (Francois Rouaix) Date: 18 May 92 09:36:22 GMT Alcool-90 is an experimental extension of ML with run-time overloading and a type-based notion of modules, functors and inheritance. New constructs have been added: * Overloaded symbols (overload). * Local definition of abstract values (overload in). * Implementations and parametric functors (pack to). * Extension functors (overload with). * Class-based Dynamics (dynamic). This version of Alcool is based on the CAML Light implementation (release 0.4) of the ML language, but this release is autonomous. Alcool-90 is available by anonymous FTP from ftp.inria.fr: host: ftp.inria.fr (128.93.1.26) directory: lang/alcool files: README Copyright information. alcool270492.tar.Z Sources for Un*x machines (Apr 27 1992 Release). alcooldoc.dvi.tar.Z DVI for the Alcool-90 report draft. For questions, comments, bug reports, please e-mail to Francois.Rouaix@inria.fr >2 Arjuna (Distr Prog System) What: Release 2 of Arjuna Distributed Programming System From: arjuna@newcastle.ac.uk (Arjuna Project) Date: Mon, 17 May 1993 12:37:34 GMT We are pleased to announce the availability of a new version of Arjuna: a programming system for reliable distributed computing, and the Arjuna mailing list. The software and the manual for the Arjuna system can be obtained by anonymous ftp: arjuna.ncl.ac.uk (128.240.150.1) Arjuna System This beta release of ArjunaPR2.0 fixes all known bugs present in ArjunaPR1.2B that have been reported to us or that we have found, and contains only minimal information about how to use the new features provided. This release should be compilable with the following compilers: AT&T Cfront Release 2.1, on SunOS 4.1.x, (using Sun supplied lex and yacc). AT&T Cfront Release 3.0.1, on SunOS 4.1.x and Solaris 2.1, (using Sun supplied lex and yacc). GCC versions 2.1, 2.2.2, on SunOS 4.1.x, (using flex(v2.3.x) and bison). Patched GCC version 2.3.3 on SunOS 4.1.x and Solaris 2.1, (using flex(v2.3.x) and bison). Sun C++ 2.1, on SunOs 4.1.x, (using Sun's lex++ and yacc++). HP C++ (B2402 A.02.34), HP-UX 8.07, (using HP supplied lex and yacc or lex++ and yacc++). The major new features are: - Faster object store. - Support for replicated objects. - Memory resident object store. - Support for ANSAware (not available via ftp) Arjuna supports nested atomic actions (atomic transactions) for controlling operations on objects (instances of C++ classes), which can potentially be persistent. Arjuna has been implemented in C++ to run on stock platforms (Unix on SUNs, HPs etc). The software available includes a C++ stub generator which hides much of the details of client-server based programming, plus a system programmer's manual containing details of how to install Arjuna and use it to build fault-tolerant distributed applications. The software and the manual can be obtained by anonymous ftp: arjuna.ncl.ac.uk (128.240.150.1) Several enhancements and ports on various distributed computing platforms are in progress. We would be pleased to hear from researchers and teachers interested in using Arjuna. The programmer's manual contains the e-mail addresses for sending your comments and problem reports. ANSAware version of Arjuna The ANSAware version of Arjuna is available from: Architecture Projects Management Limited Poseidon House Castle Park Phone +44 223 323010 Cambridge Fax +44 223 359779 CB3 0RD Internet apm@ansa.co.uk United Kingdom UUCP ...uknet!ansa!apm Arjuna Mailing List To enable us to help people using Arjuna, an electronic mail list has been setup. You can join the Arjuna mailing list by sending an e-mail message to "mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk" containing: join arjuna For example : join arjuna John Smith Mail messages can then be sent to "arjuna@mailbase.ac.uk", for distribution. Arjuna Project Team The Department of Computing Science, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 7RU, UK. Fax: +44 91 222 8232 e-mail: arjuna@newcastle.ac.uk anonymous ftp: arjuna.ncl.ac.uk (128.240.150.1) EMAIL = arjuna@newcastle.ac.uk POST = Computing Laboratory, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK NE1 7RU VOICE = +44 91 222 8067 FAX = +44-91-222-8232 Subject: Arjuna papers announcement Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 16:47:02 GMT This is to announce the availability of most Arjuna related papers and theses via anonymous ftp from arjuna.ncl.ac.uk. These papers are available in both US Letter and European A4 standards in postscript and should now print on systems. Any problems in printing should be directed to arjuna@newcastle.ac.uk. Since there are too many papers to describe in one posting there is an index available in /pub/Arjuna/Index which contains the abstracts from all of the papers/theses and their locations within the ftp hierarchy. >3 BOS (prototyping) What: BOS From: Sean.Levy@cs.cmu.edu Date: 23 Apr 92 18:07:32 GMT [For readers of comp.object and self-interest, BOS is a prototype-based object system that I have, er, prototyped in Tcl. It is available via anon FTP to monch.edrc.cmu.edu under /usr0/snl/archive/bos-1.2.tar.Z (you have to cd to /usr0/snl/archive first and then get the file, due to CMU security hacks in ftpd). I thought that this would be of interest to comp.object and self-interest, so I'm cross-posting/mailing --S] Note: I play very fast and loose with the terminology of OOP to get my point across. I apologize if I offend any sensibilities, and will clarify what I say if it is obfuscated by my use of terms. >4 G++ for DOS (Many sites) :From: DJ Delorie :Newsgroups: gnu.announce,gnu.misc.discuss : DJGPP 1.10 is now available! : : : --- DJGPP - G++ for MSDOS/386 --- :djgpp is normally uploaded to: : omnigate.clarkson.edu 128.153.4.2 pub/msdos/djgpp : math.utexas.edu 128.83.133.215 pub/msdos/djgpp(*) : ftp.uni-koeln.de 134.95.128.208 : msdos/gnuprogs/djgpp (*) : ftp.eb.ele.tue.nl 131.155.40.15 : pub/pc/gnu/gcc-pl* & gcc-newst : wowbagger.pc-labor.uni-bremen.de 134.102.228.9 pub/msdos/djgpp : src.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.2.1 ibmpc/djgpp : ftp.mcc.ac.uk 130.88.200.7 pub/djgpp : UK.AC.MCC.FTPJ (JANET) user djgpp :(*) Please do not access during working hours (7am - 6pm their local time) >5 cooC (Concurrent, OO C ext.) From: maeda@isl.rdc.toshiba.co.jp (Ken-ichi Maeda) Subject: cooC FTP release (2nd posting) Date: 2 Jul 93 15:13:11 Organization: TOSHIBA R & D Center, Kawasaki, JAPAN. We are pleased to announce the release of new object oriented language based on C. The language has support for concurrent object execution with synchronous or asynchronous message pssaing and wait when necessary reply handling. The language known as cooC (concurrent object oriented C) is available by anonymous FTP for research purposes. FTP Site: tsbgw.isl.rdc.toshiba.co.jp (133.196.1.11) File: pub/toshiba/cooc-beta.1.1.tar.Z The released version of cooC employs SunOS(TM) LWP (light weight process), to obtain concurrent execution. The release consists of the language translator (cooC->C), a runtime library (SunOS(TM)), a concurrent object based debbuger, an example groupware application (SharedDraw) and some technical papers. BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR ANY PART OF THE SYSTEM. TOSHIBA Corporation while making cooC free for research, retains copyright. For further detail, please refer to COPYRIGHT notice in the package. Any questions and/or comments are welcome at the following e-mail address. cooc@isl.rdc.toshiba.co.jp -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken-ichi Maeda Communication and Information Systems Research Lab. II TOSHIBA Research & Development Center 1, Komukai Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki 210, JAPAN TEL. (+81- or 0)44-549-2237 FAX. (+81- or 0)44-520-1841 -------------------------------------------------------------------- >6 FMPL (prototyping) What: Interpreter for FMPL of Accardi, Release 1 From: blojo@xcf.berkeley.edu (Jon Blow) Date: 2 Jun 92 08:42:26 GMT An interpreter for FMPL of Accardi, Release 1 is now available for ftp at xcf.berkeley.edu:src/local/fmpl/. *FMPL is a prototype-based object-oriented programming language. *FMPL possesses lambda-calculus based constructs. *FMPL is an event-driven language; the events it responds to are mainly based on the behavior of input/output streams, not only within the unix domain but across the internet as well. *FMPL supports "pretty"-printing of internally-represented code back into readable form. *FMPL is an experimental language developed at the Experimental Computing Facility of the University of California, Berkeley. This release is something of a beta test since the language has not been widely used outside Berkeley. It is hoped that this release will draw useful comments and suggestions from the world at large that will help in improving future versions of FMPL. >7 MAX (visual OO) From: fingerhu@ircam.fr (Michel Fingerhut) Subject: IRCAM DSP software for DEC/ALPHA and DEC/MIPS Organization: Inst. de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, Paris Date: Fri, 13 Aug 93 11:25:23 GMT ftp.ircam.fr:/pub/IRCAM/programs contains some of the IRCAM-developed software packages (in demo version; see further down for availability of the fully functional versions), including runnable binaries for both the DEC/ALPHA (osf1) and DEC/MIPS (ultrix) architectures, and soon available on other platforms (SGI and Macintosh). MAX MAX is a visual, object-oriented, programming language, initially designed for interactive musical performance, but which is suitable for digital signal processing as well as real-time control. It allows interconnecting of oscillators and filters, building custom controller modules and simulation units all from a core collection of signal processing objects. First developed by Miller Puckette at IRCAM in late 1986 to control the IRCAM 4X, it was later implemented on the Apple Macintosh as a graphical programming environment for MIDI applications. This version has been extended by the Opcode company in Palo Alto, CA (USA), and is available through them. The Alpha version (and its demo-only subset) is based on the NeXT version, where it is used to control the IRCAM-designed ISPW board. This card, based on two Intel i860 microprocessors, handles numerically-intensive real-time operations. To date, it has been extensively used in live performance of full-length musical compositions (see some references in the MAX/doc directory), as well as in scientific and experimental applications requiring real-time control. SVP SVP (``Super Vocodeur de Phase'') is a signal processing tool which was designed and developed at IRCAM by Gilles Poirot and Philippe Depalle. It is a full system for the analysis and synthesis of sound, whose core is a phase vocoder, and which comprises several modules for analysis (FFT, LPC..), filtering (band modes, surface modes...), time- scaling, mixing, spectral combination, cross-synthesis and amplification, which can be combined in multiple ways. UDI UDI is a library of C routines which provides a coherent software approach for developing and maintaining digital signal processing algorithms on stand-alone workstations or on host/array processor configuration. Initially designed for sound signal analysis and synthesis, it can be used by any application which does vector math calculation. It provides functions ranging from elementary vector and matrix operations to more specific DSP operations, such as, but not limited to, FFT, least-square, linear prediction coding, discrete cepstrum and pitch detection. UDI was actually used in implementing SVP. HOW TO RETRIEVE The following example contains underlined text. If it does not print nicely, use your favorite editor in order to remove all occurrences of "^H_" (control-H followed by underscore). Connect via ftp to ftp.ircam.fr. Engage into the following dialog (the underlined text is the reply you should provide 220 ftp FTP server (Version 6.17 Thu Mar 11 08:30:51 MET 1993) ready. Name (ftp:host): f _t _p _ (or: a _n _o _n _y _m _o _u _s _) Passwd: l _o _g _i _n _@ _y _o _u _r _m _a _c _h _i _n _e _ (see NOTE further down) 230-... 230-(informational messages, please read!) 230-... ftp> c _d _ _p _u _b _/ _I _R _C _A _M _/ _p _r _o _g _r _a _m _s _ 250 CWD command successful. ftp> g _e _t _ _R _E _A _D _M _E _ 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for README (nnn bytes). 226 Transfer complete. local: README remote: README nnn bytes received in mmm seconds (xxx Kbytes/s) ftp> b _i _n _ 200 Type set to I. ftp> g _e _t _ _s _v _p _. _t _a _r _. _g _z _ (or u _d _i _. _t _a _r _. _g _z _ or m _a _x _. _t _a _r _. _g _z _) ... ftp> q _u _i _t _ NOTE The ftp server requires you to give as password something of the form l _o _g _i _n _@ _h _o _s _t _ where l _o _g _i _n _ is your login name (or account name, or user information) and h _o _s _t _ is the fully-qualified name of the machine you are currently calling from, which is not necessarily the one on which you get your mail. If you mistype it, the ftp server will advise you with an informative error message. AVAILABILITY For information on availability of these and other IRCAM tools with full functionality and documentation, and/or licensing of source code, as well as IRCAM publications (technical/scientific reports) please contact (in french or english, preferably): Mr. Vincent Puig Directeur de la Valorisation IRCAM 31, rue Saint-Merri F-75004 Paris, France email: puig@ircam.fr FAX: +33 1 42 77 29 47 Additional info can be found in the README file in the above directory. REPORTING PROBLEMS AND GETTING HELP ... in retrieving the software and/or in running it: please send email to manager@ircam.fr >8 O'small (OO lang for teaching) From: hense@sol.cs.uni-sb.de (Andreas Hense) Subject: *** NEW O'small compiler available by ftp !!! *** Date: 25 Jun 1993 13:54:35 GMT Organization: Universitaet des Saarlandes,Rechenzentrum O'small - THE object-oriented language for teaching --------------------------------------------------- (Announcement of a new compiler) *** An object-oriented language for teaching? Depending on which aspects of object-orientation you want to convey you may choose your teaching language. If you want to teach the aspect of software reuse and nice graphical user interfaces, you should choose Smalltalk. If you want to show students how to program in a best selling language you should choose C++. *** In which case should I choose O'small? You should consider O'small if you believe that computer languages should have a GOOD FORMAL SEMANTICS. Everyone will agree that a language needs a formal semantics. Otherwise, your program will yield different results on different implementations. A good formal semantics does not only serve the purpose of precisely defining what the results of your programs are, it also gives insights about the nature of the language. You should consider O'small if you do not want to waste time on unnecessary details. O'small is CONCISE. Its syntax and semantics takes no more than one page (if you choose the right font). Its syntax is similar to more traditional languages. O'small has been used in a lecture showing the differences between wrapper semantics (denotational) and method lookup semantics (operational). O'small is FREE! Up to now, there has only been an O'small interpreter written in Miranda [Hen91b]. This interpreter is directly based on the denotational semantics of O'small [Hen91d]. The interpreter itself is available by ftp. However, you need Miranda in order to run it. Now, there is a NEW IMPLEMENTATION of O'small based entirely on EASILY AVAILABLE SOFTWARE. This software is not free but it does not cost anything. The new implementation is based on an abstract machine [Boe93]. You can MODIFY the language and have your students make experiments with it. The source code of the abstract machine and the specifications for the parser and scanner generators are available. Using these generators you can make experiments for your own research in statical analysis of object-oriented languages. *** I would like to TRY O'small You get the implementation by anonymous internet ftp. The following table gives the ftp connection information. Host: Net Address: Directory: ------------------------------------------------------------- cs.uni-sb.de 134.96.7.254 /pub/osmall/machine The directory /pub/osmall/machine contains the files README ANNOUNCE this file HowToGetML oma.1.00.tar.Z compressed tar-file *************************************************************************** NOTE: Ftp should be put into binary mode before transferring the compressed tar file. *************************************************************************** Here is a sample dialog: ftp ftp> open cs.uni-sb.de Name: anonymous Password: ftp> binary ftp> cd /pub/osmall/machine ftp> get README ftp> get ANNOUNCE ( ftp> get HowToGetML ) ftp> get oma.1.00.tar.Z ftp> close ftp> quit If you have a Sun 4 or a SPARC you can use the existing executable files. Otherwise, you need 'sml-yacc', 'sml-lex' and 'sml-noshare'. Read 'HowToGetML' to obtain them. Instructions on using the machine are contained in the file README. References [Boe93] Christoph Boeschen. Christmas - An abstract machine for O'small. Master's thesis, Universit"at des Saarlandes, Fachbereich 14, June 1993. [Hen91b] Andreas V. Hense. An O'small interpreter based on denotational semantics. Technical Report A 07/91, Universit"at des Saarlandes, Fachbereich 14, November 1991. [Hen91c] Andreas V. Hense. Type inference for O'small. Technical Report A 06/91, Universit"at des Saarlandes, Fachbereich 14, October 1991. [Hen91d] Andreas V. Hense. Wrapper semantics of an object-oriented pro- gramming language with state. In T. Ito and A. R. Meyer, editors, Theoretical Aspects of Computer Software, volume 526 of Lecture No- tes in Computer Science, pages 548-568. Springer-Verlag, September 1991. [Hen93] Andreas V. Hense. Denotational semantics of an object-oriented programming language with explicit wrappers. Formal Aspects of Computing, 5(3), 1993. to appear. [HS92] Andreas V. Hense and Gert Smolka. A verification of extensible record types. In Zhongzhi Shi, editor, Proceedings of the IFIP TC12/WG12.3 International Workshop on Automated Reasoning, pages 137-164, Beijing, P.R. China, 13-16 July 1992. Internatio- nal Federation for Information Processing, Elsevier, North-Holland, Excerpta Medica. [HS93] Andreas V. Hense and Gert Smolka. Principal types for object- oriented languages. Technical Report A 02/93, Universit"at des Saar- landes, Fachbereich 14, June 1993. >9 OBJ3 (OO lang) What: Release 2.0 of OBJ3 (needed for FOOPS and OOZE, concurrent OOP) Date: Thu, 4 Jun 92 15:07:26 BST From: Paulo.Borba@prg.oxford.ac.uk OBJ is available from SRI, see the message below; prototypes implementations of FOOPS (without the concurrent extension) and OOZE are due to the end of the year, but for both you also need OBJ. Unfortunately, I don't have any document about the FOOPS extension now, but probably by the end of the year. I will send it to you as soon as possible. What: Release 2.0 of OBJ3 is now available From: winkler@csl.sri.com (Timothy Winkler) Date: 6 Apr 92 08:35:40 GMT Release 2.0 of OBJ3 is now available! Improvements in this version include some language extensions and additional theorem proving features. In addition, an effort has been made to speed up the implementation; rewriting is often twice as fast as in the original implementation. We are including the AKCL patches from the University of Texas at Austin in the distribution, which are necessary for maintaining the portability of OBJ3 and also improve its efficiency. In addition, we are distributing a SPARC version of OBJ3. OBJ3 has pattern matching modulo associativity, commutativity, and identity. New: the system automatically computes conditions for rules involving matching modulo identity that are used to prevent obvious non-termination problems. Also new to this version of OBJ3 is a facility for controlled rewriting. This provides substantially increased support for the use of the system for equational theorem proving. To receive the OBJ3 distribution tape or an OBJ3 license, send a request to: Judith Burgess (OBJ3) Computer Science Laboratory SRI International 333 Ravenswood Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025-3493, USA Telephone: (415) 859-5924 Fax: (415) 859-2844 email: obj3dist@csl.sri.com Be sure to give us your postal mailing address. Then we will send you the OBJ3 Information Form, and License Agreement, with instructions on how to fill them out. (A KCL license form will also be included.) When you return them to us, appropriately filled out and signed, we will send you the tape, somedocumentation, and, in case you are requesting a tape, an invoice for $150.00 plus any required taxes. If you already have an OBJ3 license, then you don't need to get a new license, but, if you are requesting a tape from SRI, you are asked to pay the above distribution fee. It is also possible to get a license for OBJ3 at no charge from SRI and then get the OBJ3 distribution itself from some third party also having a license. Jose Meseguer, Timothy Winkler, and Patrick Lincoln Computer Science Laboratory SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Joseph Goguen Programming Research Group Computing Laboratory Oxford University 11 Keble Road Oxford OX1 3QD, United Kingdom >10 OBST (lang, perst, OODB) See entry under Appendix B. >11 OOT (OO Turing demo) What: OOT From: holt@turing.toronto.edu (Ric Holt) Date: 26 Apr 93 20:14:43 GMT OBJECT ORIENTED TURING: DEMO AVAILABLE VIA FTP OOT (Object Oriented Turing) is a programming language that has been developed at the University of Toronto. An OOT demo, which includes the fully implemented language, is available for Sun/4's running X windows. See below for instructions to copy the demo to your site. OOT supports the standard OOPL features of information hiding, classes, polymorphism and generics, as well as the usual features in C and Pascal style languages. It also supports concurrency, exception handling and system programming (pointer arithmetic, bit manipulation, etc). The OOT environment is designed for teaching Computer Science. It is being used in introductory programming courses, courses on OO concepts, compiler courses, OS courses, etc. The OOT environment is fully integrated, with multi-window editing, turbo speed compiler, integrated color graphics, GUI user interface, implicit MAKE, on-line manual, integrated demos, etc. The system includes an experimental CASE tool with an interface browser and a visual system browser. >12 Sather (simple Eiffel) What: SATHER Sather is under development at the International Computer Science Institute. Sather has clean and simple syntax, parameterized classes, object-oriented dispatch, multiple inheritance, strong typing, and garbage collection. The compiler generates efficient and portable C code which is easily integrated with existing code. The initial beta test release of the language was in May, 1991. The compiler, debugger, Emacs development environment, documentation, and library classes are available by anonymous ftp from "icsi-ftp.berkeley.edu". "sather@icsi.berkeley.edu" is a mailing list for discussing aspects of Sather and "sather-admin@icsi.berkeley.edu" should be used for bug reports and requests to be added or deleted from the mailing list. Sather is based on Eiffel but is more concerned with efficiency and less with some of the formal and theoretical issues addressed by Eiffel. The language is much smaller than the current Eiffel, it eliminates over 40 keywords and simplifies the syntax and inheritance rules. Like Eiffel, Sather code is compiled into portable C and efficiently links with existing C code. The Sather compiler is written in Sather and has been operational for almost a year, though it is still being improved. Preliminary benchmarks show a performance improvement over Eiffel of between a factor of 4 and 50 on basic dispatching and function calls. On the benchmarks used at Stanford to test Self (including 8 queens, towers of hanoi, bubblesort, etc), Sather is even slightly faster than C++. The Sather compiler and libraries are publicly available under a very unrestrictive license aimed at encouraging contribution to the public library without precluding the use of Sather for proprietary projects. The goal is to establish a repository for efficient, reusable, well written, publicly available, classes for most of the important algorithms in computer science. There are currently about 120 classes in the library. The libraries are growing quickly and will collect together classes from many authors under the same unrestrictive license. A GNU emacs development environment for Sather is available. A debugger based on gdb from the Free Software Foundation is also available. A parallel version of Sather for shared memory machines called "Psather" is also under development. From the Sather FAQ, August 16, 1993 (See Section 1.24): Q 1: What is Sather? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sather is an object oriented language which aims to be simple, efficient, interactive, safe, and non-proprietary. It aims to meet the needs of modern research groups and to foster the development of a large, freely available, high-quality library of efficient well-written classes for a wide variety of computational tasks. It was originally based on Eiffel but now incorporates ideas and approaches from several languages. One way of placing it in the "space of languages" is to say that it attempts to be as efficient as C, C++, or Fortran, as elegant and safe as Eiffel or CLU, and to support interactive programming and higher-order functions as well as Common Lisp, Scheme, or Smalltalk. Sather has garbage collection, statically-checked strong typing, multiple inheritance, separate implementation and type inheritance, parameterized classes, dynamic dispatch, iteration abstraction, higher-order routines and iters, exception handling, assertions, preconditions, postconditions, and class invariants. The development environment integrates an interpreter, a debugger, and a compiler. Sather code can be compiled into C code and can efficiently link with C object files. >13 Self From: hoelzle@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Urs Hoelzle) Subject: Announcing Self 3.0 Date: 28 Dec 93 22:19:34 GMT ANNOUNCING Self 3.0 The Self Group at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Inc., and Stanford University is pleased to announce Release 3.0 of the experimental object-oriented programming language Self. This release provides simple installation, and starts up with an interactive, animated tutorial. Designed for expressive power and malleability, Self combines a pure, prototype-based object model with uniform access to state and behavior. Unlike other languages, Self allows objects to inherit state and to change their patterns of inheritance dynamically. Self's customizing compiler can generate very efficient code compared to other dynamically-typed object-oriented languages. The latest release is more mature than the earlier releases: more Self code has been written, debugging is easier, multiprocessing is more robust, and more has been added to the experimental graphical user interface which can now be used to develop code. There is now a mechanism (still under development) for saving objects in modules, and a source-level profiler. The Self system is the result of an ongoing research project and therefore is an experimental system. We believe, however, that the system is stable enough to be used by a larger community, giving people outside of the project a chance to explore Self. 2 This Release This release is available free of charge and can be obtained via anonymous ftp from Self.stanford.edu. Also available for ftp are a number of published papers about Self. There is a mail group for those interested in random ramblings about Self, Self-interest@Self.stanford.edu. Send mail to self-request@self.stanford.edu to be added to it (please do not send such requests to the mailing list itself!). 2.1 Implementation Status Self currently runs on SPARC-based Sun workstations running SunOS 4.1.x or Solaris 2.3. The Sun-3 implementation is no longer provided. 2.2 Major Changes Below is a list of changes and enhancements that have been made since the last release (2.0.1). Only the major changes are included. o The graphical browser has been extended to include editing capabilities. All programming tasks may now be performed through the graphical user interface (the "ui"). Type-ins allow for expression evaluation, menus support slot editing, and methods can be entered and edited. If you are familiar with a previous version of the Self system, Section 14.1 of the manual entitled "How to Use Self 3.0" contains a quick introduction to the graphical user interface. The impatient might want to read that first. o A mechanism - the transporter - has been added to allow arbitrary object graphs to be saved into files as Self source. The system has been completely modularized to use the transporter; every item of source now resides in a transporter-generated module. Transport-generated files have the suffix .sm to distinguish them from "handwritten" files (.Self), though this may change as we move away from handwritten source. The transporter is usable but rough, we are still working on it. o Every slot or object may now have an annotation describing the purpose of the slot. In the current system, annotations are strings used to categorize slots. We no longer categorize slots using explicit category parent objects. Extra syntax is provided to annotate objects and slots. o A new profiler has been added, which can properly account for the time spent in different processes and the run-time system, and which presents a source-level profile including type information (i.e., methods inherited by different objects are not amalgamated in the profile, nor are calls to the same method from different sites). It also presents a consistent source-level view, abstracting from the various compiler optimizations (such as inlining) which may confuse the programmer. o Privacy is not enforced, although the privacy syntax is still accepted. The previous scheme was at once too restrictive (in that there was no notion of "friend" objects) and too lax (too many object had access to a private slot). We hope to include a better scheme in the next release. o The "new" compiler has been supplanted by the SIC ("simple inlining compiler"), and the standard configuration of the system is to compile first with a fast non-optimizing compiler and to recompile later with the SIC. Pauses due to compilation or recompilation are much smaller, and applications usually run faster. o Characters are now single-byte strings. There is no separate character traits. o Prioritized inheritance has been removed; the programmer must now manually resolve conflicts. We found the priority mechanism of limited use, and had the potential for obscure errors. 2.4 Bug Reports Bug reports can be sent to self-bugs@self.stanford.edu. Please include an exact description of the problem and a short Self program reproducing the bug. 2.5 Documentation This release comes with two manuals: How to Use Self 3.0 (SelfUserMan.ps) The Self Programmer's Reference Manual (progRef.ps) Happy Holidays! -- The Self Group >14 C++ gram, etc. What: ftp site for C++ material From: schrod@iti.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Joachim Schrod) Date: 27 May 92 22:32:35 GMT There were a lot of questions about C++ material in the last time and some announcements which involved our ftp server. ftp.th-darmstadt.de [130.83.55.75] /pub/programming/languages/C++ At the moment we have: -- documentation and assorted stuff C++ products list as announced by Saumen K Dutta (in a subdirectory!) C++ YACC grammar, ET++ tutorial, summaries from the Net, sources from James Coplien's book (idioms...), etc. -- class libraries NIHCL (original, persistent for ObjectStore, with g++ 1.4x changes) COOL, OATH, RogueWave vector, ET++, RPC package, a package for sockets, awe (thread package) -- tools class browser (for GNU Emacs), indent++, yacc+, template processor of Brad Cox[sp?], DEC garbage collector More stuff is always welcome. (Btw, Interviews and Motif C++ wrapper classes are to be found in the /pub/X11 subtree.) >15 ConceptBase (OODB, reqkey) What: ConceptBase See APPENDIX B. A four week test-version of ConceptBase V3.1 is available on the FTP server ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de in the directory pub/CB. For running the ftp version you must ask for a key by email. >16 C++ OODB From: darrenp@dibbler.cs.monash.edu.au (Daz) Subject: Re: Class libraries for accessing RDBs ? Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia. Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1993 23:53:22 GMT shekar@gizmo.CS.MsState.Edu (Chandrashekar Ramanathan) writes: >Hello, > Are there any shareware/ftp'able C++ class libraries that >provide Relational Database access? I would also appreciate any >pointers (ideas/articles/journals) to the various issues that one has >to consider in designing such library. Ok, I'm not sure if it's exactly what you want, but it's a database, it's fully written in c++ with classes etc, and it's out for beta testing. Check out pippin.cs.monash.edu.au:pub/export/diamond-0.1.2.tar.Z and please mail darrenp@dibbler.cs.monash.edu.au if you decide to play with it. Daz. -- Darren Platt, Department of Computer Science darrenp@dibbler.cs.monash.edu.au Monash University, Clayton Melbourne, Victoria, Australia >17 Exodus (Storage Man, perst) What: Exodus project software (Storage Manager & GNU E) From: zwilling@caseus.cs.wisc.edu (Mike Zwilling) Date: 16 Jul 92 04:53:19 GMT In the past there have been discussions in comp.object and comp.databases about persistent storage for object-oriented databases and programming languages. As you may know, the EXODUS Database Toolkit project at the University of Wisconsin has researched these issues and others for a number of years. The purpose of this note is to inform you that the software from the EXODUS project is freely available via anonymous ftp. The EXODUS software includes the EXODUS Storage Manager and the compiler for the E persistent programming language. Also included is documentation, and a suite of test programs for both components. This note briefly describes the software and explains how to obtain it. We currently support DECstation 3100s/5000s and SPARC based workstations. Others have ported the code to HP700s and IBM RS6000s. The EXODUS Storage Manager is a client-server object storage system which provides "storage objects" for storing data, versions of objects, "files" for grouping related storage objects, and indexes for supporting efficient object access. A storage object is an uninterpreted container of bytes which can range in size from a few bytes to hundreds of megabytes. The Storage Manager provides routines to read, overwrite, and efficiently grow and shrink objects. In addition, the Storage Manager provides transactions, lock-based concurrency control, and log-based recovery. GNU E is a persistent, object-oriented programming language developed as part of the Exodus project. GNU E extends C++ with the notion of persistent data, program level data objects that can be transparently used across multiple executions of a program, or multiple programs, without explicit input and output operations. GNU E's form of persistence is based on extensions to the C++ type system to distinguish potentially persistent data objects from objects that are always memory resident. An object is made persistent either by its declaration (via a new "persistent" storage class qualifier) or by its method of allocation (via persistent dynamic allocation using a special overloading of the new operator). The underlying object storage system is the Exodus storage manager, which provides concurrency control and recovery in addition to storage for persistent data. The current release of GNU E is based on gcc/g++ version 2.2.2, and is upward compatible with C++ as implemented by that compiler. A bibliography of EXODUS related papers can be obtained from the ftp site described below. To obtain the software, simply ftp to ftp.cs.wisc.edu (128.105.8.18), login as anonymous with your email address as a password, "cd" to the "exodus" directory, and follow the directions (directions will be given as you "cd"). See the README for the latest information about the software and an indication of our future plans. If you decide to use the software, please contact us at exodus@cs.wisc.edu so that we can notify you of changes. >18 GRAS GRAS - A Graph-Oriented Database System for SE Applications Copyright (C) 1987-1992 Lehrstuhl Informatik III, RWTH Aachen This library is free software under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License. Lehrstuhl f"ur Informatik III --> GRAS University of Technology Aachen (RWTH Aachen), Ahornstr. 55, D-5100 Aachen Contact : Dr. Andy Sch"urr (or Richard Breuer), andy@rwthi3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de ricki@rwthi3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (for technical support) The system GRAS with interfaces for the programming languages Modula-2 and C is available as public domain software for Sun3/Sun4 workstations (the GRAS system itself is implemented in Modula-2 and consists of many layers which might be reusable for the implementation of other systems): Via anonymous ftp from tupac-amaru.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.112.31) in the directory /pub/unix/GRAS522_3 There are several files contain documentation, sources, binaries, and libraries. All binaries are for Sun/4 machines. Sun/3 binaries are shipped only if explicitly requested. [See APPENDIX B] >19 MOOD (OODB, lim arch) What: MOOD/P3 Ver.2.00 OODBS {Miniature,Materials}OODBS. From: ono@mood.mech.tohoku.ac.jp (Noboru Ono) Date: 18 May 92 10:28:42 GMT The following program/sample database package is available through anonymous FTP at mood.mech.tohoku.ac.jp (130.34.88.61). Sorry it is not the sources and operates only in NEC-PC9801/MS-DOS environment. Sorry again documents are all in Japanese. We will tell you later when English documents has become ready. MOOD/P3 Ver.2.00 Material's Object-Oriented Database, Prototype 3 This program, as you may guess, 1) is an Object-Oriented database system program, 2) operates on PC-9801 series personal computer, and 3) is accompanied by sample material database schema. Although this program has been developed and being used in the experiments on material data processing in which we are now involved, it is a general purpose OODBS. Noboru Ono Dept. of Machine Intelligence and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University. Tel:++22-222-1800 Fax:++22-268-3688 E-mail:ono@mood.mech.tohoku.ac.jp >20 Ode (C++ OODB) Note: Ode version 3.0 is now available. What: Ode Release 1.1 From: nhg@research.att.com Ode is an object-oriented database based on the C++ database model. The primary interface to Ode is the database programming language O++ which is based on C++. Ode 1.1 is now available to Universities. This is a beta release. The current version of Ode runs on Sun (Sparc) workstations and users must have C++ release 2.0 or a later release. If you are interested in using Ode and giving us feedback on your experience with Ode, please send me mail with the appropriate information. Narain Gehani AT&T Bell Labs 3D-414 600 Mountain Ave Murray Hill, NJ 07974 From: thssamj@iitmax.iit.edu (Aditya M. Jani) Subject: *Announcement* UserGroup for ODE (OODBMS from AT&T) Organization: Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Date: Fri, 25 Jun 93 17:27:53 GMT Ode Object database v2.0 ------------------------ Ode 2.0 is available via ftp from research.att.com. Here is a sample session showing how to retrieve Ode 2.0 which is kept in the directory dist/ode2.0 as a compressed tar file named 2.0.oppbin.tar.Z First create the directory on the local machine where ode is to be installed, e.g., mkdir ode cd ode Retrieve the compressed tar Ode file using ftp into as illustrated below. Then uncompress it uncompress 2.0.oppbin.tar.Z and unbundle it tar xvf 2.0.oppbin.tar Next see file README, fix install file, and run install ./install Sample ftp session -------------- $ ftp research.att.com Connected to tcp!192.20.225.2!1390. 220 inet FTP server (Version 4.271 Fri Apr 9 10:11:04 EDT 1993) ready. Name (research.att.com:smith): anonymous 331 Guest login ok, send ident as password. Password: smith@hostname 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. Remote system type is UNIX. Using binary mode to transfer files. ftp> cd dist 250 CWD command successful. ftp> cd ode2.0 250 CWD command successful. ftp> get 2.0.oppbin.tar.Z 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for 2.0.oppbin.tar.Z (2762525 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. 2762525 bytes received in 1.6e+02 seconds (16 Kbytes/s) ftp> quit 221 Goodbye. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Available Now! Ode 2.0 An Object-Oriented Database C++ Compatible, Fast Queries, Complex Application Modeling, Multimedia Support, and more Ode 2.0 is now available to Universities. Users who currently have Ode 1.1 will be automatically sent a tape with Ode 2.0. There is no charge for Ode. However, AT&T requires the signing of a non-disclosure agreement. Details ------- ODE OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE The Ode object database is based on the C++ object paradigm. Ode uses one integrated data model (C++ classes) for both database and general purpose manipulation. The Ode database is defined, queried and manipulated in the database programming language O++, which provides simple and elegant facilities for manipulating the database. O++ is an upward-compatible extension of C++. A few facilities have been added to C++ to make it into a database programming language. C++ programmers can learn O++ in a very short time. O++ programs can be compiled with C++ programs thus allowing the use of existing C++ code. THE ODE MODEL OF PERSISTENCE Ode offers a simple and elegant notion of persistence which is modeled on the ``heap''. Specifically, memory is partitioned into volatile and persistent. Volatile objects are allocated in volatile memory (stack or heap). Persistent objects are allocated in persistent store and they continue to exist after the program that created them has terminated. An Ode database is a collection of persistent objects. Each object is identified by a unique object id (i.e., a persistent pointer, or to be precise, a pointer to a persistent object). The database programming language O++ provides facilities for creating and manipulating the Ode database. For example, O++ provides facilities for specifying transactions, creating and manipulating persistent objects, querying the database, creating and manipulating versions. WHAT IS AN OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE Some important characteristics of an object-oriented database are: + data is stored as objects, + data can be interpreted (using methods) only as specified by the class designer, + relationship between similar objects is preserved (inheritance), and + references between objects are preserved. ADVANTAGES OF OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASES + Speed: Queries can be faster because joins (as in relational databases) are often not needed. This is because an object can be retrieved directly without a search, by following object ids. + No impedance mismatch: The same data model is used by both the database programming language and the database; it is not necessary to do any format conversions when reading the data from disk and when storing the data on disk. + Programmers need to learn only one programming language: The same programming language is used for both data definition and data manipulation. + Complex applications: The full power of the database programming language's type system can be used to model the data structures of a complex application and the relationship between the different data items. + Multimedia applications: The semantic information stored in the database (class methods) facilitates correct interpretation of the data. This reduces application complexity since applications do no have to be responsible for the correct interpretation of data. + Versions: Object-oriented databases typically provide better support for versioning. An object can viewed as the set of all its versions. Also, object versions can be treated as full fledged objects. + Triggers and constraints: Object-oriented databases provide systematic support for triggers and constraints which are the basis of active databases. Finally, most, if not all, object-oriented applications that have database needs will benefit from using an object- oriented database. Specifically, C++ applications that have database needs will benefit from using Ode. FEATURES OF ODE 1. Ode is C++ based and compatible with C++. 2. The Ode object database provides four object compatible mechanisms for manipulating and querying the database: O++, OdeView, OdeFS, and CQL++: + O++ is a database programming language based on C++. O++ is upward compatible with C++ and it makes minimal changes to C++. O++ offers a simple and elegant notion of persistence which is modeled on the ``heap''. O++ provides facilities for querying the database, and a variant of other facilities. + OdeView is a graphical X-based interface to the Ode database. + OdeFS is a file system interface to the Ode object database. OdeFS allows objects to be treated and manipulated like files. Standard commands such as rm, cp and mv and tools such as vi and grep can be used to manipulate objects in the database. + CQL++ is a C++ variant of SQL for easing the transition from relational databases to object- oriented databases such as Ode. Currently, only O++ is shipped with Ode 2.0. A beta- test version of OdeFS is available upon request. 3. Ode supports large objects (these are critical for multi-media applications). Ode provides both transparent access for large objects and a file like interface for large objects. The latter can be used to efficiently access and update parts of a large object. 4. Users can create versions of objects. Ode will track the relationship between versions and provides facilities for accessing the different versions. 5. Transactions can be specified as read-only; such transactions are faster because they are not logged and they are less likely to deadlock. 6. Users can run ``hypothetical'' transactions. Hypothetical transaction allow users to pose ``what- if'' scenarios (as often done with spread sheets). User can change data and see the impact of these changes without changing the database. 7. EOS, the storage engine of Ode, is based on a client- server architecture. Some features of EOS: a. Efficient and transparent handling of large objects. A file-like interface is also provided for very large objects. b. Concurrency is based on multi-granularity two- version two-phase locking; it allows many readers and one writer to access the same item simultaneously. c. Log records contain only after images of updates, thus making logs small. Recovery from system failures requires one scan over the log resulting in fast restarts. USE MODES Ode supports two modes of use: 1. Client-server (allows multiple users to access the database concurrently). 2. Single user (improved performance compared to using the client-server mode). USERS Ode 2.0 is currently being used as the multi-media database engine for AT&T's Interactive TV project. Ode 1.1 (older version of Ode with limited capabilities) has also been distributed to 30+ sites within AT&T and 135+ universities. >21 POSTGRES (Ext. Rel. DBMS) What: Version 4.0 of the POSTGRES DBMS From: mer@gaia.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Jeff Meredith) Date: 16 Jul 92 04:53:17 GMT Version 4.0 of the POSTGRES DBMS is now available for distribution. Version 4.0 provides significant advances in functionality over 3.1. General improvements in the code and some key multi-user bug fixes have resulted in a much more reliable system than we have ever previously released. Major new features include: o Complete support for language (POSTQUEL) functions. o Handling of nested dot expressions. o Optimization of predicates with expensive functions. o Binary portals o Initial support of sets o Indices on system catalogs. Postgres runs on Sparc I, Sparc II, Sun 4 running SunOs, and DECstations running ULTRIX >= 4.0, as well as Sequent Symmetry machines. Postgres consists of about 250,000 lines of C. If you would like to get Postgres 4.0, you can get it in one of two ways: (1) Anonymous FTP from postgres.berkeley.edu cd pub get postgres-setup.me binary get postgres-v4r0.tar.Z quit Or, if you do not have net.access, you can order a Postgres distribution tape by sending a check payable to the Regents of the University of California for $150.00 to: Postgres Project 571 Evans Hall University of California Berkeley, CA 94720. Indicate in your accompanying letter whether you want the system on a 9-track tape at 1600 BPI, at 6250 BPI, on a cartridge tape for SUN shoeboxes (QIC 24 format), or on a TK50 DEC cartridge tape. >22 Sniff (C++ devel environ) [See also APPENDIX C, SNiFF+, for the commercial version] What: SNIFF (Sniff 1.1b (C++ Development Environment)) From: shite@sinkhole.unf.edu (Stephen Hite) Date: 23 Aug 92 18:14:00 GMT Sniff 1.1b is available from iamsun.unibe.ch in the C++ hierarchy. It's a development environment for C++ (minus the C++ compiler or interpreter). It's freely available and you're gonna need OpenWindows 3.0 if you want to play with it immediately. I just downloaded it and haven't had a chance to look into whether the XView 3.0 package will be able to handle everything Sniff requires of the OpenLook part. And: From: sniff@takeFive.co.at (Mr. Sniff) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.unix,comp.unix.osf.osf1,comp.unix.solaris,comp.object Subject: SNiFF+ takeFive Starts Free University Distribution of Commercial C/C++ Programming Environment Date: 22 Sep 1993 15:51:26 GMT Organization: EUnet EDV-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft m.b.H Keywords: programming environments, browsing, C++ SNiFF+: takeFive Starts Free University Distribution of Commercial C/C++ Programming Environment 1. Introduction =============== Since the beginning of 1993 takeFive has taken over development and support for SNiFF+, a leading edge C/C++ programming environment. With SNiFF+ rapidly gaining commercial acceptance takeFive has decided to offer the product free to educational establishments. There are several reasons for this step. ... 6. How to Obtain SNiFF+ ======================= 6.1 FTP ------- Sniff can be downloaded from anonymous FTP sites in USA and Europe. You can get all details from info@takeFive.co.at. And: From: hueni@iam.unibe.ch (Hermann Hueni) Subject: Re: Browsers Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1993 12:37:28 GMT Sniff is a commercial product. Send mail to info@takeFive.co.at AN early version is available as a SUN SPARC binary only from siam.unibe.ch:C++/Sniff1.6/ (THIS site is in EUROPE) >23 C++ tags What: ctags/etags for C and C++ From: kendall@centerline.com (Sam Kendall) Date: 10 Jun 92 09:31:27 GMT A lot of people have requested this software! You can now get Tags for C/C++ version 1.0 via anonymous ftp at: ftp.centerline.com:/pub/tags-1.0.tar.Z ftp.centerline.com is 140.239.2.29. Anonymous ftp means login as "ftp" and give your email address as the password. If you don't have ftp access to the internet, you may want to wait for this stuff to come out in comp.sources.unix. Or, if you plan to use it right away, send me a letter that says "I can't use ftp; please send by email" and I will do so. >24 short tool From: neil@aldur.demon.co.uk (Neil Wilson) Subject: New version of 'short' available Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1993 09:38:25 +0000 A new beta release (1.2) of 'short' is available from the Stuttgart Eiffel archive (ftp.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de) in directory /pub/eiffel/eiffel-3/sig Command line processing is now included in the short system. Short can now cope with multiple input files, the standard input and deal with most file errors. Short now depends on the argument cluster which is available from the same archive and directory. Short supports the following options: -V, +version, -h, +help Displays the 'short' version information and gives the usage help message for the command. -e, +abstract, +eiffel Produces a fully deferred version of the input class(es) which will compile just like any other class (hopefully :-) -l , +view Produces the output from the point of view of the class - the "short form for ". Special handling for ANY and NONE of course. By default short outputs the "short form for ANY". -f, +full Produces the short form including all the feature blocks. (Implemented as the "short form for NONE".) -p, +parents Retains the inheritance clause in the output. The default is to drop it. -b , +blank Indent levels by characters. -c , +column Width of the output is characters. Should be greater than 20. Obsolete features are not retained. Obsolete classes retain no features. The output of the tool now conforms to the layout rules in Appendix A of ETL and should look like the 'short' examples in the book. As much as is possible the output and command line options conform to ISE's 2.3 version of 'short'. This release of short has been tested on all the v1.21 Eiffel/S libraries, itself and the argument clusters, plus any other class fragments I had lying around at the time. My biggest debt is of course to David Morgan. This version is only really a tiny modification of his work. His ELEXER Eiffel 3 parser remains the core of the tool. I though am responsible for any remaining deficiencies or problems with this release. Problems, suggestions, comments, criticisms to me please. All gratefully received - I can't improve my Eiffel if somebody doesn't tell me where I blew it. >25 COOL(C++, Cfront 2.1, from GE) COOL is a C++ class library developed at Texas Instruments. Features are: 1. Rich set of containers like Vector, List, Hash_Table, Matrix, etc... 2. Hierarchy is shallow with no common base class, rather than deep like NIHCL. 3. Functionality close to Common Lisp data structures, like GNU libg++. 4. Template syntax very close to Cfront3.x, g++2.x. 5. Free, with good documentation, and extensive test cases. Light version of COOL from General Electric: 1. Hairy macros, run-time type, exceptions removed for mainstream C++ compatibility 2. Free of memory leaks and bound violations. Leaks and bounds are checked with Purify. 3. Has memory management and efficient copy in expressions like: Set c = a+b+c; Pointers are shared with Handle and Reference count. Deep copy in expressions are replaced by shallow copy. 4. Compatible with Cfront2.1, and is being converted to Cfront3.0. You can build both static and shared library on SunOS 4.1.x 1. original version from Texas Instruments: at csc.ti.com, get pub/COOL.tar.Z 2. Cfront2.1 version modified by General Electric: at cs.utexas.edu, get pub/COOL/GE_COOL2.1.tar.Z I am working on Cfront3.0 version of COOL, using the Beta 3.0 from Sun. I am experiencing problems with instantiation and specialization of templates. So Cfront3.0 version of COOL won't be available until Sun's Cfront 3.0 is released with bugs fixed. Van-Duc Nguyen General Electric Research & Development Ctr 1 River Road, Room K1-5C39. Schenectady, NY 12301. Phone: (518) 387-5659 Fax: (518) 387-6845 nguyen@crd.ge.com >26 idl.SunOS4.x, idl.Solaris2.x Subject: Binaries for OMG IDL CFE placed on omg.org Date: 11 Jun 93 00:13:11 GMT Reply-To: jyl@toss.eng.sun.com SunSoft has made available statically linked binaries for the OMG IDL CFE, for both Solaris 1.x and Solaris 2.x. Because they are statically linked, these binaries can be used on systems which do not have the SparcWorks (TM) compilers installed. It is expected that people who only want an IDL parser will prefer to obtain these binaries instead of compiling the program on their host. People who want to build a complete compiler, by programming their own back-end, will continue to obtain the sources which are also provided at the same location. The binaries can be obtained by anonymous FTP to omg.org. They are installed in the directory pub/OMG_IDL_CFE_1.2/bin, in idl.SunOS4.x and idl.Solaris2.x. Uuencoded versions are also available, in the same directory. Please send email to idl-cfe@sun.com if you obtain these files. The attached copyright applies to the provided binaries and to the source files provided on the omg.org file server. Copyright: Copyright 1992 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Printed in the United States of America. All Rights Reserved. This product is protected by copyright and distributed under the following license restricting its use. The Interface Definition Language Compiler Front End (CFE) is made available for your use provided that you include this license and copyright notice on all media and documentation and the software program in which this product is incorporated in whole or part. You may copy and extend functionality (but may not remove functionality) of the Interface Definition Language CFE without charge, but you are not authorized to license or distribute it to anyone else except as part of a product or program developed by you or with the express written consent of Sun Microsystems, Inc. ("Sun"). The names of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and any of its subsidiaries or affiliates may not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of Interface Definition Language CFE as permitted herein. This license is effective until terminated by Sun for failure to comply with this license. Upon termination, you shall destroy or return all code and documentation for the Interface Definition Language CFE. [...] etc. on copyright stuff [...] SunSoft, Inc. 2550 Garcia Avenue Mountain View, California 94043 >27 Browser for OO info A search engine for Object-Oriented Information Sources on the World Wide Web is being maintained by the Software Composition Group at the University of Berne, Switzerland. The URL to access is: http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~scg/OOinfo/index.html A mirror of the catalog is available from the University of Geneva: http://cuiwww.unige.ch/OSG/OOinfo/ Please e-mail suggestions for new entries to: scg@iam.unibe.ch A searchable bibliography of object-oriented references is also available: http://iamwww.unibe.ch/cgi-bin/oobib as is a (searchable) version of the OO FAQ: http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~scg/OOinfo/FAQ/index.html Oscar Nierstrasz --- Prof. Dr. Oscar Nierstrasz; oscar@iam.unibe.ch; http://iamwww.unibe.ch/~oscar Software Composition Group; CS Inst., U. Berne; Tel/Fax: +41 31 631.4618/3965 >28 Apertos(Meta-Obj Distr OS, research) The Apertos (formerly MUSE) project at Sony Research is a meta-object based distributed OS for turning portable wireless hand-held computers into fully-connected Dynabook-like terminals. It's very very wizzy. The papers are on: scslwide.sony.co.jp:pub/CSL-Papers The source is available for research; I think you have to sign something first. >29 Actors Paper (UIUC) From: agha@cs.uiuc.edu (Gul Agha) Subject: Actor Theory Paper available Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1993 15:41:02 GMT A new paper providing a definitive and detailed development of the semantics of actor systems is available via anonymous ftp. Comments are especially welcome. Title: A Foundation for Actor Computation Authors: Gul Agha, Univerity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ian Mason, Stanford University Scott Smith, John Hopkins University Carolyn Talcott, Stanford University Abstract: We present an actor language which is an extension of a simple functional language, and provide a precise operational semantics for this extension. Actor configurations are open distributed systems, meaning we explicitly take into account the interface with external components in the specification of an actor system. We define and study various notions of equivalence on actor expressions and configurations. to ftp the compressed postscript