HP Introduces CORBA 2.0-Compliant HP Distributed Smalltalk

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APPLICATION ARCHITECTURES

August 7, 1995

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 7, 1995 -- Hewlett-Packard Company today rolled out
the latest release of HP Distributed Smalltalk 5.0, which incorporates the
new Object Management Group (OMG) Common Object Request Broker
Architecture (CORBA) 2.0 specifications.

CORBA 2.0 was designed to give users the underlying flexibility to create
distributed applications using different languages and platforms. The
CORBA 2.0 specification includes a mandatory protocol, Internet Inter-ORB
Protocol (IIOP), which is designed to enable objects and applications to
interoperate over a network with other OMG CORBA 2.0 applications.

"Prior to CORBA 2.0, there was no communication standard between ORBs,"
said Adrian Bowles, president of Atelier Research in Westport, Conn. "By
adhering to CORBA standards, HP Distributed Smalltalk increases the
opportunities for software reuse and eliminates the need for software
developers to create their own messaging middleware, thus saving time."

"Most customers want to replace inflexible legacy environments with a
flexible IT infrastructure," said Jim Davis, general manager of HP's
Software Engineering Systems Division. "Companies are changing the way
they do business, and HP helps IT departments support that change through
its enterprise object strategy. HP Distributed Smalltalk is part of HP's
broader distributed-object framework."

HP Distributed Smalltalk 5.0 also incorporates two new capabilities
necessary to develop distributed computing systems where objects are
shared. The Transaction CORBAservice is designed to enable IT groups to
create reliable mission-critical transaction-oriented applications without
having to create the transaction services themselves. One example of the
use of a transaction service is an automatic teller machine, which depends
on reliable transactions to complete many process steps with a user, such
as verifying a PIN number, opening an account or verifying an account
balance.

The second capability, Concurrency Control CORBAservice is designed to
allow multiple client objects to coordinate access to shared resources,
such as in-banking applications when only one teller has access to a given
account at a time.

SIMPLIFYING CREATION OF IDL CODE

With HP Distributed Smalltalk 5.0, HP also is introducing its Interface
Definition Language Generator, which makes it easy for programmers to
develop object interfaces. Objects that are to be distributed according to
the CORBA specification must have their interfaces (list of capabilities
and methods to which they respond) published in Interface Definition
Language. Using the HP Interface Definition Language Generator, users can
automatically generate Interface Definition Language code by making
selections from predefined menus rather than writing new code, eliminating
rework and saving time. The code generator also includes a consistency
checker, which highlights any errors in the consistency of types,
operations and interfaces between Smalltalk and Interface Definition
Language.

HP Distributed Smalltalk helps application software developers solve
problems that exist with current client/server system implementations:
being hampered by inflexible architectures that do not scale or are
difficult to maintain; being limited to proprietary APIs and hardware
platforms; and, at the same time, needing to develop new applications
quickly. HP Distributed Smalltalk, which is built on ParcPlace
VisualWorks, speeds software development using the capability of its
"industrial-strength" Smalltalk language and related tools. The HP
Distributed Smalltalk/VisualWorks combination also offers instant
portability among major UNIX system-based and PC platforms.

U.S. PRICES AND AVAILABILITY

HP Distributed Smalltalk is available on the following four UNIX
system-based and three PC platforms respectively: HP-UX(1), SunOS,
Solaris, AIX, Windows 3.1, Windows NT and OS/2. It is priced at $4,995 for
UNIX system-based platforms and $2,995 for PC platforms. HP Distributed
Smalltalk 5.0 is scheduled to ship in October 1995.

HP's comprehensive objects approach focuses on strong customer
relationships and provides the right skills, products and services that
help companies transition to objects successfully.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing,
communications and measurement products and services recognized for
excellence in quality and support. HP has 98,600 employees and had revenue
of $25 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.
 
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