I've been developing a system which I don't believe is addressed by existing
tools: a middleware O/R mapping toolkit and engine. The aim is to be
database-neutral, and even language neutral, though for a start I am using
Java and PostgreSQL.
It's not at all like the excellent IDE toolkits out there, like pgaccess and
others-- I have yet to design the GUI. The major functional area I'm working
on is to be able to create a dabase application entirely in XML: database
schema, business logic (triggers, functions) and display.
This is similar in functionality to some commerical and opensource O/R
toolkits I've seen, except that I've created a much more rigorous XML
framework. In addition, I'm putting much application-level development
constructs into the XML. I also have engines which can show the schema
documentation, prototypes, and runtime servlet based on the XML.
One of my early goals is to develop a strongly-designed forum system for
handling communications on projects such as these.
I can guess that many other vendors and developers may be working towards
this goal as well. Certainly the UML and J2EE camps may need to "downfactor"
their tools to deal with simpler (and cheaper) projects, but I can't speak
for them. If anyone has done any work in this area, please drop me a line to
see if we should connect.
I expect to announce my project by late September.
Jon Garfunkel
CoopData