Sterling Software Announces COOL:Plex 4.0 and COOL:Biz 5.0
Sterling Software Inc. (Plano, Texas) has announced the newest versions and general availability of the following to its lineup of e-business development and integration tools: COOL:Plex 4.0 and COOL:Biz 5.0. In addition, for the first time, Sterling Software users will be able to bridge the power of both tools, thanks to key enhancements to each product.
COOL:Plex 4.0 offers the capability to generate Java as well as existing support for Lotus Domino, HTML and distributed client/server for rapid development of e-business applications to the AS/400 and Windows NT platforms. Among its features are Application Integrator/400, a tool that automatically wraps AS/400 program objects for inclusion in new applications, and Schema/400, a tool that imports and generates connectors to access and update database schemes in packages and applications.
“With this release, COOL:Plex delivers a complete, well-rounded suite of Internet development and integration capabilities,” says Mark Phippard, development manager for SoftLanding Systems, a Peterborough, N.H.-based ISV.
Using the bridge from COOL:Biz 5.0 to COOL:Plex 4.0, developers can model the e-business processes and gather application requirements in COOL:Biz, then import the model into COOL:Plex to develop the application and generate the code.
COOL:Biz 5.0 has new model management features designed to ensure consistency of models across projects and wizard-like advisors that allow users to develop and validate data models. Enhancements in diagram navigation allow users to choose an object in one diagram and move to the other diagrams containing that object. Version 5.0 also contains a UML Class Diagrammer, which helps business analysts migrating from data-oriented to object-oriented modeling.
“Our customers are finding that implementing Internet and intranet applications involves more than technology—it means redefining the way their businesses work,” says Anna Clepper, VP of marketing for Sterling Software’s application development division.
--J. Martin