September 8, 1997

Oracle Tool Supports Rivals Application modeling tool to connect with rival databases, challenge market leaders By Rich Levin racle last week shipped a test copy of the next release of its application modeling tool, Designer/2000, and sent a minor shock wave through the $1 billion market for analysis, modeling, and design tools. For the first time, Oracle's flagship modeler supports databases other than Oracle. "The fact that Oracle is opening this up, with its major strength being the database, potentially changes the landscape," says Dick Heiman, research manager with market research firm International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. Support for non-Oracle databases is facilitated by Designer/2000 2.0's Open Server feature. Native dri vers for Oracle7, Oracle8, Oracle RDB, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and IBM DB2 databases allow designs to be reverse-engineered, imported into the tool's multiuser repository, and sent out again as applications. Generic ODBC support provides additional connectivity. "We're aiming this now as an enterprise development environment, regardless of the technology you're using," says Steve Illingworth, a senior product marketing manager for Oracle tools. The new Designer/2000 includes a revamped user interface and a unified development workbench that lets programmers perform most tasks in one editing environment. "The new [integrated] design editor greatly improves the ease of use, which fundamentally changes the way you build," says Richard Lindsall, chief technology officer of Solutron Inc., an Oracle database shop in Palo Alto, Calif. "Before, you had to have a lot of underlying knowledge about how to use a large number of editors. All of that has been very nicely consolidated." Models developed w ith Designer/ 2000 2.0 can be generated as application code for Visual Basic, JavaScript, HTML, ANSI SQL, Oracle PL/ SQL, Oracle Web Application Server, and Developer/2000 forms. Support for the Unified Modeling Language is also included. Designer/2000 2.0 beta supports Windows 95 and NT, and all server operating systems that now host Oracle databases. The product will become generally available in the first quarter of 1998. Pricing was not announced. Back to News in Review Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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