Object database server

Objects

When employees receive training, whether it is in school or inside your company, they become better able to work on their own. They become containers of the new knowledge. If they learn enough you can move them to new areas of your company and they will know how to work there too. This containerization of knowledge is the idea behind software objects. In the original model of programming, linear programming, repetitive tasks were put into functions. The functions were ordered to perform their repetitive task by intelligent liner code that made "if this, then that" decisions. The functions were reused over and over again in many different software projects. The downside to the linear model is that each software project has to be largely programmed from scratch to make its specific if-then decisions. Conversely, the object-oriented programming model puts the intelligence inside a group of functions and changes its name to an object. In OO design, as it is called, good programming anticipates other environments in which the object might live thus making it flexible enough to meet new demands. If constructed well an object can be dropped into an environment and know how to interact with the other objects there. Building a new software project with such objects is as simple as dropping the correct object into the correct place.

Object Database Server

WME has studied Zope and has built a meta-object called CompoundDoc that capitalizes on Zope's hierarchical database structure. Because Zope acts as a server engine it can reside on an internet computer and deliver webpages to the world. However, Zope's webpages are constructed from the objects in its hierarchical database each time it receives a request for that page. Each page is built from scratch and then sent out to the requesting browser, Netscape, IE, etc. To change a webpage all that need be done is to change the contents inside a CompoundDoc. Using Zope's inherent structural power, CompoundDoc manages everything else. It will make sure the new page works and tells you if it doesn't. It will update search catalogs and it tracks prior versions of itself.