ParcPlace-Digitalk introduces VisualWave; first object-oriented application development environment for the World Wide Web.BOSTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 1995--At Email World and Internet Expo today, ParcPlace-Digitalk announced VisualWave, the first object-oriented application development environment (ADE) for building live applications on the World Wide Web (WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. ) and corporate-wide Web Servers. Leveraging the power of a tested, powerful ADE, VisualWave is the fastest way to build, deliver and change live applications on the Web. VisualWave applications are designed to run in a client/server environment A networking environment that is made up of clients and servers running applications designed for client/server architecture. See client/server. so companies can maintain one code base for their critical business applications that run on Windows, Macintosh, UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). and the Web. "VisualWave raises the bar for the next-generation of live Web applications," said Bill Lyons, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of ParcPlace-Digitalk. "VisualWave is the first environment that combines the broad reach of the Internet with the adaptability of objects to let businesses use the Web AD not just as a broadcast mechanism, but as a means to interact with their customers. We call this the power to listen and respond." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Michael Goulde, executive editor at the Patricia Seybold Patricia B. Seybold, CEO of Patricia Seybold Group, is the author of Customers.com, The Customer Revolution, Outside Innovation, and co-author of Brandchild. Her books, (particularly Customers. Group, "This product is designed to hide all the complexity of HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. forms design, CGI CGI in full Common Gateway Interface. Specification by which a Web server passes data between itself and an application program. Typically, a Web user will make a request of the Web server, which in turn passes the request to a CGI application program. programming, and brings Web development back into synch with modern, object-oriented design Transforming an object-oriented model into the specifications required to create the system. Moving from object-oriented analysis to object-oriented design is accomplished by expanding the model into more and more detail. principles. In addition, VisualWave adds a complete application development environment (ADE), something which is grossly lacking in other Web development tools. Developers of corporate Intranet as well as Internet applications, particularly those who have used VisualWorks, will find VisualWave a compelling development environment when it ships in December." The VisualWave toolset is scalable enough to develop and deliver static documents, forms and live applications: -- Documents are a means of broadcasting static text and graphics-based information over the Web. Most document-based Web sites are merely standard brochures that have been translated into Hypertext Markup Language (hypertext, World-Wide Web, standard) Hypertext Markup Language - (HTML) A hypertext document format used on the World-Wide Web. HTML is built on top of SGML. "Tags" are embedded in the text. A tag consists of a "<", a "directive" (in lower case), zero or more parameters and a ">". (HTML) and placed on the WWW. These sites offer little opportunity for interaction, other than moving from page to page or sending email. -- Forms are a means of broadcasting data over the Web. Forms are Web documents that allow simple interaction by allowing users to fill out fields to search a site for specific information, request additional information or place orders. The burden is on the user to initiate the conversation and formulate questions. -- Live applications are interactive, personalized, GUI-based applications designed to build relationships with users, rather than simply broadcast information to them. Live Web applications are connected to the company's business systems and can be rapidly changed and instantly deployed. Integrated Web Application Development The VisualWave product family consists of the VisualWave Development Environment and the VisualWave Server. The application development environment includes a Web delivery system, a powerful object-oriented development environment, and the ability to integrate with existing client/server systems. The VisualWave Server provides the framework to deploy a VisualWave application as a Web application server. "VisualWave provides one seamless environment from the database to the glass, enabling companies to get to the Web fast, without getting tangled up in tools," said Nick Copping, vice president of strategic customer partnerships at ParcPlace-Digitalk. "Our developers learned VisualWave quickly and easily and were able to develop a working prototype of a Web site in only three weeks," said Thomas R. Marzolf, manager, Systems Architecture for the Vanguard Group in Valley Forge Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill River, SE Pa., NW of Philadelphia. There, during the American Revolution, the main camp of the Continental Army was established (Dec., 1777–June, 1778) under the command of Gen. George Washington. , Pa. "In addition to being easy to use, VisualWave promises to greatly simplify our overall development efforts by allowing us to build internal applications and Web applications in the same environment." VisualWave Features Web Delivery System VisualWave's Web delivery system streamlines, simplifies and, in some cases, eliminates coding procedures generally required for Web = applications. VisualWave provides graphical tools to develop robust graphical Web applications that can include Image Maps and dynamic graphics. Its dynamic graphics feature, with automatic widget-to-GIF conversion, allows charts, maps, and other custom views of application data to be displayed on the Web with ease. VisualWave simplifies the transition to the Web by automatically generating the HTML and the CGI interface necessary to execute Web applications. VisualWave's Personal Web Server simplifies development by allowing the developer to test Web applications from the development environment before deployment. With the VisualWave Server, Web applications can be deployed to a wide variety of server platforms. VisualWave makes it possible to use the Web as a window into serious business applications. The WWW has the drawback of being essentially stateless Refers to software that does not keep track of configuration settings, transaction information or any other data for the next session. When a program "does not maintain state" (is stateless) or when the infrastructure of a system prevents a program from maintaining state, it cannot take . Every page is independent of all others. Leaving a page and coming back usually resets the page. VisualWave has a powerful engine for maintaining user sessions A count of how many times all users access a Web site regardless whether the same person came back several times during the measurement period. If a user leaves and returns within a short time, some systems count those sessions as one. Contrast with unique visitors. See also user session. , thereby providing continuity in the use of the application. VisualWave introduces the concept of a session that is active during a user's entire interaction with the application, providing an experience more like that of a traditional desktop application. Integrated Object-Oriented ADE VisualWave offers a powerful object-oriented application development environment that gives businesses the fastest way to build, deliver and change applications. It includes a robust set of development tools, an advanced GUI builder Visual programming software that lets a user build a graphical user interface by dragging and dropping elements from a toolbar onto the screen. It may be a stand-alone program or part of an application development system or client/server development system. , database access, frameworks and components, enhanced application delivery and a powerful object-oriented language. The GUI builder includes a Web Canvas Editor for drag and drop A graphical user interface (GUI) capability that lets you perform operations by moving the icon of an object with the mouse into another window or onto another icon. For example, files can be copied or moved by dragging them from one folder to another. "painting" of interfaces, as well as a powerful layout engine that automatically translates the canvas into HTML. Easy access to Sybase, Oracle and DB2 databases is provided through VisualWave Database Connect. VisualWave allows for fast application prototyping through a reusable application framework that acts as a scaffold upon which to build applications with reusable components. Enhanced application delivery lets developers load and unload application components quickly and easily, allowing them to use less system memory than if the whole application were loaded at once. VisualWave is based on the proven ParcPlace Smalltalk programming language, a non-proprietary, ANSI-compliant language designed for high-speed, industrial strength application development and deployment using components and objects. The major advantage of Smalltalk is that it allows businesses to rapidly change applications in response to business needs. This productivity gain can provide businesses with sustainable time-to-market advantage. Integration with Client/Server Systems VisualWave delivers seamless integration with corporate client/server systems through compatibility with all major Web browsers and servers, true binary portability across 12 popular platforms, and links to databases from Oracle, Sybase and DB2. Future connectivity to OLE and CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) A software-based interface from the Object Management Group (OMG) that allows software modules (objects) to communicate with each other no matter where they are located on a private network or the global , as well as other object-oriented languages, including Sun Microsystems' Java, is also planned. Applications developed in VisualWave can run both as a client on all supported platforms and as Web application servers. The deployed application can be moved from platform to platform without any coding by the developer. As a result, businesses can take their internal client/server applications and publish components of them to the WWW. VisualWave runs on Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, Macintosh, and on most popular UNIX systems. VisualWave supports most CGI 1.1-compliant Web servers such as Netscape Communications and Commerce servers, NCSA (1) (National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Urbana-Champaign, IL, www.ncsa.uiuc.edu) A high-performance computing facility located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. , O'Reily WebSite, CERN CERN or European Organization for Nuclear Research, nuclear and particle physics research center straddling the French-Swiss border W of Geneva, Switzerland. , Apache; and most HTML 2-compliant Web browsers such as those from Netscape, Mosaic and Spyglass, and will support Microsoft Internet Explorer See Internet Explorer. 2.0 in the future. Due to its open architecture, based on Web standards, many other Web development products will also work with VisualWave. Pricing and Availability VisualWave Development Environment is scheduled for shipment in December, 1995 for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT with additional platform releases in first quarter 1996. VisualWave Server will ship on SunOS, Solaris, HP-UX HP's version of Unix that runs on its 9000 family. It is based on SVID and incorporates features from BSD Unix along with several HP innovations. (operating system) HP-UX - The version of Unix running on Hewlett-Packard workstations. and Windows NT with additional platform releases in first quarter 1996. Pricing starts at US$4,995 for the development environment and US$9,995 for the server. For additional information, call (800) 759-7272 or fax (408) 481-9095. Written inquiries may be directed to ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc., 999 East Arques Ave., Sunnyvale, Calif., 94086. ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc. ParcPlace-Digitalk is the leading provider of application development tools based on the Smalltalk object-oriented programming language object-oriented programming language - object-oriented programming . The company's mission is to become the object partner of choice for computing in the enterprise. ParcPlace-Digitalk's products support open computing, portability and industry standards. The company also provides a comprehensive range of services, including customer support, training, on-site assistance and consulting. With headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company maintains offices across the United States and internationally with subsidiaries in Germany and the United Kingdom and a network of distributors throughout the world. -0- Note to Editors: 1995 ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc. All rights reserved. ParcPlace-Digitalk is a registered trademark of ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. VisualWave is a trademark of ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc. All other products or services mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies. 1. Object Linking and Embedding See OLE. (operating system) Object Linking and Embedding - (OLE) A distributed object system and protocol from Microsoft, also used on the Acorn Archimedes. OLE allows an editor to "farm out" part of a document to another editor and then reimport it. -- Microsoft's technique for coordinating versions between elements shared by related applications 2. Common Object Request Broker Architecture (standard, programming) Common Object Request Broker Architecture - (CORBA) An Object Management Group specification which provides a standard messaging interface between distributed objects. The original CORBA specification (1. -- based on the Object Management Group's Object Request Broker See ORB. (programming) Object Request Broker - (ORB) Part of the OMG CORBA specification, an ORB's basic function is to pass method invocation requests to the correct objects and return the results to the caller. (ORB), which provides interoperability between applications on different machines in heterogeneous distributed environments, and seamlessly interconnects multiple-object systems CONTACT: Cunningham Communication, Inc. Amanda McPherson, 408/764-0763, amanda@ccipr.com or ParcPlace-Digitalk, Inc. Ellie Victor, 408/773-7479, ellie@parcplace.com |
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