Progress adds Eclipse, ESB link to apps platform

InfoWorld - Progress Software Corp. is adding Eclipse integration to its OpenEdge application development and deployment platform as well as links to affiliate Sonic Software Corp.'s enterprise service bus (ESB).

Produced by the Progress OpenEdge Division, OpenEdge is a 4GL-based business applications platform that features development tools, a deployment environment, application server, database server, management tools and integration capabilities. The Progress 4GL (fourth-generation language) is being renamed Advanced Business Language in the new release, Version 10.1.

Highlighted in OpenEdge 10.1 is an Eclipse-based development environment.

"The reason we're doing that is because everyone else is, so we want to bring the industry-standard development tool set into the 4GL world," said Elisabeth Strenger, senior product marketing manager at Progress.

Also featured in Version 10.1 is an adapter to link OpenEdge to the Sonic ESB, to provide access to services such as dynamic routing and guaranteed message delivery. SonicMQ, which provides for messaging between applications, is also packaged with Version 10.1.

Adhering to an service-oriented architecture (SOA) theme, OpenEdge 10.1 offers language constructs and mechanisms intended to make it easier to design and implement reusable service components.

"I think it's great to see them modernizing the product like this," said Carl Zetie, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "They're taking into account things like SOA and moving toward more modern [user interfaces]."

Progress interfaces are being updated with Eclipse backing as well as through improved support for Windows interfaces, Zetie said.

Version 10.1 also features auditing services at the application and database level, which provide for compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulations.

"Essentially, what it does is it lets you establish an audit trail of every single transaction that you have run throughout your application or against your database," Strenger said.

Fail-over capabilities in Version 10.1 combined with more online administration and streamlining of routine maintenance allow for more control of the data management environment and ensures higher availability of systems and data, according to Progress.

"This is part of our continuous availability story," Strenger said.

Now in beta testing, with general availability set for early next year, OpenEdge 10.1 prices vary based on which components are purchased.

Sixty percent of OpenEdge customers use it to write commercially sold applications, while the remainder are IT shops or governments that buy it for internal applications, Strenger said.