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Newsletter :: March 2005

db4o 4.4 Offers Better C# Sources, Better Reflection Access, J2ME
Spain's INDRA Signs Major Contract, Rolls out db4o Nationwide
db4o Regionalizes Offerings for Japanese and Spanish-Speaking Markets
Legal Guidance: What Triggers the GPL?

--- db4o RELEASE 4.4 OFFERS BETTER C# SOURCES, BETTER REFLECTION ACCESS, J2ME ---

With version 4.4 we introduce a new lossless converter to build our .NET/C# and Mono source code. All variable names and comments from the Java originals are now translated, which makes the C# source code just as easy to read as if it were written in C#. Following the introduction of NDocs, this is another major step towards an even more native C# implementation. XML files are now available for Visual Studio's help. With our heavy investment into internally used, 'smart' conversion technology, we have eliminated initial downsides of Java-converted C# code while benefiting from cross-platform leverage of excellent object database technology.

In our ongoing attempts to make open source object database technology available for more platforms and APIs, and in response to requests from users, we have refactored db4o to access reflection functionality exclusively through a new, pluggable reflector interface.

This puts db4o users and our future product development into the position to:

develop a generic implementation, that does not need the "real" Java/.NET Class/Type to store and retrieve objects and hence:
run db4o on Java dialects without reflection (J2ME CLDC, MIDP*)
run a db4o server without having to deploy application classes
easily access stored objects and values where classes or fields are no longer available as source code

Use cases for this functionality are:

using your own dynamic type system
running refactorings in the reflector
translating objects in the reflector
building interfaces to db4o for other programming languages
turning db4o into a native XML database**

The db4o team uses the new interface to enable the upcoming db4o GUI - written in Java and SWT - for Java, .NET and Mono databases.

DOWNLOAD the db4o development release 4.4 at our Download Center.

*Currently db4o runs on J2ME dialects that support reflection, such as J2ME CDC, J2ME PersonalProfile, Symbian, Savaje and Zaurus. And of course, on all other Java platforms (J2SE, J2EE), all .NET environments, and Mono.

**Building a native XML database implementation of db4o is currently not included in our product roadmap, but we encourage the user community to pick this up as a complementary open source project or product and we're happy to support these efforts.

--- SPAIN'S INDRA SIGNS MAJOR CONTRACT, ROLLS OUT db4o NATIONWIDE ---

db4o will be rolled out across the control systems that power Spain's new AVE high-speed bullet train system by INDRA Sistemas, Spain's leading IT and Defense Systems company. INDRA pioneered the use of db4o as a mission-critical, fail-proof, real-time object database, now providing the brains behind its integrated high-speed train control system (IRC). Built entirely in Java, IRC is at the forefront of transportation management systems.

INDRA relied on the speed, small footprint, and native Java's simplicity of db4o in the design of the control systems' complex and demanding architecture.

This implementation proves db4o high scalability and its suitability for mission-critical, enterprise class applications. Up to 200,000 objects per seconds are transacted, making db4o the fastest object cache available in the market. Because db4o is a key component in a life-critical system, fault tolerance is zero: INDRA developed and tested with db4o since 2002 and ran a prototype in the Zaragoza train control center for two years before making the final, nationwide rollout decision announced on March 9, 2005.