REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 18, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that 21 leading enterprise modeling vendors will support the Microsoft® Repository and have joined in an effort with Microsoft to develop the Unified Modeling Language (UML) information model. Tools from vendors implementing this functionality can interoperate through the Microsoft Repository. This interoperability enables teams of corporate developers to easily share models developed with different modeling tools, enabling higher-quality component-based application development and reuse. Microsoft Repository version 1.0 will ship in the Professional and Enterprise editions of the Visual Basic® 5.0 programming system and the recently announced Visual Studio
™
97 development tools.
UML is a proposed standard representation for modeling tools developed by a select group of vendors led by Rational Software Corp. Using the UML information model, vendors will be able to transfer models in and out of the Microsoft Repository. It also enables interoperability with the soon to be released Microsoft Visual Modeler, a UML-based modeling tool based on technology licensed from Rational Software.
“Until now, developers have been able to share software components developed with different tools, but it has been very difficult to share their underlying application models created with different modeling tools,” said David Vaskevitch, vice president, enterprise computing at Microsoft. “We are very excited about the tremendous support for this modeling initiative. It’s a tremendous win for developers and for the modeling industry.”
“Through the Microsoft Visual Modeler, hundreds of thousands of developers will be able to take advantage of modeling technologies for the first time in 1997,” said Mike Devlin, president of Rational Software. “Because of the interoperability now available through the Microsoft Repository, developers will be able to easily share models across projects and across companies. The sum of these efforts should result in significant growth for the modeling tool industry as it moves to the center of development, as well as a new opportunity for vendors to sell prebuilt models in much the same manner as the market for prebuilt software components has developed.”
Microsoft Repository, based on the joint design specification from Texas Instruments Software and Microsoft, is a database that stores and shares components, models, objects and relationships along with their descriptive information. It delivers important capabilities in five key areas to desktop and server environments: reuse, tool interoperability, team development, data resource management and dependency tracking. The Repository consists of open information models, published interfaces, and an engine that sits on top of an ODBC database such as Microsoft SQL Server
™
. Information models in the Microsoft Repository are based on COM and ActiveX
™
interfaces.
Vendors involved in the first round of development of the information model include Logic Works Inc., Popkin Software and Systems Inc., Rational Software, SELECT Software Tools Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. The information model review was then expanded as part of the open process to a second round. This included essentially all vendors in the software modeling industry in a larger design preview of the UML information model, held in Redmond, Wash., on Jan. 31. At this design preview, the first-round vendors demonstrated full cross-tool interoperability with each other’s tools, as well as Microsoft Visual Modeler.
“The design of the Microsoft Repository allows us to add value for customers of Composer 4 who are engaged in enterprise component assembly,” said Keith Short, chief technology officer at Texas Instruments Software. “Serving as a component description catalog, the Repository will enable Composer 4 customers to interoperate with object modeling tools and other specialized technologies.”
More information on the model specification and the Microsoft Repository is available at http://www.microsoft.com/repository/ The following companies support this initiative and have committed to deliver UML information model support by April 30, 1997:
Advanced Software Technologies Inc.
Graphical Designer
CASEwise Systems Inc.
Modeler
Cayenne Software Inc.
ObjectTeam, GroundWorks, Terrain
Evergreen Software Tools Inc.
EasyER EasyOBJECT
ICON Computing Inc.
Headstart, Catalysis
i-LOGIX Inc.
Rhapsody
IntelliCorp Inc.
LiveModel SAP R/3 Edition
INTERSOLV Inc.
Allegris Series, AppMaster Designer
Logic Works Inc.
Erwin
PLATINUM technology inc.
PLATINUM Paradigm Plus
Popkin Software and Systems Inc.
System Architect, SA/BPR and
SA/Object Architect
Rational Software Corp.
Rational Rose for Visual Basic
Riverton Software Corp.
HOW
SELECT Software Tools Inc.
SELECT Enterprise
Siemens-Nixdorf Information Systems Inc.
ComUnity Visual Framework
Softlab
Enabler
Software One Limited
Software One EXCHANGE
Sterling Software Inc.
KEY:Workgroup
Sybase Inc.
Powersoft S-Designor
Texas Instruments Software
Composer
Vision Software Tools Inc.
Vision Builder
Visio Corp.
Visio Professional
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