InterSystems Adds RAD, Java Tools To Cache Database
Cache 2007, to ship next week, will incorporate a new framework for building browser-accessible database applications.
This "Zen" framework "builds on the concept of AJAX and lets partners build a user experience that is as interactive and rich as what people expect in a Windows client-server environment," said Paul Grabscheid, vice president of strategic planning for InterSystems, Cambridge, Mass.
In short, it should help VARs or developers put rich Web front ends on legacy database applications. It supports the use of pure JavaScript in the browser itself and uses XML for page definition, the company said.
InterSystems Cache is particular strong in medical and healthcare accounts where its ancestor, the venerable MUMPS database, held sway.
QuadraMed, a partner specializing in healthcare applications, is bullish on Zen and all of the pre-built components that come with it.
"We can extend these components and classes and reuse them while continuing to use the development techniques we already love," said Jim Klein, executive vice president and chief technology officer for the Reston, Va.-based company. "The techies develop standard ways to attack problems and then domain experts, the business guys, don't have to worry about things like how to do lookups."
Klein said InterSystems has proven a good technology partner over the years. "If you sell an application that tracks their software in, even if you end up not selling the database to the customer, they make you whole,"
With Zen, InterSystems is trying to make it easier for VARs and ISVs to build global applications. "You can build in a single language. Our software looks at the text, separates it from the application and makes it easy to give to a translator. Then the application ends up using the database to store all the relevant languages." Grabscheid said.
Also new for VARs and developers is technology to make it easier for Java developers to build database applications using their skill sets.
"Where you historically defined the data inside the database and then connected to it using Java, the Jalapeno toolset lets you define the data required within your Java application and we look at that Java code and decide what needs to be done on the database side," Grabsheid said.
Both Zen and Jalapeno will be part of Cache 2007. Pricing starts at about $220 per user and ranges up to $1,380 per user depending on configuration. The database runs on Windows, Linux, and the popular Unix variations.