Synon Ships Obsydian Version 2.0; Significant Enhancements & New Application Generators for Toolset in Use at 400 Sites Worldwide.

Corporation announced the general availability of Obsydian(tm) 2.0 today, a second generation client/server application development environment, which includes significant design tool enhancements, an expanded set of business object class libraries, and new application generation capabilities.

Users can now develop stand-alone, mission-critical, PC LAN applications or incorporate Microsoft Windows clients and/or AS/400 5250 terminals with AS/400 servers.

Obsydian is a model-based, fully integrated application development toolset that utilizes class libraries of reusable business objects to accelerate the design and delivery of scaleable, business-critical applications. The first toolset to ship with large-scale reusable business class libraries, Obsydian 2.0 has the richest set of business objects in the industry. Obsydian's 300 pre-built large-scale objects include reusable business objects representing patterns commonly found in commercial applications and reusable application frameworks for standard application functionality, such as calendaring and security.

Obsydian's new Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) generation capabilities enable Obsydian-generated applications to access data from a wide variety of databases including: Oracle, Sybase, Informix, SQL Server and many others. The same object-oriented, workstation-based Obsydian environment used to create client/server applications can also generate AS/400 5250 host-based applications using Obsydian's new 5250 application generator. The use of a single design model to generate client/server, PC LAN and 5250 applications is unique to Obsydian.

"We set three primary objectives for the release of Obsydian 2.0: enhance the Obsydian product itself in terms of its functionality, performance and robustness; greatly enrich Obsydian's business object class libraries; and expand the number of deployment platforms supported by Obsydian," said Richard Goldberg, President and CEO of Synon Corporation. "Our Beta customers have confirmed that we have met all three objectives. We will continue to use the combination of our experience and customer feedback to enhance Obsydian and make this object-oriented second-generation client/server tool even more powerful than it is today."

"Our more than twelve years of experience in helping customers build mission-critical business applications has enabled us to make second generation client/server a practical reality with Version 2.0 of Obsydian," said Goldberg.

Obsydian Version 2.0 Highlights

-- Enriched class libraries of business objects, application frameworks and technology components

-- Open database application generation facilities (ODBC)

-- New Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) runtime environment 

-- GUI design enhancements

-- Additional Generate and Build options

-- Enhanced workgroup support

-- Expanded National Languages including double-byte character support for Japanese end-user applications

-- AS/400 5250 terminal support

Obsydian 2.0 New Feature Information

New features fall into three categories: class libraries; expansions and enhancements to the Obsydian development environment; and new application generators to expand deployment options.

Class Libraries

Several new business object classes have been added. An example of one of the new classes is Bill of Materials (BOM). This large-scale reusable object implements the functionality required for such common business patterns as a work breakdown structure, master parts list and project resource scheduling. To achieve this functionality, the BOM business object includes an integrated suite of 120 design objects such as data storage objects, business logic objects and user interface objects.

A Data Replication Entity, Security Application Framework, Batch Processing Framework, Technology Class Libraries and Calendaring Functionality have also been added.

Development Environment Enhancements

More Graphical Applications. In Obsydian Version 2.0, the panel editor has been enhanced to enable customers to produce applications with advanced GUI functionality. For example, developers now have much greater control over the presence and appearance of tool, status and scroll bars. Navigation throughout the tool has also been improved, enabling developers to move easily through an Obsydian inheritance hierarchy, revert back to an original inherited screen design, and see at a glance which graphical events are linked to which logical business actions in Obsydian's application designs.

Runtime options have been added to Obsydian-generated applications to allow look-and-feel customization at runtime, enabling developers to easily incorporate end-user feedback after an application is placed in production. The usability and performance of Obsydian's object browser and action diagrammer have also been significantly improved, with Obsydian 2.0 simplifying access to frequently performed tasks.

MFC Support. Obsydian now incorporates the Microsoft Foundation Classes, giving Obsydian developers access to one of the most widely-used client/server technologies. This allows developers to access MFC classes and methods from within their generated applications.

Obsydian 2.0 applications can now run on Windows NT, Windows 95 and Windows 3.11.

Multinational Language Support. Double-byte support for Japanese brings Obsydian's current list of supported end-user languages up to 18, including English, French, German, Swiss German, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Icelandic, Norwegian and Slovenian.

Obsydian allows applications to be translated into any supported language through the use of in-model translators for language variants, with functionality such as date and time formatting being specified within a local variant. The core application resides in a language-neutral variant.

Rapid Modification and Delivery. Other substantial improvements have been made to Obsydian's generate and build process to accelerate application modification and delivery, including the ability for Obsydian 2.0 to generate DLLs. This enhancement allows developers to rapidly view the results of changes to the application being developed by incrementally extending or modifying the application.

Workgroup Support. Obsydian supports large development teams by offering design object versioning, conflict resolution and design model sharing. In Obsydian 2.0, model management capabilities have been enhanced to enforce integrity between local and group models in multi-developer, multi-model environments.

New Generation Capabilities

-- Obsydian for Open Database. New ODBC generation capabilities allow Obsydian design models to be deployed as Windows applications accessing distributed data using Microsoft's Open Database Connectivity Level 2 compliant ODBC drivers. Obsydian generates schema for defining tables and views, SQL data access from within C++ programs and Windows clients allowing Obsydian developers to prototype and develop stand-alone PC applications, offload server processing and design mobile applications.

-- Obsydian for AS/400 5250. Obsydian-generated applications for AS/400 5250 are created using the same models, same editors, and same classes as those used for client/server development. The 5250 applications themselves run natively on the AS/400 using RPG, DDS, UIM for Help text, AS/400 Messaging and Message subfiles. Obsydian is unique in its delivery of client/server and 5250 applications from a single model.

Market Position

Synon is the market leader in second generation client/server. According to the Aberdeen Group, Boston, MA in a recent report, "In Obsydian, Synon has delivered a premier client/server application development environment (CADE) that surpasses legacy software and first generation CADEs in modularity, the ability to represent business concepts and the simplification and increased efficiency of development of large-scale applications... Obsydian delivers the right mix of first-generation CADE features as well as the more robust application partitioning and business modeling functionality crucial to building mission-critical enterprise-wide applications."

Synon has taken a practical approach to application development by combining the proven modeling and design abstraction benefits of data-driven development with the important reuse functionality of object orientation. This marriage of information from the relational world with reusable business objects has produced an approach Synon calls Object Engineering.

Chet Geschickter of the Hurwitz Consulting Group, Newton, MA commented in a recent report, "Obsydian's data-driven modeling approach... is stronger than that of Dynasty and Forte. It is a well architected environment that demonstrates an innovative approach to managing cross-platform client/server development."

Synon provides a full life cycle approach to second generation client/server and enables professional developers to build higher performance applications. Obsydian automatically generates C++ code for Windows and UNIX, and RPG for the AS/400. Native support for these platforms ensures that the performance requirements imposed by professional application developers are met.

According to Mark Buckner, president of ASTECH Solutions, the consultancy firm in Toronto, Canada, that technically certified Obsydian 2.0 for IBM's Partners in Development Program, "Obsydian provides practical entry into the new method of building applications. It generates objects in C++ and supports the reusability paradigm so necessary in the development of commercial object-oriented programming. Obsydian is one of the few products that fulfills the promise of delivering OO technology to mainstream, professional application developers."

Marketplace Acceptance

Obsydian has been purchased by 400 companies worldwide including Aetna, American Software, Help/Systems, The McLane Group, Diner's Club and Policy Management Systems Corporation (all U.S.), Zurich Reinsurance (U.K.), Nissan (U.K.), SoftDesign (Sweden), Warner Lambert (Peru), Matsushita Electric (Philippines), Bangkok First Investment & Trust Public Company (Thailand), and many others. Obsydian is used primarily for the rapid delivery of business applications which must meet moderate to complex business requirements and evolve frequently over time.

"After a thorough market investigation, we chose Synon's new Obsydian Windows-based application development environment as our primary OO tool," said Doug Birch, Director of Product Development, Help/Systems Inc., Minnetonka, MN. "Obsydian is built for the long haul, enables a high level of framework definition and reuse, and supports client/server and host-based application development. With version 1.0, we succeeded in building applications which we already are selling in the marketplace. We are looking forward to the significant enhancement and improved functionality of Version 2.0."

"Obsydian, with its new 5250 generator, meets an important need in today's movement to client/server -- it enables a gradual evolution to client/server, while preserving investments in 5250 terminals," said Joe Kaczmerek, President of Impact Software.

Packaging and Pricing

Obsydian 2.0 includes the design environment (which features a team repository, graphical modeler, business logic and user interface designer), two class libraries and one application generator, and is priced at $8,750 per seat with a minimum order of two seats. Additional class libraries and application generators are also available.

Availability

Obsydian version 2.0 is generally available as of January 1, 1996.

About Synon Corporation

Synon Corporation develops, markets and supports model-based application development solutions worldwide. Founded in 1983, Synon is a privately-held company with 5,000 customers in over 65 countries using Synon tools to produce business-critical applications. The company's two product lines, Synon/2E and Obsydian, enable customers to rapidly develop high quality custom software, modify existing applications, and enhance application packages.

Synon can be reached at 1100 Larkspur Landing Circle, Larkspur, California, 94939, USA. Telephone: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; Email: http://www.synon.com on the World-Wide Web. -0-

Note to Editors: Synon is a registered trademark and Obsydian is a trademark of Synon Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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