IBM, Unisys to Lead in
Formalizing Standard for
Streamlining Collaborative
Software Development
|
IBM and Unisys, accompanied by leading software
vendors, propose to make XMI, the XML Metadata Interchange, an industry standard
to streamline collaborative application development efforts on the Web. The standard
would allow developers who
work in a team environment to use the Web to exchange data between tools, applications,
and repositories in order to create secure, distributed applications.
ORLANDO - IBM* and Unisys**, accompanied by co-submitter Oracle
and other leading software vendors, today proposed an industry standard that would
streamline collaborative application development efforts on the Web. The proposal
was outlined to the Object Management Group*** (OMG), an object technology standards
body, at the OMG Technical Committee Meeting here today.
The proposal was created in response to developers' needs for standardized methods
of sharing data, regardless of tool or programming language, in collaborative development
environments. It aims to make Extensible Modeling Language (XML) -- integrated with
the OMG's Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Meta Object Facility (MOF) -- the
cornerstone of an open information interchange model. The resulting model is intended
to give developers working with object technology the ability to exchange programming
data over the Internet in a standardized way, thus bringing consistency, interoperability
and compatibility to applications created in collaborative environments.
By establishing an industry standard for storing and sharing object programming
information, development teams using various tools from multiple vendors can still
collaborate on applications. The proposed standard will allow developers to leverage
the Web to exchange data between tools, applications and repositories to create
secure,
distributed applications built in a team development environment.
IBM, Unisys and Oracle are joined by supporters that include Rational Software and
SELECT Software Tools. The full XML Metadata Interchange Format specification, known
as XMI, will be officially submitted at the OMG meeting this July in Helsinki.
The Marriage of Object- and Web-based
Standards
The XMI specification integrates XML, a specification set
forth by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with the Unified Modeling Language
(UML) and Meta Object Facility (MOF) specifications adopted by OMG. UML is designed
to give application developers a common language for specifying, visualizing, constructing
and documenting distributed objects and business models. XML is a standard for defining,
validating and sharing document formats on the Web. The MOF is designed as an OMG
repository standard for
distributed repositories and meta data management and is fully integrated with the
UML and, now with XML.
Pervasive support of XML, UML and MOF standards throughout the industry and widely
available supporting technology, including repositories and databases, significantly
reduces the time and cost to provide product interoperability in distributed heterogeneous
software environments.
"Data interchange in a collaborative development environment has always been
possible, but it was never based on a single standard," said Emilie McCabe,
vice president of marketing, IBM Application Development and Object Technology.
"With XMI, development teams working in multiple locations on the same application
will have the ability to build models, store them, and exchange them over the Internet
in a standardized fashion, regardless of programming language or tool."
Aiding Team-based Application Development
Development teams are often split into several groups that
work in multiple locations using tools from multiple vendors, and need to access
the same data. In this type of development environment, developers need standardized
methods of sharing data, regardless of tool or programming language, in order to
remain consistent with the overall application design.
"Unisys and IBM have been collaborating on the architecture and design of the
XMI proposal since January," said Dick Ulmer, vice president, Pacific Development
Labs, Unisys Computer Systems. "Unisys is excited at how well this effort accelerates
our vision of object interoperability and Web-based delivery of meta data. With
broad-based support from many of the industry's leading software vendors, XMI promises
to enable developers to work together regardless of location, programming tool or
development environment."
Today's proposal leverages and expands part of the UML, XML and MOF standards already
in use by many other major software vendors. It allows developers to create distributed
applications in a vendor-neutral environment, and demonstrates the commitments of
Unisys and IBM to providing standards-based technology to the development community.
Technical Information
For detailed technical information on UML and MOF, please
visit the OMG web site at www.omg.org. Both of
these specifications can be downloaded from the OMG home page.
For detailed technical information on XML, please visit the W3C web site at www.w3.org.
For a description of the technical features and benefits of the XMI proposal, please
visit IBM's web site at www.software.ibm.com
or the Unisys web site at
www.marketplace.unisys.com/products/urep.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company,
with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Software offers
the widest range of applications, middleware and operating systems for all types
of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the new era
of e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through
the IBM Software home page at
http://www.software.ibm.com.
Information on IBM's collaborative application development offerings, such as VisualAge
TeamConnection and Component Broker, can be found at www.software.ibm.com/ad.
About Unisys
Unisys is an information technology solutions provider that
has a portfolio of information services, technologies and third-party alliances
needed to help clients capitalize on their information asset to enhance their competitiveness
and responsiveness to customers.
Unisys expertise is founded on the strengths of three global businesses: Information
Services, providing consulting, application solutions, systems integration and outsourcing;
Computer Systems, providing industry-leading technologies; and Global Customer Services,
delivering comprehensive services and products supporting distributed computing
environments. Access the Unisys home page on the World Wide Web --
http://www.unisys.com -- for further information.
Note :
* Indicates trademark or registered trademark
of International Business Machines
Corporation and its subsidiaries
** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of respective companies
*** OMG, OMG logo are registered trademarks of the Object Management Group.
@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
OS/2
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