PRESS RELEASE: TipTop Software Ships Objective-Framework Version 3.0 ==================================================================== Bethesda, Maryland, March 11, 1996. TipTop Software is proud to announce that the Objective-Framework system, including Objective-Tcl(tm), Objective-Perl(tm), and Objective-Browser(tm) version 3.0 are now shipping. "This is the best product I have ever used on NEXTSTEP. We are in the MCCA development business, and the Objective-Framework helps us get the job done in more ways than can be described ..." -- Hadar Pedhazur, Managing Director, Union Bank of Switzerland "Objective-Framework is one of the most exciting new technologies we've seen. Being able to create object-based software using any combination of Objective-C, TCL, Perl, as well as other interpreted languages is a major breakthrough. We are very pleased to be able to include this technology in our Web products. Objective-Framework provides Netsurfer with multiple scripting languages as well as the ability to run Web-based applets written in a variety of programming languages." -- Jeff Russell, President and CEO, Netsurfer, Inc. The Objective-Framework system provides true language independence to the Objective-C (e.g., OpenStep) object model. Objective-Framework provides a seamless integration of the Objective-C runtime system with other languages. Objective-Framework not only breaks the barrier between interpreted and compiled code, but it also breaks the barrier between various programming languages! Objective-Tcl and Objective-Perl are two languages currently available. Some of the benefits of Objective-Framework include: - The Objective-Framework languages, Objective-Tcl and Objective-Perl, provide a dynamic interactive interpretive environment. You get immediate feedback to all your programming actions in this environment, so you can prototype and develop much more rapidly. You can define and redefine classes on-the-fly, at runtime. - You can seamlessly mix-and-match languages. Thus you can use Objective-Perl for heavy-duty text processing, use Objective-Tcl for highly interactive (e.g., exploratory) programming, etc. Classes can have mixed implementation; certain methods can be implemented in Objective-C, other methods can be implemented in Objective-Tcl, yet some other methods can be implemented in Objective-Perl, etc. It is transparent and irrelevant to the sender of a message which language implements the corresponding method---the method looks "native" to the caller. - The Netkit(tm) Web client development environment supports Objective-Tcl and Objective-Perl applets and applet bundles and this way enables you to build powerful client-side web applications by leveraging the OpenStep framework in the client. - The Objective-Framework runtime library can be linked with any NEXTSTEP/OpenStep application to easily provide a high-level control (scripting) languages. - Objective-Tcl and Objective-Perl are very useful for Enterprise Object Framework (EOF) development, since this kind of development consists of writing high-level glue code which is hard to write in a low-level compiled language such as Objective-C, and easy to write in high-level languages such as Tcl or Perl. - Objective-Tcl and Objective-Perl are ideally suited for regression testing. ======================================================================= TipTop Software is also introducing version 3.0 of the Objective-Browser (OB) graphical runtime introspection and debugging tool. The browser allows you to view live objects within a running application in many object-specific ways. OB allows you to easily investigate the structure and methods of various objects and classes. For example, methods, instance variables, and other object information can be viewed and edited during execution. To a user, OB appears as a hierarchical browsing tool, similar to the file system browser. Each node in the browser represents an object or some other piece of information (e.g., a method) with an arbitrary number of subnodes. For example, when looking at an object, instance variables or methods appear as subnodes. OB is extensible. You can provide object-specific browser nodes and custom inspectors for any object in the system. OB can be used from any application which is linked with the Objective-Tcl runtime---the browser is dynamically loaded when needed. Availability ============ The Objective-Framework system consisting of Objective-Tcl, Objective-Perl, and Objective-Browser, runs under NEXTSTEP 3.3 for Motorola, Intel, HP/PA, and SPARC architectures, and is available from TipTop Software directly. The package is available from: ftp://ftp.tiptop.com/pub/Objective/ObjSys.pkg.tar ftp://ftp.stepwise.com/pub/Vendors/TipTop_Software/ObjSys.pkg.tar sum: 38130 2256 md5: 5f299aad2640eb1507605cffdcac262c NOTE: The ObjSys package is distributed exclusively from ftp.stepwise.com and ftp.tiptop.com. You may not redistribute the package. E.g., you may not put it on an ftp server. The quad-FAT compiled Perl 5.002 is available from: ftp://ftp.thoughtport.com/pub/next/lang/Perl.pkg.tar ftp://ftp.tiptop.com/pub/Objective/Perl.pkg.tar ftp://ftp.stepwise.com/pub/Vendors/TipTop_Software/Perl.pkg.tar Tcl man pages are available from: ftp://ftp.tiptop.com/pub/Objective/TclMan.pkg.tar ftp://ftp.stepwise.com/pub/Vendors/TipTop_Software/TclMan.pkg.tar PDO/DOLE versions will be available soon. If you are interested in a PDO version, please send us a note indicating which platforms you use. TipTop Software is committed to OpenStep. The Objective-Framework system will be released for Solaris/NEO, Windows-NT/OpenStep, and other OpenStep platforms as they become available. Licensing Terms and Pricing =========================== The Objective-Tcl, Objective-Perl, and Objective-Browser components of Objective-Framework may be separately purchased. 30-day evaluation licenses are FREE. To obtain FREE 30-day evaluation licenses for all the components send email to with subject: request obj-framework eval license files Objective-Tcl and Objective-Perl developer licenses are priced as follows: The first language is $199 per developer seat. Additional languages are $99 per developer seat. The price includes 30-day complimentary technical support. Additional annual technical support can be purchased separately. Runtime distribution licenses are required for end-user products which incorporate the Objective Framework language component functionality. For widely-distributed applications, i.e., shrinkwrap, shareware, and freeware, the cost is max(12*min($199,p),$40) for the first language, where p is the list price of the application. Additional languages are 50% of that. For all other (custom) applications, the cost is $2388 (i.e., 12*$199) for the first language. Additional languages are 50% of that. Unlimited runtime licenses are also available. Objective-Browser is priced at $199. Educational pricing is also available. Objective-Framework Mailing List ================================ To subscribe to the Objective-Framework mailing list, simply send a message with the word "subscribe" in the "Subject:" field to: objsys-l-request@tiptop.com =========================================================================== For more information or to place an order contact TipTop Software: TipTop Software Email: info@tiptop.com URL: http://www.tiptop.com Tel: +1 (301) 656-3837 (9am--5pm US EST, Mon--Fri) Fax: +1 (301) 656-8432 USPS: PO Box 30681, Bethesda, MD 20824, USA Visa/MasterCard/Amex accepted. ========================================================================== Copyright 1996, TipTop Software. All rights reserved. Objective-Tcl, Objective-Perl, and Objective-Browser are trademarks of TipTop Software. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.