Trying to develop applications in conjunction with a database can be a nightmare. Customer orders must be filled, accounts payable must be debited and inventory must be adjusted. Performing a task like this directly from the Internet lends itself to the flexibility and platform independence of Java.

Wouldn't it be nice if it was as simple to use elements of a database as objects in your Java applications, threading them directly to the Database? Well the application you've been dreaming of is here.

CocoBase Enterprise from THOUGHT, Inc. is a powerful new point-and-click Database Access language creation and management tool. It is Pure Java, a snap to use and best of all, it's 100% scalable.

System Requirements
CocoBase Enterprise runs on any JDK 1.1x or JDK 1.02 enabled system. I ran it over JDK 1.1.5 on a 150MHZ Pentium with 16MEG and WIN95, and it performed fine.

Installation
Installation of my demo version was initiated at the command prompt. Making the installed directory current, I needed to type only: java install_cocodemo3tier11_1027_ timeout1201. A GUI interfaced wizard then opened, making installation effortless.

THOUGHT Inc. provides a test program called COCODEMO to verify if the installation was done properly. This demo applet needs the application server to attach itself to. Thus, it's necessary to start the three-tier CocoBase Enterprise Application Server by adding the CocoBase home directory\demos to the CLASSPATH, then typing the path to the startserver.bat file. Another command window opens, typing the command to start the cocodemo.bat file. This opens a customer demo applet. By typing "My Customer" in the input window and then clicking "Find", an existing sample of customer data should appear in the applet window. This automatically performs and logs the request, which will appear in the server window, not the client.

A Trial Run
Once you have CocoBase Enterprise up and running, the best way to showcase the application's many attributes is to go through a trial run. Open a command prompt and execute the proper demo batch file. The file you execute varies depending upon which JDK you're running. If done successfully, this will open a login applet screen with user name and password already filled in. Merely clicking the "login" button gets you started.

Let's try running through the "SELECT" operation on object schema: "Customer". Click File-Open to view the object schemas that come with this demo. Click "Current Data for Select Fields" grid. Select the "Name" field by clicking on that row. Click "View"-"Select"-"Clauses". This will display the "Current Data For Select Conditions" grid. Select the first data row of the grid by clicking on that row. Click "Grid" - "Update" to view how the condition is defined. Click CANCEL after viewing. Click "View" -"Show SQL" -"Show Select" to view the constructed "SELECT" SQL statement for this object schema. This very same process can be run through for the "Insert" and "Update" operations as well.

Application developers no longer need to concern themselves with learning the database access language, but can spend their time on developing specific applications. CocoBase can handle full table spanning select, updates, inserts, deletes and procedure calls without recompiling of the client-side Java application.

Other Features of CocoBase Enterprise,

Ability to integrate existing Java, C and C++ code into the Application Server

If you've been scorched by the task of developing Java applications from a database, try using CocoBase Enterprise to cool and soothe the burn!

Published Apr. 1, 1998— Reads 11,467
Copyright © 1998 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
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About Ed Zebrowski
Edward Zebrowski is a technical writer based in the Orlando, Florida, area. Ed runs his own Web development company, ZebraWeb