Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 01:37:33 +0000 From: Amancio Hasty <hasty@star-gate.com> To: hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: CORBA for FreeBSD :) Message-ID: <199504100137.BAA00230@star-gate.com>
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Hi,
I thought that some of you may be interested on the enclosed messages.
Enjoy,
Amancio
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Mon, 10 Apr 1995 09:47:51 +0100
From: Margaret Gallery <mgallery@iona.ie>
Message-Id: <199504100847.JAA28417@iona.ie>
Subject: Re: Support for FreeBSD??
To: hasty@star-gate.com (Amancio Hasty)
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 09:47:50 +0100 (BST)
Cc: mgallery@overload.iona.ie (Margaret Gallery)
In-Reply-To: <199504071130.LAA04090@star-gate.com> from "Amancio Hasty" at Apr
7, 95 11:30:30 am
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Amancio
We have been intending for some time to port Orbix to free-BSD.
The issue is purely a resourcing one.
As you say the port will not be difficult. Orbix is highly
portable. We will get back to you on this issue as soon as we have
planned a port
I enclose our product description for your information.
regards
Margaret
=================================cut==================================
Margaret Gallery ------| email: mgallery@iona.ie | tel: +353-1-6686522
Iona Technologies ------|------------------------| fax: +353-1-6686573
8-34 Percy Place, Dublin 4, Ireland. |--------------------------------
=================================cut==================================
Product Description - March 10, 1995
- ---------------------------------------
IONA's Orbix - Object Request Broker
====================================
Orbix is a full and complete implementation of the Object Management
Group's (OMG's) Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA).
With Orbix, programmers can develop distributed applications using
object-oriented client-server technology, and use object technology
to compose new applications from existing components and subsystems.
The first version of Orbix was released in June 1993 and since then
it has become the leading CORBA compliant Object Request Broker.
It is used by leading software providers across the banking,
telecommunications, engineering and government sectors in addition
to the general software market. Orbix is currently being used in
Motorola's IRIDIUM project. IONA is partially owned by Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
Orbix provides a C++ language binding for CORBA and is supported on
SunSoft SunOS, Solaris 2.x and Solaris x86, Silicon Graphic's IRIX,
HP/UX, AIX, OSF/1, Ultrix, UnixWare and Windows NT3.5. Orbix for
Windows 3.1 is in Beta testing. Orbix interworks across Windows
and Unix.
Note: If you are unfamiliar with CORBA we suggest you examine our
architecture document. This document is available from our
information servers, where you will also find the full CORBA
architecture document.
Features:
- ---------
Orbix provides all the functionality presented in the OMG CORBA
specification:
- - Interface Definition Language (IDL) compiler:
Translates IDL specifications into code to marshal and dispatch
object requests. The IDL compiler generates all the necessary code
to enable transparent client interactions with potentially remote
objects.
- - Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII):
Alternatively, requests can be composed and dynamically type
checked without prior knowledge of operation signatures.
- - Full support for type 'any' and for TypeCodes:
Allows values to be self-describing, containing run-time type
information.
- - Basic Object Adaptor, and all associated activation policies:
Provides the interface to Orbix for servers, and controls how
objects are mapped to system processes.
- - Interface Repository, including update facility:
Allows information about available interfaces to be obtained
at runtime.
Orbix also supports numerous beneficial extensions to CORBA:
- - Implementation Repository and Administration tools:
This Repository is used to locate the executable files for a
server when a request arrives for one of its objects. An
incoming request will cause the associated image to be run
if there is currently no active server. Not all objects in
the system need to be recorded in the implementation repository:
only those whose invocation should, if necessary, force an image
activation. The repository also has an IDL interface which can
be runtime invoked.
- - A stream based interface to the DII:
The CORBA DII is quite complex to use: Orbix provides an additional,
stream based, interface which makes writing DII clients considerably
simpler.
- - Programmer control over 'proxies'/'surrogates':
Proxies are local representatives for remote objects. In performance
- -sensitive applications, server programmers can override the standard
proxy code (using inheritance) and implement strategies to cache
state and accept call-backs from server objects.
- - Collocation of client and server code:
The IDL language binding implemented in Orbix is highly symmetric
between clients and servers. As a result, client and server code can
be linked together in the same address space, without requiring
recompilation. The resultant code is highly efficient (by-passing
all marshalling stubs). Collocation is beneficial for debugging and
development prior to distributed working, and also for programming
non-distributed applications in the large by using IDL.
- - Process level filters:
Programmers can develop their own filter code for incoming and
outgoing messages for both clients and servers. This facilitates
integration of thread packages, monitoring and debugging, auditing and
authentication/authorisation/encryption support.
- - Object level filters:
Further, programmers can develop their own filter code for invocations
and responses on individual objects. This is frequently useful to
enable a group of associated objects to collectively respond to a
request: the membership of the group can be dynamically changed. For
example, a `move' operation on a GUI object may, transparently to that
object, propagate to other attached objects.
- - Location Service:
A simple, but flexible and scaleable, consultation service is provided
to assist the binding of client object references to remote servers,
when the name of the host(s) providing the service is unknown.
- - Loaders and Object fault handling:
For servers with a large number of objects, it might be impractical to
hold all of the objects in memory. When an invocation on an object
arrives at its server, application specific 'loader' code can be used
to load the object from a file or other storage, and resume the
invocation transparently to the client. Such "object fault" handling
is reminiscent of "page fault" handling in a virtual memory system.
Performance:
- ------------
Orbix was built to be a lightweight product. A null remote invocation
takes 0.3 milliseconds. This is the only overhead that a programmer
has on a full round-trip invocation to a remote object. This shows
that Orbix adds very little overhead; most of the cost comes from the
underlying communications.
Availability:
- -------------
The Orbix release 1.3 availability and release schedule is as follows:
OS Compiler Release dates for 1995
----------------------------------------------------------------
SunOS 4.1 SPARCompiler 3.0.2 NOW
SunOS 4.1 SPARCompiler 4.0 NOW
SunOS 4.1 GNU 2.5.8 NOW
Solaris 2.x SPARCompiler 3.0.2 NOW
Solaris 2.x SPARCompiler 4.0 NOW
Solaris 2.x GNU 2.5.7 NOW
Solaris 2.x Centerline 2.0x NOW
Solaris x86 ProCompiler3.0.1 NOW
IRIX 5.x Native NOW
HP-UX 9.x HP C++ A. 3.20 NOW
Microsoft Windows NT3.5 Visual C++ 2.0 NOW
OSF/1 3.0 DEC C++ NOW
IBM AIX 3.2.5 C Set++ NOW
Ultrix 4.3 DEC C++ NOW
UnixWare 2.0 Native NOW
Sinix Native C++ NOW
Microsoft Windows 3.1 Visual C++ Beta
VxWorks Beta
Releases of Orbix OS/2, Macintosh, OpenVMS and SCO are imminent.
Contact IONA for more information.
Ordering Information:
- ---------------------
Full pricing and ordering details are also available upon request.
Major credit cards are accepted for all payments. For further
information, please contact sales at the co-ordinates below.
Discounts are available for UNIX versions for volumes of 3 and
upwards: please contact IONA for details. In addition, there is a
50% educational discount and a 25% research discount.
A 60 day evaluation copy of Orbix is now available free on any
currently supported platform. To avail of this offer send us your fax
number and we will supply you with an Evaluation License Order form.
Alternatively, the Evaluation Order Form is available in PostScript
from our information servers [keyword: Evalorder].
Company Overview and Partners:
- ------------------------------
IONA Technologies Ltd. was formed in March 1991 as a result of
experience in distributed systems and object technology gained by
researchers at the Department of Computer Science, Trinity College
Dublin. The University work was stimulated by several ESPRIT
projects, part funded by the European Commission, during the period
1985-1991, including COMANDOS, HARNESS, ISA, and Ithaca.
SunSoft Inc. [a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems Inc.] and IONA have
signed an agreement to align their implementations of the Object
Management Group's (OMG's) CORBA standard. To cement the partnership
IONA has sold a minority equity stake in the company to SunSoft.
ISIS [a subsidiary of Stratus Computers Inc.] and IONA have signed an
agreement to integrate their products. Orbix+ISIS will allow
programmers to easily develop fault-tolerant distributed systems.
Object Design Inc and IONA have announced plans to integrate Orbix with
ObjectStore, the leading object database. The collaboration represents
the first time an object database has been integrated with a
CORBA-conformant ORB.
Motorola Inc. has chosen Orbix as the software with which it will
build and control the ground station segment for the IRIDIUM Global
Cellular Network program. The IRIDIUM system is one of the most
ambitious telecommunications projects ever undertaken, representing an
investment of $3.4 billion. When it goes on-line in 1998, the IRIDIUM
system will provide the first wireless communications network that
spans the world.
Further Information:
- --------------------
More information can be obtained from IONA by several means:
Newsletter:
subscribe to IonaSphere, our monthly electronic newsletter by mailing:
ionasphere-request@iona.ie
Mail Server:
send e-mail to server@iona.ie with the word 'index' in the body of
the mail.
World Wide Web:
connect to http://www.iona.ie/
Anonymous FTP:
connect to ftp.iona.ie and look in the pub/Orbix directory
Telephone:
Call 1-800-orbix4u in the USA, +353-1-6686522 elsewhere.
Air Mail:
contact IONA and give your name and address, an info. pack will be
mailed to you.
Training and Consultancy:
IONA offers a full range of modular training courses on Orbix and on
CORBA. Information on these courses and our consultancy is available on our
Web site or by sending an email to training@iona.ie.
Amancio Hasty writes:
>
>
> I am a developer for FreeBSD and I am wondering if your product has been
> ported to FreeBSD...
>
> I noticed that Oribix has been ported to a couple of x86 Unix based
> platforms so I don't think that technically it will be a challenge
> to port Orbix to FreeBSD. Personally, I have ported hundreds of
> publicly available packages to FreeBSD . For instance, X, interviews,
> tcl/tk, netaudio, etc...
>
> Regards,
> Amancio
>
> Amancio Hasty, Software Consultant
> e-mail: hasty@star-gate.com
> Tel: 415-495-3046
>
- --
Margaret Gallery ------| email: mgallery@iona.ie | tel: +353-1-6686522
Iona Technologies ------|------------------------| fax: +353-1-6686573
8-34 Percy Place, Dublin 4, Ireland. |--------------------------------
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