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Spring 1997
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Every so often, as if by magic, new companies and products appear on the scene. JAC and the jBASE technology is one such company but neither arenew and neither are magic. Both are the result of nearly eight years hard work, vision and excellent development skills.
In March 1989 Jim Idle and Clive Ketteridge, formed JAC with a view to building a computer solutions company from scratch. As is so often the case in the real world, this proved harder than expected, but hard work and determination led to the evolution of a highly-skilled, technically-driven company with a product line perfectly placed for today's and tomorrow's application needs.
So how did JAC develop jBASE? In 1989, the most buzzy of buzzwords was Open Systems, yet it seemed obvious to JAC (then just Idle and Ketteridge) that companies were being tied into databases rather than hardware. It also seemed obvious that solutions for business needs were not always to be found in the use of one database and that access to all databases transparently would be beneficial. Coming from what was then the world's leading Pick database and solutions supplier, McDonnell Douglas Information Systems Ltd (now MDIS), they had an insight into how the Pick vendors were dealing with the move to Open Systems. The answers were (and still are) all the same: emulate Pick on top of UNIX, add some industry-standard access tools such as SQL and there you have it, an "Open System" that still runs the Multi-Value business applications. In fact, it would be better than the original in that it gave access to a wider choice of hardware.
JAC saw things differently, believing that applications should be database independent and be able to make use of modern techniques such as Object Oriented and Client/Server methods. However, when looking around the market for the ideal application development system and database, Idle and Ketteridge found there was nothing close to what they thought would be the best for most needs. Exposure to highly mission-critical applications also highlighted a need for better software based fault tolerance.
Thus JAC made the decision to develop its own system. This would need finance and the right people with rare skills. However, late in 1989 JAC were fortunate to win a sizeable programming contract with a major UK bank that allowed it to employ some first class system developers with relevant experience and to begin development of the ideal product that was forming in its owners minds.
This contracting work gave JAC the finance required to begin the task of designing and developing the ideal application development system for business. The result, jBASE, was first commercially installed in 1993 and is now used in large and small organisations, including mission critical sites throughout the world.
Of course, what seemed ideal in 1992 has changed. Today, jBASE is positioned to migrate all existing MultiValue applications (with functionality intact) to the new world of NT ,Web and Intranet environments.
So, how did jBASE get to be an item? The MultiValue market had (and still has) an abundance of feature-rich applications developed in the BASIC language (or derivatives thereof). BASIC, however unfashionable, was and is an ideal language for writing good, easy to support business applications.
So BASIC was chosen as the main language but as is typical of JAC technology, there was to be a unique twist to its implementation; the company wanted to produce truly compiled applications that ran on all platforms. To do this the applications would have to be written in C as this was - and is - the most portable truly compiled language available. A C compiled application is a great deal faster than an interpreted language and most importantly, once it is compiled, interoperability with third-party applications and drivers is seamless and native.
However, C was not designed to be a business application language and, although it is possible to do so, such applications are far harder to support and maintain than those written in powerful BASIC languages. So JAC set out to retain a simple syntax in BASIC and transparently translated the BASIC syntax to C prior to compiling down to machine code. All debugging was to be kept at the BASIC level and, where necessary, C functions could be added as calls to and from the main BASIC programs.
Such an implementation also meant that other languages such as embedded SQL could be added to this ‘Super-BASIC’ language. The jBASE BASIC therefore is very easy to use and to maintain, but produces truly compiled applications that execute at lightning speed and integrate seamlessly with other UNIX and now NT applications.
Of course, having a language alone is of little use. The next stage was to have a file system or database. JAC had long since decided that the application must have database independent abilities, and this simply meant allowing the BASIC language the ability to READ and WRITE data to and from any database not just the jBASE database.
This would require another unique piece of technology, a piece of ‘middleware’ between the application and the outside world, whether that be a database or a tape device. JAC developed its External Device Interface (jEDI) along these lines. The result was that a jBASE application can READ and WRITE to the jBASE database and/or any other database, just by adding a new jEDI rather than changing the application code itself. It is now possible to picture a modular or object-style design, with the application tools being divorced from the database and other devices. This means a software house can deliver just the executable programs rather than an entire database and development environment - in other words a jBASE application can be delivered just the same way as any other real Windows or real UNIX application. Hands up all those who have the phrase “built-in Client/Server” ringing in their ears.
The GUI ‘problem’ was solved by developing a means of integrating Visual BASIC (and other Visual GUI tools) to the jBASE BASIC language, and the jBASE MultiValue database (jBASE is not restricted to use only MultiValue file structure). The technology called jBASE OBjEX is largely based on Microsoft's ActiveX technology thus providing MultiValue applications - and the people that develop them - with access to all the goodies of the mainstream world. Whatever SUN, Microsoft or other leaders come up with next will be accessible from jBASE applications.
OBjEX achieves this seamless integration because, under NT jBASE, applications are compiled to .EXE and .DLL executables by utilising the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler. Interoperability is totally seamless and very fast. So MultiValue applications not only have a pretty face, but, because the front end (it is perfectly possible to run an application with character and Graphical User Interfaces side by side) is not just a GUI but a real Client, it will execute its processing locally. jBASE therefore allows developers to use mainstream tools (that carry zero run-time royalty) and integrate them with the powerful BASIC and MultiValue database structure.
So now we have a product set that allows the creation of industry accepted Client/Server applications. But what of the Internet and Intranet application world? You will probably have realised by now that jBASE is by far the most suitable tool set for Internet/Intranet multi-user application development on the entire market!
Firstly jBASE applications are compiled and so do not need a jBASE engine to start up prior to running any applications. Also because there is no jBASE ‘environment’, a jBASE application is one that is native with the operating system on which it is compiled, whether that be Windows or UNIX. Should JAVA or any other tools be used to develop Internet/Intranet applications, jBASE programs will seamlessly fit alongside or as part of the same application. Again, it is because the design of jBASE means there is no environment or shield between jBASE applications and the underlying operating environment. This makes for more elegant interoperability and far better performance.
The additional bonus for those with existing applications written in BASIC is that they inherit all this technological advancement by merely compiling their applications under jBASE. In the United States especially, a number of the largest software houses have changed completely over to jBASE from environments such as Reality, Pick, UniVerse and Unidata. They are reaping the benefits of having mainstream applications while retaining all their application investment. They are saving time and money every time they need to integrate their existing applications with third-party ones and/or databases. They find that doing it the jBASE way is easier and neater and the applications run a lot faster.
JAC released jBASE OBjEX at the end of 1996. This extension of the product line is set to revolutionise the MultiValue market for developers and end-users alike. Virtually all-future Windows development will involve usage of ActiveX technology in some form, and with jBASE OBjEX it is far easier to implement Client/Server Multiuser Web applications than with any other system within or outside the MultiValue market. The reason for this is that jBASE compiles to real .EXE and .DLLs, then OBjEX seamlessly links Visual Basic, Microsoft products such as Word or Excel and all Visual Basic applications with existing BASIC applications: in fact, jBASE and OBjEX makes the whole show mainstream. Legacy applications no longer just run on UNIX or on Windows, they can become real Windows, real mainstream applications. If the MultiValue market was waiting for something to happen, it just has.
JAC Limited
Last Updated: 30 June 1999