London W1-based Learmonth & Burchett Management Systems Plc, crowing that it made the right decision in opting for Windows 3.0 with Systems Engineer, has launched a desktop integration facility for software engineers, SE/Workplace. The idea behind Workplace is to stop system developers getting needlessly isolated at their workstations by their software. Learmonth claims that the system developer typically spends only a quarter of her time developing software and nearly half her time dealing with administrative duties requiring access to word processing and spreadsheet packages. SE/Workplace extends support of analysis and design to be found in Systems Engineer to administrative tasks encompassing packaged application software. By making use of Dynamic Data Exchange, it enables Systems Engineer to run with other Windows 3 tools on different windows on the same personal computer, which means that queries can be embedded in objects resident in other applications on the personal computer so that real time data transfer can occur between Windows 3.0 applications in separate windows. Because SE/Workplace can automate data transfer between the CASE tool design database and desktop tools such as Word, Project and Excel, design data can be more tightly integrated with system administration, project reporting, communications, project planning and estimating and documentation. Learmonth also pledged that it will be using Microsoft’s Object Linking and Embedding technology in future releases. SE/Workplace has several components: a special query facility that enables the user to access the Systems Engineer database without having to understand the internal design of the database. Method On-line provides access to method documentation via hypertext technology thus enabling the user to access the documentation on the same screen that she is using the analysis and design tool. SE/Workplace also offers project management support via a component called Project Engineer that comprises a life cycle builder, a time estimator and a resource manager. The company claims that SE/Workplace will work with any of the 2,000 or so Windows 3.0 applications on the market. The product ships now and costs UKP1,500 per workstation. It requires 400Kb of free disk space in the Windows directory and 400Kb in the SE program directory.
