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- From: Bob Hathaway <rjh@geodesic.com>
- Subject: Comp.Object FAQ Version 1.0.9 (04-02) Part 3/13
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- Message-ID: <Dp9q6u.A00@midway.uchicago.edu>
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- Summary: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List and Available Systems For Object-Oriented Technology
- Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
- Organization: Geodesic Systems
- References: <Dp9prv.92t@midway.uchicago.edu>
- Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 04:08:54 GMT
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- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.object:46837 comp.answers:17912 news.answers:68444
-
- Archive-name: object-faq/part3
- Last-Modified: 04/02/96
- Version: 1.0.9
-
- 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 <file> (get files returned by index)
- log <info> (logs info on server)
- address <e-mail address) (use this address instead of sender)
- list <directory> [match] (index a directory, pattern 'match' files)
- size <segment 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 <maffeis@ifi.unizh.ch>
-
- 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 <randy.volters@columbiasc.ncr.com>
- 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?
-