Denver, Colorado-based Pick-popper Unidata Inc has completed its acquisition of proprietary language and application development tools maker System Builder Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia. The company will retain the Unidata name, with products being acquired to remain under the System Builder name. Unidata will expand its current offerings of nested relational legacy migration and application development tools, and begin to focus on developing object relational technologies. Unidata’s tools, applications and the UniData relational database run under most Unixes. Unidata has a centralised host-based application for SB+, System Builder’s fourth generation tool set that can be built on Unix and VMS. SBClient, formerly called Termulator, is a host-based application that converts character-based applications for graphical interfaces and migrates host-based applications to become client-server applications. Unidata can now use SBClient to give SB+ running on UniData relational databases distributed presentation. By this quarter or next, SB+ running on the UniData database with SBClient and DataC++ will have remote presentation (this function is presently in beta). Unidata is also working on SB+ for Windows, which will enable SB+ applications to run under Windows as a stand-alone desktop or with remote data access and distributed functions across the UniData database. This will be accomplished with business logic migration, which moves and alters code. These capabilities are also in beta test. SB+ will be implemented for the UniData database in the coming month. Unidata will restructure the architecture of SB+, and release object-oriented products for SB+, and plans to convert SB+ for Windows 3.1 and Windows95 this quarter, releasing Windows NT support for SB+ in mid-1996. Unidata will also continue to work on SB++, an internal code name for a planned product that would build and deliver an object-oriented proprietary language development environment.

Recompile data written in Basic

There’s no release date for SB++ yet. Unidata has written a migration tool to migrate and recompile data written in Basic for Unix relational databases. B2C, presently in beta, converts Basic into C++. Via SBClient, Basic applications can be converted for the UniData database for distributed presentation. Using SBClient and Unidata’s DataC++ language, Basic applications can be run on UniData for remote presentation. Furthermore, using B2C Basic applications running on UniData can be migrated to run on SBDesktop, Unidata’s object-oriented high level language development environment for the personal computer. Formerly called SBOpen, the product is a target environment for migrating applications from the host to the desktop and migrating legacy data. Remote data access, distributed functions and a stand-alone desktop version of SBDesktop will also be available. All these tools and functions are in beta, with first half 1996 release dates set. Unidata will continue to offer Cobol products, and is enhancing its Direct/Connect migration technology for users that need to continue to run Cobol but also want access to data warehouse data environments for decision support. Unidata has an application that migrates data from flat files to the UniData database without changing source code or recompiling it. Cobol Direct Connect data migration tool maps and moves Cobol data into a Cobol application running on UniData. This is presently available in release 2.0. Unidata will use third party application migration and recompiling tools to run Cobol applications on the desktop via CDC stub. Part of Direct Connect, this relays requests from the personal computer to the host Unix server. Using Remote Procedure Call, Cobol applications on the desktop will be able to communicate with Cobol Direct Connect on UniData. These capabilities are in beta, with release set for the first half of 1996. Although Cobol applications may presently run on UniData, users can use off-the-shelf tools to access this via personal computers, but cannot move existing Cobol applications to the personal computer, as there is no Direct Connect interface. The acquisition includes all subsidiaries in the US, UK and the Australian development group, but excluded are some System Builder distributors in Australia, Europe, and South Africa. SB Tech Pty Ltd, the exclusive Australia-New Zealand distributor of System Builder products, will retain its distribution rights. All System Builder contracts will be honoured. Unidata says it will be discontinuing System Builder’s third-party products Termite/SBTermite Windows-based graphical user interface tool, SBMac, and Docusys. – Nancy Stair