Object Design Announces First Tool For Creating Data-Driven Web Applications Using XML

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Object Design Announces First Tool For Creating
Data-Driven Web Applications Using XML

XML Object Manager Lets Companies Add Dynamic Processing
To Web Applications Quickly and Easily
  
   BURLINGTON, MA, August 17, 1998 -- Object Design, Inc.
   (Nasdaq: ODIS - news), a leading provider of enterprise and embedded
   data management solutions, today announced the XML Object Manager, a
   new database development tool that enables software developers to
   create highly interactive eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based Web
   applications. XML is an emerging universal data transfer standard from
   the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
   
   The XML Object Manager uses Object Design's ObjectStore as an
   XML application database. ObjectStore, the industry's leading
   object database management system (ODBMS), powers many of the world's
   largest and most successful Internet applications.
   
   Developers can use the XML Object Manager to add dynamic data
   processing to their Internet applications without having to master
   technologies such as COM, DCOM and CORBA. Virtually any Web
   professional can use the XML Object Manager to add features such as
   data entry, queries and personalization to ObjectStore-driven Web
   sites by using simple document type definition (DTD) for defining the
   database, and hypertext markup language (HTML) and XML extensions for
   accessing and updating the data.
   
   ``There has been a lot of talk about XML on the client side, but what
   makes the XML Object Manager unique is that it supports XML all the
   way back to the server,'' said JP Morgenthal, president of NC.Focus,
   an application integration consultancy. ``Server-side XML is going to
   become an increasingly important topic in the coming months as more
   companies realize that XML is not just about document data, but also
   application data. XML Object Manager is one of the first
   manifestations of this emerging trend.''
   
   The XML Object Manager was used to develop and deploy an
   ObjectStore- based timecard approval application for Siemens
   Communication Systems. This intranet application services more than
   7,000 employees at multiple locations throughout the United States and
   seamlessly interfaces with legacy directory databases and payroll
   systems. ``XML Object Manager has enabled Siemens to be one of the
   first companies in the world to reap the benefits of XML,'' said Pat
   Nocero, director of accounting services for Siemens Business
   Communication Systems. ``We expect our new timecard application to
   save Siemens significant dollars with reduced error rates and
   increased productivity. Furthermore, it will be extremely easy for us
   to expand the application in the future without increasing our support
   and maintenance costs.''
   
   Developers using XML Object Manager benefit from ObjectStore's
   Cache- Forward(TM) architecture, which allows them to cache locally
   their XML data in the middle-tier with the application server or Web
   server, thus eliminating the need for applications to access back-end
   databases with every query. This greatly reduces traffic to those
   databases and results in far greater scalability and faster
   performance than can be achieved using traditional data management
   solutions.
   
   ``The XML Object Manager gives customers a server-side solution for
   using XML, which means faster time to market and superior
   performance,'' said Larry Alston, vice president of marketing for
   Object Design, Inc. ``While most vendors are just beginning to look at
   XML, Object Design is already delivering a solution that will help
   customers incorporate XML into their Web applications today.''
   
   Pricing and Availability
   
   XML Object Manager will be available Sept. 1 from Object Design and
   its distributors. Pricing begins at $3,500.
   
   About Object Design, Inc.
   
   Object Design, Inc. (http://www.objectdesign.com), a leading provider
   of enterprise and embedded data management solutions, develops and
   markets the ObjectStore database management system and related
   tools, and the ObjectStore PSE Pro line of small-footprint embedded
   databases. ObjectStore, with its unique Cache-Forward database
   architecture, is used by customers in a wide variety of industries to
   build and deploy component- based computing applications. The company
   backs its products with comprehensive training, services, and support.
   Headquartered in Burlington, Mass., Object Design sells and
   supports its products through branch offices across the U.S.,
   international subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France,
   Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and Australia, and a worldwide network
   of distributors.
   
   NOTE: Object Design, the Object Design logo, ObjectStore, Leadership
   by Design, and Object Exchange are registered trademarks of Object
   Design, Inc., and Cache-Forward is a trademark of Object Design, Inc.
   All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
   

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