Intersolv assembles tools
Intersolv is set to release early next year a development toolset for building client-server and intranet applications from reusable components.
Intersolv Allegris is actually a bundle of several tools, including application analysis, design, development, deployment, and management tools. Allegris's advantage over competitive tools is that it includes everything needed to build distributed, component applications. That means developers spend less time assembling pieces from multiple vendors, according to the company.
The toolset differs from popular development packages, such as Microsoft's Visual Basic and Powersoft's PowerBuilder because it is a complete soup-to-nuts package designed for teams of developers building applications for deployment as traditional client-server systems, or as new intranet applications.
Like Visual Basic, the tool includes an easy to use visual development environment, allowing dragging and dropping of components in the design and construction of applications. Allegris also uses a variant of the Basic language syntax as its development script, already familiar to many programmers.
Unlike Visual Basic, Allegris generates compiled C++ code that can be partitioned on client and server systems. Visual Basic and PowerBuilder generate code that is interpreted by a run-time component, although Powersoft does offer a compiler option. An optional Allegris component, Allegris Web, lets developers deploy applications on Web servers.
The tool generates OLE, ActiveX, HTML, and C++ components. Later next year, Intersolv will add support for generating Java components.
The tool comes with a middleware component, called Intersolv Messaging, that enables deployed components to communicate across networks. No additional coding is needed to use the middleware, said Mike Gilpin, vice president and general manager of the Allegris Series Solutions at Intersolv.
Intersolv will also support the Common Object Request Broker Architecture in a future release, giving companies that have already decided to standardize on CORBA--or on Netscape Communications' Internet Inter-Object Request Broker architecture--a ready-made development tool.
Allegris also includes a repository for storage and management of components and applications, as well as a version of Intersolv's PVCS software management tool for tracking projects and components in the development process.
Intersolv has not disclosed pricing. The toolset builds applications for deployment on Windows 95, Windows NT, HP-UX, Solaris, and AIX. It supports Microsoft and Netscape Web servers, and database servers from Microsoft, Sybase, Oracle, Informix Software, and other makers.