Glockenspiel Ltd, the Dublin-based C++ object-oriented programming company, reports that its release of C++ 2.0 is now shipping, with the first version for IBM’s RS/6000. Also released are versions for Santa Cruz Operation Inc’s SCO Unix, Interactive Systems Corp Unix, and DEC VAX Ultrix, DECstation Ultrix and VAX/VMS. Next month the company will have ready versions for Sun workstations, and MS-DOS and OS/2, supporting Microsoft Corp’s C version 6.0. The product is based on AT&T’s C++ 2.0, which adds multiple inheritence, tightened type checking and bug fixes to the original release, and includes Glockenspiel’s own pre-processor, drivers, document and support. The company says it has seen sales of C++ treble or quadruple over the last year, and has doubled in size. IBM has joint marketing agreements for the compiler in Europe and the US. Glockenspiel’s other major product line is Common View, described as an object oriented applications framework, based on C++ libraries, which is claimed to reduce the number of lines of code needed to implement an application by a factor of four. It is currently available for Presentation Manager and Windows, and Glockenspiel is about to announce a version for Hewlett-Packard Co’s NewWave, and will follow this with its first Unix version for OSF/Motif. IBM has also shown an interest in Common View, and is currently selling the product in France, an arrangement which Glockenspiel hopes will spread to the rest of Europe. Prices for the C++ products start at UKP840 for the SCO and Interactive versions, and range from UKP1,050 to UKP6,300 for the RS/6000, depending on machine size. Glockenspiel distributes its products in the UK through QA Training of Cirencester in Gloucester, and in the US through Imagesoft Inc, based in Port Washington, New York.
